Mark Ruffalo (Moving Pictures, 2011)

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t's beena whirlwindof Lateof awardsceremonies
and planeridesfor
Mark RuffaLo
- so muchso that it'shardto pin him downfora chat.Via
phoneon a driveto Manhattanf rom upstateNewYorkwhere he Lives
ceLL
with hiswife,actressSunriseCoigney,
andtheirsonandtwo daughters,
he apo[o gizes
th en q uip s , I ' m har dert o int er v iewt han ELv i s l "
The43-year-oLd
actorearnedwidespread
kudosthisawaTds
season
for his smart portrayaIof a sperm-donordad who over-ingratiates
^ mseLfint o h is b iolo gicaL
chi Ldr en'fsam iLyin t he 0s c ar - nom ina t e dT h e
- inc ludingo n e sf o r
r es uLt ed
" d s A re A LtRig ht."A sle w of nom inat ions
: BAFTAand an AcademyAward- and he took homeihe New YorkFilm
l-itics CircleAwardand ComedyFi[mAwardfor BestSupportrng
Actor
RuffaLospenttwoyears afterf inishing"TheKidsAreALL
Right" exam ining
^ s career.Havinggrownwearyof Leaving
his familyfor iongstret:hes,he
he ser iou slycon sid ere dan ex t endedbr eak f r om ac t inc .T ^ e r e s :
-a y s
: rd periodof in trospe ctio nrenewedhis pas s ionf or t he c r : f : , a ^ : a :
^ : w Lookst o b oth act a nd d ir ec t .His m aidenef f or t beh r - c : - : : a - : - :
Sympathyf or De Liciou s,'
is s c heduledf or an Apr iLr eleas : - \ r i; , ; : - <
- rs A ngele san d Wa sh ing ton .
o: :t, - ' , , , : - . - i - : : - :
-he R uffaL ofiL mog rap hy is as t eady andecc. ec
: ^e rom coms,[ike "'13Go ingon 30" and "Rum or Has :
:--:--..s-:,
'
- c Iuding" Zod iac"a nd "shu tterls Land";
t he dr ar as , s , : - : : ^ : ^ = ] - : '
: rd Reservatio nRoa d";an d t he quir k y ,lk e. ' E: : - - : . S- - s - - =: ': - :
i c o tless Mind " an d Th e Bro t her sBloom . H s : - i: . : . - : - : . : - :- : 3 s
in Kennet hLc i. : - : : - s - ' : - la- l:- - : : ^
-a ura Linney'sa imtesssibti ng
' . t e in 2000 .ltwa s a p roje ctR uf f alos ay sf er : - : - ' ' - : : - € s : a- :
' I knew
someth ingma gicaI washappen^: , , , - : - , r e A: - . s - : :: - : i ,
: r t not ever yo nee tse ha d tha t s am e k ind : ' : : - ' : €^: €
- € - = :: . . : : : s .
"When
we rolled into Sundancethat year, most of the tal.kwas that it
w a s n t e d g ye n o u g h .B u t I r e m e m b e rs i t t i n gi n t h e a u d i e n cea n d h e a r i n g
t h a t f i r s t r i p p l . eo f L a u g h t e rT. h e r e 'sa m o m e n t i n f i L m ,i f yo u 'r e l u cky,
w h e n p e o p t e 'sc o o l n e s sa n d i d e n t i t yd r o p o f f a n d y o u 'r ea t l Le fti n a d e e p ,
c o L L e c t i veex p e r i e n c eI .w i t n e s s e dt h a t h a p p e n i n gw i t h t h a t m o vi e ."
He won awards for the part from the Los Angetes FiLm Critics
Associationand the MontreaIWorl.dFiLmFestivaL.
Perhaoseven more
t e t l i n g o f w h a t w a s t o c o m e w a s h i s b e i n g [ i k e n e dt o a y o u n g M a r to n
B r a n d o- a f i t t i n gc o m p a r i s o ng, i v e nt h e a c t i n gs e e dw a s p l a n te dfo r h i m
w h i l ew a t c h i n g A S t r e e t c a rN a m e dD e s i r e "w i t h h i s g r a n d m o th e r .
"l was a night
o w l , a n d s o m e t i m e sl c o u L d c o a x h e r i n to L e tti n gm e
s n e a kd o w nw h i l . et h e o t h e rk i d sw e r e a s l e e p , "h e s a y s ." O n en i g h t,w h e n
I w a s a b o u tB o r 9 , s h e t o l d m e t h e r e w a s a w o r l d w i d eT V p r e m i e r eo f a
g r e a tm o v i e .l t w a s S t r e e t c a r , 'a n di t h a da p r o f o u n di m p a c to n m e .Afte r
s e e i n gi t , I t h o u g h t ,'T h a t 'sw h a t I w a n t t o d o . " '
A s a t e e n a g e r g r o w i n g u p i n V i r g i n i a B e a c h ,V a . , R uffa L oi n i ti a tl y
c o n c e n t r a t e do n s p o r t s .T h e [ u r e o f t h e d r a m a d e p a r t m e n t,h o w e ve r ,
p r o v e dt o o s t r o n g ,a n d i n h i s s e n i o ry e a r , h e L e f tt h e w r e stl i n gte a m to
p t a ya d e t e c t i v ei n h i s h i g h s c h o o t 'sm u s i c a [ . 0 t h e rr o l e s f o tl o w e d ,a n d
R u f f a L o f fi c i a t t yb e g a nh i s l i f e a s a n a c t o r .
Whenhis familymovedto San Diegoafter he graduated,he "got tipped
off to the Ste[La
AdlerConservatory
in L.A.andtravelednorthbytrainevery
other day for eight monthsbeforefinaLLy
reLocating.
He Livedin a waLk-in
c L o s eitn s o m e o n e 'sh o m e f o r $ 2 0 0 a m o n t h w h i L ea t t e n d i n gsch o o La n d
t e n d i n gb a r a t t h e r i t z yC h a t e a uM a r m o n t- a s t i n t h e c a L t sa to ta Ig i ft.
''I t
w a s a n a m a z i n ge d u c a t i o nI. c a m e i n t o c o n t a c tw i t h a|'Lth e yo u n g
s t a r sa t t h a t t i m e a n d s a w h o wt h e b u s i n e s so p e r a t e dh, o wa g o o dp o r ti o n
f,r :
=. r c't t
47
of it wasjust sociatizing,"
he relates."l learneda lot abouipeopleand how
to assertmyself.lt was a veryeye-opening
experience
for me."
Ruffato initiatLy
sharpenedh is acting chopson the stageat the 0rpheus
TheatreCompany,which he co-foundedwith other noviceperformers.
The troupe was able to use the conservatoryas its laboratory,and he
wrote,directedand starredin a numberof productions.
StiLL,
RuffaLo
says
h e f ound it difficuttL an din g igs out s idet he c om pany going
,
to upwards
o f 400auditio nsu ntiLh e hit.
"l receiveda lot of rejectionsfor a longtime.
At one point,I was feel.ing
pretty[ow,and I went homeand my mom totd me she would neverspeak
to me againif I abandoned
acting.Andthis is a womanwho doesn'tput her
foot down too often," Ruffatosays.
Fortunatety,
Ruffal.o
stuckwith it and hasstippedintothe skins of a variety
of characters.
Morethanjust Likingthe peoplehe'splayed,he sayshe "gets
"Eachrole
them"andhasf un unraveting
theircomptexities
andambiguities.
sendsyouon its ownjourney,"he says."WithPaul.in 'Kids,'I Loved
that hewas
a bit dangerousat times [and]that you didn'tknowwhat he was up to. He
waLkeda tightropebetweenbeingLikabl.e
and havinghis actionsquestioned."
C VfsitMovingPi
MO VI NG P I CTU R E S N E T W O R K .COM
: SPRING' 1 ,I
''Sympathyfor
Deticbus.- in which he also co-stars, stands in stark
contrast to the fitms Rufbto has appearedin. The dark story centers on
a newly paratyzeddisc jockey who becomes enmeshed in the world of
faith heal.ing.
lt is basedon star and screenwriterChristopherThornton's
real-tifeexperiences
after breakinghis back in a climbingaccidentand
becomingwheelchair-bound.
Thorntonand Ruffatomet through the OrpheusTheatre Company,
and when Thorntonpitchedthe "Sympathy"story,Ruffatosays he knew
he wantedto directit. The productionprocessLasted10 years;the actual
shoottookjust 23 days.
Despiteatl the preparation,
Ruffatoadmitshe second-guessed
himseLf
the first dayon set. "l showedup and thought,'Whatthe hetLhaveI gotten
mysetfinto?'But after a whiLeit fett very naturalto me, more than actingin
someways.I'vebeenableto watchsome of the greatestdirectorsin modern
cinemaandco[[aboraie
withthem.I reatized
that I hadassimilated
a Lotfrom
beingon setsfor so manyyears."
"Creatively,
Mark is a creatureof pure instinct,"remarksThornion."He
much prefersto be alive in the moment and open to anythingthat may
occur,ratherthan be catcutated
or overtyrehearsed.lt's a very
cha[l.enging,
excitingwafto work, and he'sbraveto do it."
The fitm premieredat the 2010SundanceFil.mFestivat,bui
whiteit received
a GrandJurynomination
andwontheSpeciaIJury
Prize,it didn'tgetpickedupfor distribution
untiINovember:
Ruffato
attributesthe [apseto lastyear'sdiminishedindiemarketplace
as
wetl as his materiat,which he describesas difficul.tand not easity
patatable.Therewere lowbatloffersat the outset,but Ruffaloand
hisproducers
choseto passandwaitfora companythatwou[d
give
the f i[m a fair shake.Thatcompanywas MayaEntertainment.
"l'm real.l.y
happyweendedup at Maya,"RuffaLo
says."l'd seen
how audienceshad respondedto the fil.m.ls it perfect?ProbabLy
not. But it's sincereand worthyof beingseen."
The actor wi[[ undoubtedlybe seen by many next spring in
JossWhedon'sbig-screentreatmentof the ctassicMarvelcomic
''TheAvengers,"in which
he'tl.pLayBruceBanner,aka the HuLk,
.ina formidab[ecastthat atsoinctudesRobertDowneyJr.,Chris
Hemsworth,ScarlettJohansson,Chris Evans,Jeremy Renner
a n dS a m u e L . J a c k s o n .
Ruffaloatso wi[[ reunite with screenwriterStuart Btumberg
- who co-penned"The Kids Are Att Right" with director Lisa
- for the dramedy"Thanksfor Sharing,"ptayingone
Cholodenko
of three sex addictsin recovery.
Currentlydevelopinghis second directing effor:1,.-Ruffato
wi[[
bring a newfoundwisdom from his freshmanouting:"With at[
the doubtlfelt atongthe way, | [earnedthat it's rea[[yup to you
a s a n i n d i v i d u atlo 'm a k ey o u r b o n e s . l' t 's y o uw h o m a ke syo u r
own [imitations."-r"rp