Los Angeles - Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg apologised on Wednesday for comments about the September 11 2001 attacks, in which he claimed he would have overpowered the hijackers.
The 40-year-old hard-man actor, whose latest movie Contraband topped the north American box office last weekend, said his remarks were "irresponsible" and "insensitive".
Wahlberg, who was nominated for an Oscar last year for The Fighter, made the offending comments in "Men's Journal", when asked what he would have done had he been on one of the planes which hit the World Trade Centre.
Irresponsible
"If I was on that plane with my kids, it wouldn't have went down like it did," he told the magazine.
"There would have been a lot of blood in that first-class cabin and then me saying, 'OK, we’re going to land somewhere safely, don't worry'," added the actor, who was born in a poor working class district of Boston.
In a statement released by his publicist, Walhberg - who was rapper Marky Mark when he was younger - apologised for the comments.
"To speculate about such a situation is ridiculous to begin with, and to suggest I would have done anything differently than the passengers on that plane was irresponsible," he said.
"I deeply apologise to the families of the victims that my answer came off as insensitive, it was certainly not my intention," he added.