The 46-year-old actor tells ET that he's come to terms with the fact that his eldest daughter is 'gonna have boyfriends.'
Mark Wahlberg is opening up about what it's like being the father of a teenage daughter.
ET's Kevin Frazier caught up with the actor at a junket and premiere for his latest film, Daddy's Home 2, in Los Angeles over the weekend, where he got candid about his eldest child, 14-year-old Ella Rae, talking to co-star Will Ferrell's 13-year-old son, Magnus, on Instagram.
"You know what? I actually... I came to grips with the fact that she's 14, she's gonna have boyfriends," said Wahlberg, who shares three other children -- Michael, 11, Brendan, 9, and Grace, 7 -- with wife Rhea Durham. "Those things happen. As long as I know who they are, where they come from, and know their parents, in this case, of course I know a lot. So, I'm good. I know Will and [his wife] Viv [Paulin], and they're very, very nice and they're raising very young, fine boys. So, he's all good."
Ferrell chimed in, telling ET that he "cracked" up when he first heard Ella Rae and Magnus were messaging each other, but doesn't think they're "currently in contact."
"I think it was a onetime, 'Hey, what's up?'" he explained. "'What's up?' 'Hey, OK.' And then that was it."
"Yeah, see. That's how dads of boys respond," Wahlberg joked. "That's not how dads of girls respond."
Wahlberg's kids are growing up fast, but he told ET that there's nothing he loves more than embarrassing them -- maybe a little "too much."
"I just want affection," he explained. "I want to kiss them and hug them and I usually do it at the most inopportune times, school functions, ball games, things of that nature. But, you know, my intentions are good."
Wahlberg first revealed the news that Magnus and Ella Rae were communicating during a guest appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in September.
"I thought [Magnus] was a lovely lad until I found out that he has formed some sort of communication with my oldest child," he shared, as Ferrell pointed out, "They're following each other on Instagram."
Daddy's Home 2 hits theaters on Friday, Nov. 10.
ET also spoke with WWE star John Cena at the premiere, where he reacted to fiancée Nikki Bella's shocking elimination on Dancing With the Stars. Hear more in the video below!
