Grieving father role close to the bone for Wahlberg

Mark Wahlberg struggled to play a man whose daughter was brutally murdered.

The Hollywood actor – who plays a father in Peter Jackson's movie 'The Lovely Bones', whose daughter is raped and murdered – said he nearly turned down the role because he had a baby on the way in real life.

He said: "The stress level, and me being an emotional wreck day-in and day-out as I have to put myself in that place to be able to convey the emotions in an honest way - that was the one reason why I didn't want to do it."

The 38-year-old US star – who has two sons and two daughters with his model wife Rhea Durham – eventually took the role because of the director and the “uplifting” end.

He told MTV.com: "There were many other reasons why I did want to do it. Working with Peter was probably the biggest, and thinking ultimately that it was going to be a great film that did have a very hopeful and very uplifting ending to a tragic beginning."

Oscar-winning actress Rachel Weisz – who plays the grieving mother in the movie – also felt the film was “optimistic”.

She said: "It's very uplifting, optimistic and beautiful. It's obviously about a very serious subject matter, but I think the overriding feeling is very optimistic and shows you life is a miracle and a treasure."