Mark Ruffalo has had a pretty Marvel-ous week. (Yes, that was a bad comic book pun.) Last Saturday, the well-traveled actor (recent credits: Where The Wild Things Are, Shutter Island, Date Night) helped cause the biggest stir at Comic-Con when he was introduced by no less than Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr., as the new Hulk in Marvel Studios’ movie version of The Avengers, due in 2012. Meanwhile, his acclaimed indie The Kids Are All Right, which is already garnering Oscar buzz, continued to put up great box office numbers in limited release. In the film, directed by Lisa Cholodenko (High Art), Julianne Moore and Annette Bening play lesbians in a longtime, faithful (though not perfect) relationship, each with a teenage child conceived via artificial insemination provided by the same anonymous dude. Their family unit is rocked when one of their kids seeks out the sperm donor dad (Ruffalo), a man much more successful in his professional life than personal life. We caught up with Ruffalo and spoke with him about Hulk (and the Ed Norton thing) and Kids — and being used as “a riding pummel.” Read the rest of this entry »

Collide interviewed Mark Ruffalo, when cast and crew were promoting “The Kids Are All Right”, and it was a great interview! Mark talks about how he got involved in “The Kids”, the difference between promoting something you’re proud and something you’re not, about Zodiac, and updates on Kenneth Lonergan’s delayed Margaret. Watch it below:

With two Satellite Awards for best actor, plus a film coming out this Friday, this could and should have been a good week for 41-year-old Mark Ruffalo, whose acting career was threatened six years ago when he underwent surgery for a brain tumor that was found to be benign.

Instead this week will go down as one of the worst in the life of the actor in front of You Can Count on Me, In the Cut, Zodiac and this year’s underappreciated Blindness, when his younger brother, Scott Ruffalo, died Monday night after living on life support for a week since he was found shot in the head outside of his Beverly Hills condominium, Dec. 1. Scott was 39.

One of the two Satellite awards was for Mark’s performance as Stephen, a conman, in Brothers Bloom. The other was for his performance in the upcoming and ill fated-titled film, What Doesn’t Kill You.

Based on the life and screenplay of Mark’s buddy — the film’s writer-director and actor, Brian Goodman — Mark plays Brian, a drug addicted hoodlum, husband and father who almost went over the edge living and working with his partner in crime, Paulie (Ethan Hawke), on the streets of working class Boston.

As more and more details come out Scott’s death – the narrative has moved from random robbery to a drug-induced Russian roulette mistake – What Doesn’t Kill You, Mark’s performance in the film, and what he said below in a pre-Thanksgiving interview takes on an extra layer of meaning.

Why did you want to make this film?

Mark Ruffalo: The true story aspect of it makes it completely different. In my memory I can’t remember a lot of films that are quite like this, that deal with drug addiction and crime and just rising out of it in a really, kind-of-honest way. It gets glorified or it gets so sappy with 12-step stuff it becomes like a preachy kind of thing. I knew if I could play Brian that would be a pretty great and interesting role.

Read here the rest of the interview.

Two days ago, we could see here in Brazil the Inside the Actor Studio with Mark. My great friend Mariana kindly recorded the whole interview, and send me some screencaptures to add here.

There’s more to come, but to start you can see pictures of Mark at childhood and when he was doing classes at “The Stella Adler Studio of Acting” school. Great additions, thanks Mari!

GALLERY LINKS
• Inside the Actor Studio screencaptures: Childhood
• Inside the Actor Studio screencaptures: On Stage

Nobody does sheepish guilt like Mark Ruffalo. The doggedly boyish-looking actor from You Can Count On Me, We Don’t Live Here Anymore and (as proof he can do rom-coms as well as the next guy) 13 Going On 30 has a real penchant for playing remorseful dudes. That quality is perfect for his role as Reservation Road’s Dwight Arno, the man who leaves behind Ethan and Grace Learner’s (Joaquin Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly) son in a hit-and-run and then must live with the consequences. I spoke with Ruffalo during the Film Festival, where, fittingly, he spent the entire interview in shadow. Read the rest of this entry »

Always at the top of his game in every movie he does, Mark Ruffalo might be one of America’s most underrated actors, which may be why he’s unlikely to get nearly the attention he deserves for his performance in Reservation Road, an adaptation of John Burnham Schwartz’s stirring novel about the grief and guilt surrounding a hit ‘n’ run accident.

In this dramatic film adaptation by Terry George (Hotel Rwanda), Ruffalo plays Dwight Arno, a Connecticut lawyer who’s been separated from his wife (Mira Sorvino) but who still wants to spend time with his young son, something that might be taken away from him after a tragic accident in which he hits and kills a young boy with his SUV and then decides to drive off. Racked by guilt, Dwight suddenly finds himself in constant contact with the boy’s grieving parents, played by Joaquin Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly, without them realizing he’s to blame.

Most people seeing this movie will probably put their main focus on the grief suffered by the boy’s parents, but in actuality, Ruffalo has the more interesting part, as we watch him dealing with the repercussions of his action while struggling with the decision on whether to confess and face possible jail time. Read the rest of this entry »

This under-rated star picks favourites in film and politics

Not only is Mark Ruffalo one of the finest actors working today, he’s also probably the most self-effacing.

The former stage actor’s brand of performance is the kind that too often goes unnoticed. Like a chameleon, Ruffalo inhabits the space of a character to an extent that most don’t recognize the actor beneath. Sure enough, audiences end up showering his costars with recognition instead.

Overdue for some awards recognition of his own, Ruffalo has already punched in two memorable performances this year that could serve as his ticket to the Oscars, with stand-out roles in Zodiac and Reservation Road (which opens this Friday). Ruffalo would rather not play favourites. After some arm twisting he leans towards Zodiac, but not for his own purposes. Read the rest of this entry »