An actor, director, producer, and just a great guy – it’s all about Mark Alan Ruffalo. His name is associated with a wide variety of works – from Hollywood blockbusters and romantic comedies to psychological thrillers and dramas. Although, his most famous role to date remains the Hulk from the Avengers franchise. But the actor’s talent lies far beyond superhero films.
Childhood and early years
The actor was born on November 22, 1967. His homeland is the picturesque town of Kenosha, formed in the middle of the 19th century by Italian immigrants. Probably among them were the ancestors of Mark, in whose Italian blood flows. It is to his roots that the actor owes his bright appearance, curls, and hot character.
In his youth, Mark was fond of wrestling. He was promised a great sports career. Their school performance was poor due to his congenital dyslexia and attention deficit disorder. Another hobby of the young man was aсting, which in the end, prevailed. Soon after the family moved to Los Angeles, he entered an acting studio, where he made friends with another talented student, Benicio del Toro.
After graduation, the young man was not for long a member of a theatrical troupe. Although he was a fan of theater, cinema still attracted him more, and Mark began to participate in castings.
In an interview, the actor says that he never wanted fame. He just wanted to do what his soul aspired to. A devout Catholic, he tried to take rejections and take a hit while continuing to audition over and over again. According to Mark, he sometimes gave vent to emotions and out of powerlessness and resentment beat his fists into the walls of his tiny rented room, and then pasted them with posters with famous actors. To somehow have money for life, he worked as a bartender. Mark perceived his work as another step on the path to a dream and used it to observe people whose manners he copied, increasing his acting skills.
First success
Mark was over thirty years old when he achieved success. He first appeared on screen in 1996 in the thrash-horror film The Dentist with the brilliant Corbin Bernsen as a maniac doctor. However, the rise of a new star passed unnoticed. For three years, Mark performed only a few roles. But one of them became for the young actor a happy ticket to the world of big cinema.
In 1999, the tape You Can Count On Me was released. It was directed by Kenneth Lonergan, whom Mark knew from his work in the theater. The partner of the young actor was the already famous Laura Linney. The picture won several awards and nominations, and Hollywood bosses drew attention to Mark Ruffalo for the first time.
From 1999 to 2003, Mark began to receive offers and quickly managed to build a reputation as a docile and obligatory actor who knows how to fully get into the role. During this period, he starred in the hilarious comedy Apartment 12, in which he played a young artist forced to get along with restless flatmates. And in the films Windtalkers and The Last Castle, the young actor played along with the famous Robert Redford, Peter Stormare, and Nicolas Cage.
Main roles
The period from 2003 to 2010 was marked by the great success of the Mark. The actor acquired his recognizable style and fame as a master of deep dramatic play. During this period, he played in more than 30 films, each of which took its rightful place in the world film fund.
Among the films in which Mark’s acting talent shone, critics noted the drama We Don’t Live Here Anymore, in which the actor composed a wonderful acting ensemble with Laura Dern, Peter Krause, and Naomi Watts. And the role of a policeman in In the Cut, played by Mark Ruffalo, made his army of fans go crazy. Meg Ryan and Jennifer Jason Leigh played alongside Ruffalo in the story of the investigation of a terrible murder, penetrated through and through with exquisite eroticism.
In 2008, Mark Ruffalo worked in the apocalyptic film Blindness. Mark’s partners were Julianne Moore and Danny Glover and one of his close friends – Gabriel Garcia Bernal.
2010 brought the actor a BAFTA nomination for his role in the comedy The Kids Are All Right and the opportunity to compose a brilliant cast with Leo DiCaprio, Max von Sydow, and Sir Ben Kingsley in the eerie thriller Shutter Island, directed by Martin Scorsese himself.
Also, in 2010, Mark acted as a director: he presented his film Sympathy for Delicious to the audience, which Orlando Bloom and Juliet Lewis played. This picture, according to Ruffalo himself, is an expression of his life values, and faith in the triumph of love. Mark’s debut collected good box office receipts, justifying the money spent, and earned excellent reviews from film connoisseurs.
From 2012 to 2017, Mark Ruffalo’s creative success was replenished with his brilliant work in several parts of the series The Avengers as the giant Hulk, in the films Now You See Me, Foxcatcher, and Spotlight, for his role in which he received several prestigious awards.
