Mark Wahlberg finally graduates from high school

Mark Wahlberg has earned his high school diploma at the age of 42.

The actor has been studying and taking classes online for almost a year to gain the qualifications which he never got the first time around.

Wahlberg dropped out of the Copley Square High School in Boston in the ninth grade, equivalent to year 10 in the UK system, aged 15.

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He was involved in serious crime from then on, going to prison for attempted murder aged 16.

Following his experience in prison, he turned his life around.

“I was able to do it because I knew I wasn't alone, that other teens and adults were going through the same thing I was in balancing work and family in order to better themselves,” he wrote in an essay on the Huffington Post.

“To those students struggling every day and - most importantly - to those who are looking for a second chance, I have a message for you: Never give up. Keep believing in yourselves and don't make small plans.

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“I can now look at my kids every day knowing that I didn't just do this for me - I did it for them, and I did it for all the other teens and adults who have inspired me by their commitment to graduate.”

Wahlberg works with various youth charities through his Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation, the organisation he founded with his brother James in 2001.

The charity provides mentoring, summer camps, school support and after school programmes for young people.

Wahlberg recently admitted to Yahoo Movies that he wants to replace Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man. Watch the interview below...