MARKY MARK: THE ROBERT DeNIRO OF HIS GENERATION?

MARKY MARK: THE ROBERT DeNIRO OF HIS GENERATION?

LOS ANGELES (Wireless Flash) -- Actor Mark Wahlberg has something in common with Robert DeNiro: neither of them are afraid to pack on the pounds for a role. According to the upcoming book "Don't Call Me Marky Mark: The Unauthorized Biography of Mark Wahlberg" (Renaissance Books), the rapper-turned-actor became a junk food junkie to bloat himself up for his role as a cop in the recent flick, "The Corruptor." Author Frank Sanello says Wahlberg ballooned his formerly 185-pound frame to a whopping 200 pounds with a diet of pastries, donuts and snack cakes. But being a fat slob isn't the only way Mark has molded his body for a role -- Sanello claims the former underwear pin-up boy dropped a near-anorexic 30 pounds for his role as a hit man in the flick "The Big Hit." And then there's "Boogie Nights" director Paul Thomas Anderson, who claims he chose Wahlberg over Leonardo DiCaprio for the role of the well-endowed porn star after Mark convinced him by exposing himself.

CONTACT: Frank Sanello; Arrange thru Kathryn Mills; LA; (323) 939-1840, ext. 28