DONNIE WAHLBERG TURNS 30

DONNIE WAHLBERG TURNS 30

LOS ANGELES (Wireless Flash) -- Former New Kids On The Block crooner Donnie Wahlberg turns 30 today (Aug. 17) -- and, boy, has he come a long way from his bubblegum pop days. These days, Wahlberg is following in the Method footsteps of Robert DeNiro by shedding 30 pounds for his latest role in the Bruce Willis flick "The Sixth Sense." Wahlberg tells "Backstage West" magazine that he lost the weight by locking himself up in a ratty New York apartment for three weeks where he starved himself to "become" his character -- a deeply disturbed mental patient. He says, "...the more I suffered, the closer I got to the character." The punch line to all this is that Wahlberg only appears on screen for about two minutes. "The Sixth Sense" is currently in theaters.