Scheduled to perform about 200 shows a year in the late 80s/early 90s by their management, I would call NKOTB the most exhausted kids in show business! But, they were always introduced as "the hardest working kids in show business", and Donnie Wahlberg took that motto as his own, combining acting in television and movies with the performing with NKOTB and hosting constant afterparties and awarding fans with special VIP events.
Donnie, the Actor
Following the dissolution of NKOTB, Donnie followed his younger brother, Mark, into acting instead of singing. His first acting role was as Big Balls in "Bullet". He would go on to act in almost 10 movies before he was recognized as a serious actor, playing a bit part in M Night Shyamalan's Sixth Sense. Donnie lost nearly 100 pounds to play the part of a teenager.
Donnie then accepted more serious roles in both movies and television, primarily cast as a police officer. He did, however, channel his experience in "Sixth Sense" to play a retarded boy with a sixth sense in Stephen King's "Dreamcatcher". He was a prominent police officer in the Saw movies and in 2010, found himself co-starring with Tom Selleck and Bridget Moynahan in Blue Bloods , one of the top new series on CBS. It was picked up for a second season, and filming began this month, causing Donnie to wear both his actor and performer hat.
Donnie, the Performer
I call Donnie a performer rather than a singer because of his showmanship and the justification for selection as member of the New Kids on the Block. NKOTB history reports it was Donnie's rapping and dancing that impressed Maurice Starr and made him the first member of the boyband. Donnie is credited for renaming the group from Nynuk and also received credits for songwriter and co-producer on the early albums. But, for me, I didn't recognize Donnie as anything more than a scary-looking bad-boy until after the reunion.
Donnie is the one who shared with his bandmates the song that would ultimately reunite the band, and he is the reason why audiences get so riled up at concerts. Whether he is removing his shirt, interacting with his bandmates, eying a girl in the audience, or selectively modifying lyrics, fans scream, not necessarily because he is their favorite, but because he is such a showman.
My favorite moment was the look he gave me in response to a sign a friend and I made: "Donnie may be twuggable, but Danny is oh so twuckable". An explanation for the sign would take another blog, so I'll leave it to the reader's imagination!
@DonnieWahlberg, the Twittaholic
I am proud to say I am one of Donnie's less than 3000 followers, especially since over 225k twitter accounts are following him! Some blockheads have which number follower they are of Donnie's, but does it really matter? I do, however, remember the simple tweet that earned the follow. I asked him how his day was!
Donnie tweets on a daily basis, sending out words of wisdom, twitter hugs (twugs), humps, twitpics, and bubbletweets. He fully admits to being a twitter addict, but I, like most of his fans, don't mind one bit! The only thing that does concern us is his lack of sleep!
Donnie, the Power-Napper
At almost 42 years-old, Donnie amazes me with his tweets of a work day frequently lasting 15 hours or more. He is a frequent DWAir flyer accumulating thousands of miles traveling coast to coast, whether it be to visit his son, make an appearance on a talkshow, or use his day off from touring to complete a day of filming. He claims his secret to maintaining his busy schedule is 5-minute powernaps, Pops, and redbull!
I will never understand why Donnie has a need to be as busy as he does, but I do admire, no, envy his energy. If I can rehabilitate, perhaps I can work toward maintaining at least half of his energy!
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