Actor Mark Wahlberg hits the gym with daughter's boyfriend

LOS ANGELES - American actor Mark Wahlberg is known for his tough-guy image, thanks to roles in action films such as Transformers: Age Of Extinction (2014) and Patriots Day (2016). Nevertheless, he has taken his daughter Ella's boyfriend under his wing, posting a video clip on Instagram of the two working out together.

In the video, Wahlberg, 50, and the unnamed young man are wearing matching T-shirts from Municipal, a clothing line that the Hollywood star co-founded.

"I used to work out to keep the boys away from my girls. And now I'm working out with (my daughter's) boyfriend... Imagine that," Wahlberg says in the video, which has racked up some 2.5 million views since it was posted on Saturday (Jan 8).

In the caption, he adds that "Ella is a lucky girl and I'm a lucky dad! He is a great young man."

American television personality Mario Lopez commented that Wahlberg was "smart" for keeping his daughter's boyfriend close, while Wahlberg's wife, model Rhea Durham, 43, replied with a series of laugh-crying emoji.

The couple has two sons and two daughters, including Ella, the eldest at 18.

This is not the first time her father has met one of her boyfriends. In 2017, the actor spoke on the Live With Kelly And Ryan talk show about meeting another of Ella's male companions, only to never see him again.

"It was one of those things where I was like, 'Oh, this boy is really nice,' and now he's not around anymore - I don't know what happened," he said at the time.

But he quickly disclaimed that he "was not trying to intimidate him. It had nothing to do with me. I guess the relationship just didn't work out, and somehow I got blamed."

Wahlberg will be appearing on big screens soon, joining Spider-Man: No Way Home actor Tom Holland in the adventure film Uncharted. It is based on the popular video game series of the same name and due for release on Feb 17.