From performing in a boy band to locking up bad guys on screen, Donnie Wahlberg has had his hands full lately — but he’s not complaining.
While speaking at PaleyFest’s Blue Bloods panel on Thursday, Oct. 17, Wahlberg, 55, opened up about how he’s been able to balance his responsibilities performing with his band, New Kids on the Block, and starring on the CBS police procedural over the years.
In the late ’80s, Wahlberg found musical fame alongside his bandmates Danny Wood, Joey McIntyre and brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight. When he cast as Detective Danny Reagan in 2010 in Blue Bloods, the actor had to learn how to keep cool from the pressure and deliver in both of his roles.
“I worked my whole life to be in this position, to be part of something this magical,” Wahlberg said. “And I think there are years where I was very successful as a young man and then wasn’t very successful at all. These aren’t the most difficult problems in the world. I didn’t struggle the way my dad struggled or my mom struggled, but it took me a long time to find what I was doing next in my life.”
Now, the actor is “in a band,” appears on several TV shows and takes time to attend “a lot of basketball games.” Wahlberg also stays busy as a father to two sons, Elijah, 23, and Xavier, 31, whom he shares with his ex, Kimberly Fey.
While there are times the going gets tough, the Wahlburgers co-founder said he’s worked his “whole life” and dreamed to face such a dilemma.
“There’s no pressure to do what I do,” he added. “There’s no pressure to get off of a plane at 6 a.m. and run to the set and go to the dinner scene. In fact, it’s a dream come true.”
“I remember in season one, I performed at the American Music Awards on a Sunday night,” Wahlberg recalled. “It was New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys together. I came to work the next morning and Tom [Selleck] was in the makeup trailer and he walked up, he said, ‘I saw your performance last night. Your baseball hat was a little low. I would have liked to see your eyes.'”
After that fateful moment, the actor said he no longer needed “any sleep.”
“It was like, Tom Selleck watched my band,” he continued. “These are things I could only dreamed of as a little boy and I’m truly blessed to be able to do this.”
In November 2023, CBS announced Blue Bloods would be concluding with its 14th and final season. While Wahlberg’s chapter on the crime drama is coming to a close, he and his bandmates on NKOTB are still going strong.
The band released their first album in over a decade, Still Kids, in March — several months after the they announced their massive Magic Summer Tour from mid-June to late-August.
In September 2024, the group announced their first Las Vegas residency at the Dolby Live at Park MGM. Named “The Right Stuff” after their 1988 hit song, the shows will run in three sessions from June 20-July 5 and Nov. 1-15, 2025 and Feb 14-28, 2026.
Blue Bloods season 14 midseason premiere airs Friday, Oct. 18 at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.