Mark Ruffalo
Mark Ruffalo
Mark Alan Ruffalo is an American actor, director, humanitarian, social activist, and film producer. He made his screen debut in an episode of CBS Summer Playhouse, followed by minor film roles. He was part of the original cast of This Is Our Youth, for which he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Following was his roles in 13 Going on 30, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Zodiac, and What Doesn't Kill You. In 2010, he starred in the...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth22 November 1967
CityKenosha, WI
CountryUnited States of America
With indies, all they have is their script and it's very important to them. The characters are better drawn, the stories more precise and the experience greater than with studio films where sometimes they fill in the script as they're shooting.
I've been able to hide behind the character in Eternal Sunshine . People don't recognize me from Collateral . But this feels more exposed.
Each role, I feel like takes you on a different journey based on who that character is.
When you're trying to do character work that's different from what people expect from you, you're sort of in territory that is uncharted, and you don't know how it's playing all the time.
I think we've all been kind of... everyone's been hurt, everyone's felt loss, everyone has exultation, everyone has a need to be loved, or to have lost love, so when you play a character, you're pulling out those little threads and turning them up a bit.
I mean, I think I admire my wife the most out of anyone. She's really smart, in a practical way that I don't have. We balance each other.
I knew playwrights and stage directors before I ever knew filmmakers,
I have two hammocks, one Mayan and one Guatemalan, both family size because I like to lie in them perpendicular. When I'm working on a character, I lie in them and daydream. They're the best tools for working that I have.
I like doing the action and the romantic comedy stuff,
I love 'The Sportswriter' by Richard Ford. Ford really captures for me the bittersweetness of the quietly suffering American man. It's stoic, sad, and really beautiful.
I'm sacrificing part of my anonymity which I enjoy to have more options as far as what I can get off the ground. It's a give and take sort of thing.
I'm the lead inspector in the Zodiac case. It's a great part.
I want to do a western. Nobody does westerns anymore.
It's been up, down, and sideways for me, man. I could become a huge star, or I could get cancer tomorrow.