Halle Berry Says Mark Wahlberg is ‘Very Available’ to His Kids While on Set

Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry attend the Los Angeles Premiere of Netflix's "The Union" on Aug. 12, 2024. Phillip Faraone/Getty Images

Halle Berry and Mark Wahlberg opened up about balancing work and family life in a recent interview.

Berry and Wahlberg spoke with Audacy on Aug. 15 in anticipation of the Aug. 16 premiere of their new Netflix film, ‘The Union.’ The duo shared how impressed they were with each other as they balanced their jobs as parents and actors during filming.

Berry, 58, said Wahlberg made sure he was accessible to his children at all times while on set.

“If one of his kids called in that moment, we‘d be on a roll, waiting to go, and he’s like, ’Hello? This is my son. Say hi to Halle, say hi to everybody.' Like, he’s relentless at that. He is very available to his children. He was talking to them all the time, all hours of the night,” she said.

Wahlberg shared a similar sentiment about his co-star, observing that Berry is a “mom first” who prioritizes her daughter, Nahla Ariela, whom she shares with Canadian model Gabriel Aubry, and son Maceo, whom she shares with French actor Olivier Martinez.

“She’s a mom first. The kids are the top priority,” Wahlberg said of Berry. “To see that she can balance all of those things and this career and being Halle Berry but becoming ‘Roxanne’ and doing all these things, and I know it’s not easy but she makes it look easy,” he said, referring to her character in their new movie.

Wahlberg is the father of daughters Ella, 20, and Grace, 14, and sons Michael, 18, and Brendan, 15, all of whom he shares with his wife, Rhea Durham.

Berry praised her co-star for always being prepared and ready to work when he arrives on set, despite his busy schedule and various responsibilities.

“He does a hundred things, too, like all these businesses and stuff, always flying somewhere and he comes back, but he comes back prepared,” Berry said. “You‘d think somebody doing all this stuff he’s doing, he’d kinda be phoning it in, but he knows his stuff. He’s prepared, and it was nice to work with people that are professional because it doesn’t always happen today.”

Parenting Moments

At the Los Angeles premiere of “The Union” on Aug. 12, Berry told People magazine that if her children were to follow in her footsteps and pursue acting, they would have to work their way up the way she did.

“They would have to go pay their dues, learn a craft, work hard, and make it on their own for themselves,” she said. “That way it’s always theirs. Nobody takes it away. That’s what they would have to do.”

In an Aug. 15 interview with Fox News, Wahlberg shared advice for parents who are sending their children off to college. He said it’s been difficult for his wife to watch their children leave home as they grow older, but also shared the positive aspects of this time in their lives.

“It’s a beautiful thing,” he said. “Just encouraging them to pursue their dreams, to take a chance on themselves, and to dream big.”

In “The Union,” Wahlberg plays a construction worker in New Jersey whose high school sweetheart, played by Berry, returns to town and recruits him for an intelligence mission in Europe.

The action film also stars J.K. Simmons, Mike Colter, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Jessica De Gouw.