Mark Wahlberg is known as a Hollywood action star with films like Transformers: Age of Extinction, Max Payne, Contraband, and more under his belt. He has also starred in the Oscar-nominated film The Fighter with Amy Adams. It’s safe to say, he has a sprawling career. But before he began his film journey, he did something that still hangs like a dark cloud over his life.
Hollywood isn’t a land of saints and Wahlberg isn’t one either. When the actor was 16 in 1988, he allegedly attacked a Vietnamese man, Johnny Trinh, and had to spend 45 days in prison. Since then, the actor has tried to make amends and turn his life around. But what does his victim think of it all?
Mark Wahlberg Expresses Regret For Alleged Racially Motivated Attack
Mark Wahlberg was accused of beating Johnny Trinh so badly that the victim was assumed to have lost one of his eyes. In 2014, the actor requested a pardon for the 1988 assault and battery conviction. But it didn’t go over well with Asian American activist groups who protested against it. In 2016, during a Q+A session for Deepwater Horizon at the Toronto Film Festival premiere, the actor expressed regret for the pardon application. He said,
“It was one of those things where it was just kind of presented to me, and if I could’ve done it over again I would never have focused on that or applied.”
Since the attack and imprisonment, the actor had been engaged in various charity works. Many have accused him of being involved in those initiatives to wipe his public image clean of the assault.
But Wahlberg stated that he wanted the opposite to happen. The Uncharted actor said,
“I have not engaged in philanthropic efforts in order to make people forget about my past. To the contrary, I want people to remember my past so that I can serve as an example of how lives can be turned around and how people can be redeemed.”
That’s not all. The Mile 22 actor went on to state that he has spent decades righting the wrong he did. He was relieved to meet the victim’s family and apologize. He said,
“I spent 28 years righting the wrong … I was relieved to find out that the injuries to his eye had occurred in the early ’70s and not from the incident that happened that night … But I was able to meet with him, and his wife and his daughter and apologize for those horrific acts.”
But what does Johnny Trinh think of the incident?
Mark Wahlberg’s Victim Speaks Out On The Attack
Johnny Trinh, in an interview with Daily Mail, stated that Mark Wahlberg wasn’t responsible for his lost eye. He explained that he had lost vision in his left eye in the Vietnam War due to a grenade attack. Trinh also said that he had forgiven Wahlberg for the attack. He said:
“I was not blinded by Mark Wahlberg … he did hurt me, but my left eye was already gone. He was not responsible for that. He was young and reckless, but I forgive him now.”
The man further stated that he believes in second chances. Also, even though many groups protested against Wahlberg getting the pardon, he believed that the actor should get to start over. Trinh said:
“Everyone deserves another chance. I would like to see him get a pardon. He should not have the crime hanging over him any longer. He paid for his crime when he went to prison.”
The Transformers star has gone on to have a career that hasn’t really been impeded by the prison stint or attack. He is currently working on The Family Plan for AppleTV+. No release date has been given for the project yet.
Source: The Wrap and The Guardian
