Mark Ruffalo

Mark Alan Ruffalo (; born November 22, 1967) is an American actor. He began acting in the late 1980s and first gained recognition for his work in Kenneth Lonergan's play '' This Is Our Youth'' (1996) and drama film '' You Can Count on Me'' (2000). He went on to star in the romantic comedies '' 13 Going on 30'' (2004) and '' Just like Heaven'' (2005), and the thrillers '' In the Cut'' (2003), ''Zodiac'' (2007), and '' Shutter Island'' (2010). He received a Tony Award nomination for his supporting role in the Broadway revival of '' Awake and Sing!'' in 2006. Ruffalo has gained international recognition for playing Bruce Banner / The Hulk since 2012 in the superhero franchise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Ruffalo earned a record-tying four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing a sperm donor in '' The Kids Are All Right'' (2010), Dave Schultz in ''Foxcatcher'' (2014), Michael Rezendes in '' Spotlight'' (2015), and a debauched lawyer in '' Poor Things'' (2023). He won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor for playing a gay activist in the television drama film '' The Normal Heart'' (2015), and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor for his dual role as identical twins in the miniseries '' I Know This Much Is True'' (2020).

Early life

Mark Alan Ruffalo was born on November 22, 1967, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. His mother, Marie Rose (), is a hairdresser and stylist, while his father, Frank Lawrence Ruffalo Jr., worked as a construction painter. He has two sisters, Tanya Marie (died 2023) and Nicole, and a brother, Scott (died 2008). His father is of Italian descent, from Girifalco, Calabria, and his mother is of French Canadian and Italian ancestry. His father was a Bahai, while his mother was Christian. "I grew up in a household that had three religions in it, (born-again) Christianity, Catholicism and Bahai'ism, so there were different viewpoints and a lot of debate about that, and I immediately began to understand that all these people that I loved very much had very strong feelings about faith, but all of them were valid to me. I felt that none of them, my grandmother, my father or my mother, was better or worse than the other."

Ruffalo attended both Catholic and progressive schools throughout his education. Ruffalo has described himself as having been a "happy kid", although he struggled with undiagnosed dyslexia and ADHD as a child and a young adult.

Ruffalo spent his teen years in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where his father worked. He competed in wrestling in junior high and high school in Wisconsin and Virginia. Ruffalo graduated from First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach in 1986, where he acted for the Patriot Playhouse. He moved with his family to San Diego, California, and later to Los Angeles, where he took classes at the Stella Adler Conservatory and co-founded the Orpheus Theatre Company. With the theater company, he wrote, directed, and starred in a number of plays. He also spent close to a decade working as a bartender.

Career

1989–2002: Early film roles and theatre

He made his screen debut in an episode of ''CBS Summer Playhouse'' (1989), followed by minor film roles. Ruffalo played 'Vinnie Webber', a minor character in Series 1 Episode 9 of '' Due South'', first broadcast in Canada in 1994. During this time he made his film debut in the horror film '' Mirror, Mirror II: Raven Dance'' (1994) followed by '' Mirror, Mirror III: The Voyeur'' (1995). He starred as Warren Straub in the original cast of the Kenneth Lonergan play '' This Is Our Youth'' (1996) off-Broadway. Lonergan was a founding member of Naked Angels, a theater company that Ruffalo also belonged to. Ruffalo acted opposite Josh Hamilton and Missy Yager. Ruffalo had minor roles in films including '' The Dentist'' (1996), the low-key crime comedy '' Safe Men'' (1998), and Ang Lee's Civil War western '' Ride with the Devil'' (1999).

Ruffalo reunited with Kenneth Lonergan acting in his film '' You Can Count on Me'' (2000). Ruffalo portrayed Laura Linney's character's brother. The film received critical acclaim and two Academy Award nominations. He received favorable reviews for his performance in this film, often earning comparisons to the young Marlon Brando, and won awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and Montreal World Film Festival

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases