Mark is still hot. I don’t know any 56 year old men who look so good. He’s aged well, getting that rugged, Eastwood look.
Also- compare the lives. He ended up as you imagine Luke would- solid, long marriage, one wife, 3 pretty kids. No scandal- well liked.
Lifestyle does have an effect. Genetics too. He’s Swedish and Irish, getting a bit of that Cagney look as he gets older. But to compare him now to ‘77 is ludicrous. He was one of the prettiest men I’ve ever seen on screen. Tanned, blonde, big blue eyes and an incandescent smile- 25 and he looked 18. 30 years has to change that- it changes us all- and men don’t have the luxury of hiding behind serious face makeup every day.
Mark looks DAMNED good to this woman!
It’s interesting to wonder what he might have looked like without all the reconstructive surgery he had to have done after his car wreck.
Not that he’s bad looking now, but he was entirely different face in Empire—they could have recast the part and not gotten a much more different face.