We wrote about the life of actor Mark Ruffalo, now loved and known by everyone, who struggled with dyslexia in his childhood that no one noticed and then had to work as a bartender for close to ten years in his youth.
His full name is Mark Alan Ruffalo, he was born on November 22, 1967 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He was born to Marie Rose Hébert, a French, Canadian, and Italian mother, a hairdresser and stylist, and Frank Lawrence Ruffalo Jr., an Italian-born father, a construction painter. Ruffalo has two sisters, Tania and Nicole, and a brother, Scott.
Ruffalo, who attended both Catholic and progressive schools throughout his education life, described himself as a "happy child" despite struggling with dyslexia and ADHD. Ruffalo, who spent his teenage years in Virginia Beach, Virginia, competed in wrestling in middle and high school there. Later, he moved with his family to San Diego, California, and then to Los Angeles, where he took classes at the Stella Adler Conservatory. At the same time, he founded the Orpheus Theater Company. Ruffalo, who wrote, directed and performed numerous plays with the theater company, spent nearly ten years working as a bartender.
He made her screen debut in an episode of the anthology series "CBS Summer Playhouse" (1989). Then, he got small roles in many movies and plays. In 1994, Ruffalo starred as a minor character 'Vinnie Webber' in Series 1 Episode 9 of the Canadian crime comedy-drama TV series "Due South".
He later had minor roles in the slasher movie "The Dentist"(1996), the simple crime comedy movie "Safe Men"(1998) and the Ang Lee directed western "Ride with the Devil"(1999). Ruffalo had a chance meeting with writer Kenneth Lonergan. Thus, the duo began collaborating and appeared in Lonergan's play "This is Our Youth". He then followed up with the Academy Award-winning drama "You Can Count On Me" (2000), also written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, in which he plays the brother of Laura Linney's character. The film and actress performances received highly positive reviews among critics.
His next role was playing a bookie in a military prison with Robert Redford in the 2001 action drama movie "The Last Castle" directed by Rod Lurie. The film was not successful both critically and at the box office. The following year, he appeared in the romantic drama film "XX/XY" (2002), written and directed by Austin Chick, with Kathleen Robertson and Maya Stange.
In the following years, he starred in the drama film "My Life Without Me" (2003), directed by Isabel Coixet, with Sarah Polley, Scott Speedman and Leonor Watling. It was positive both in terms of box office and criticism. That same year, he appeared in the war movie "Windtalkers" (2003), directed by John Woo, with Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Peter Stormare, Noah Emmerich and Christian Slater. The film exploded at the box office, along with mixed reviews. Later that year, he starred in the psychological thriller "In the Cut" (2003), written and directed by Jane Campion. While the performances of the actors were praised, the film was not appreciated.
The following year, he starred alongside Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet and Kirsten Dunst in the science fiction romantic drama film "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (2004), directed by Michel Gondry. The film received universal acclaim from critics and audiences and was a worldwide box office success. It was also named among the Top 10 Movies of 2004. That year, he co-starred in the drama film "We Don't Live Here Anymore" (2004), based on two short stories written by Andre Dubus. He then appeared as a narcotics detective in the police action thriller "Collateral" (2004), directed by Michael Mann, in which he appeared alongside Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise.
In the 2000s, Ruffalo appeared in the romantic comedy "View From the Top"(2002) directed by Bruno Barreto and the fantasy romantic comedy "13 Going on 30"(2004) directed by Gary Winick. The former was received negatively, while the latter garnered praise from critics. The following year, he starred opposite Reese Witherspoon and Jon Heder in the romantic comedy fantasy adventure movie "Just Like Heaven" (2005), directed by Mark Waters. The film received mixed reviews from critics and was successful at the box office.
At the time, he co-starred with Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, and Shirley MacLaine in the romantic comedy movie "Rumor Has It" (2005), directed by Rob Reiner. The film, which was a disappointment at the box office, also received negative reviews from critics. In 2006, Ruffalo wrote "Awake and Sing!" by Clifford Odets. He appeared at the Belasco Theater in New York City and earned a Tony Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for his performance.
In March 2007, he starred in the mystery thriller "Zodiac" directed by David Fincher as Dave Toschi, the homicide investigator who leads the investigation to find and arrest the Zodiac killer. The film, which was nominated for many awards, was successful with the revenue it received in return for its production budget. In 2007, Ruffalo starred as Dwight Arno, a divorced lawyer who eventually accidentally kills a child and walks away in Terry George's crime drama film "Reservation Road", based on a novel and directed by Terry George.
The following year, he appeared as a con man in the comedy-drama film "The Brothers Bloom", written and directed by Rian Johnson, with Adrien Brody and Rachel Weisz. In the same year, he starred with Julianne Moore in the thriller "Blindness" directed by Fernando Meirelles. Neither was successful at the box office. In 2008, Ruffalo starred in the drama film "What Don't Kill You", which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was directed by Brian Goodman, starring opposite Ethan Hawke and Amanda Peet.
In 2009, he made a cameo appearance as Max's mother's boyfriend in the fantasy adventure drama movie "Where the Wild Things Are" directed by Spike Jonze. In 2010, he co-starred with Leonardo DiCaprio in the psychological thriller "Shutter Island" directed by Martin Scorsese. The film, which was released on February 19, 2010, received generally positive reviews and was selected as one of the ten best films of 2010.
In the same year, he met with Annette Bening and Julianne Moore in the comedy-drama film "The Kids Are All Right" directed by Lisa Cholodenko. The movie was a great success at the box office and was also appreciated by the critics. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance. Ruffalo, who directed a number of plays during his executive tenure at Orpheus Theater Company, made his feature film directorial debut with the 2010 independent drama "Sympathy for Delicious". The film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Special Jury Award, also starred alongside Christopher Thornton, Juliette Lewis, Orlando Bloom and Laura Linney.
Ruffalo also starred as Dr. Ruffalo in "The Avengers" (2012), the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero movie. He was cast as Bruce Banner/Hulk as part of a large and famous cast. It broke multiple box office records, making it the third highest-grossing film of all time at the time of its release and the highest-grossing film of 2012. He reprized the same role in the sequels "Avengers: Age of Ultron"(2015), "Thor: Ragnarok"(2017), "Avengers: Infinity War"(2018) and "Avengers: Endgame"(2019)". They were critically acclaimed and received positive reviews from critics and the audience, each breaking box office records and boosting the recognition of the cast.
In 2013, he starred in the heist movie "Now You See Me" directed by Louis Leterrier, with a cast of Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Mélanie Laurent, Morgan Freeman, Woody Harrelson, Michael Caine, Common, and Dave Franco. While the film received mixed reviews, it was a box office success, grossing worldwide against the production budget. It has also received several nominations, while winning many awards. That same year, he co-starred with Keira Knightley in the musical comedy-drama film "Begin Again," written and directed by John Carney. The film, which received mostly positive reviews at the box office and from the critics, was also nominated for the Academy Awards.
In 2014, Ruffalo starred as Ned Weeks in "The Normal Heart" in the TV drama film adaptation of the AIDS era play "The Normal Heart" written and directed by Larry Kramer. He earned an Emmy Award nomination for his performance. Also in 2014, he portrayed the character of wrestler Dave Schultz in the biographical psychological drama sports movie "Foxcatcher." He earned his second Academy Award nomination for his performance.
The following year, in 2015, he co-starred with Zoe Saldana as the father of two with bipolar disorder in the Golden Globe Award-nominated independent comedy-drama film "Infinitely Polar Bear," written and directed by Maya Forbes. The film, which received generally positive reviews, failed to achieve the same performance at the box office. He also had one of the lead roles as journalist Michael Rezendes in the biographical drama film "Spotlight" (2015), directed by Tom McCarthy. For his performance, he earned her third Academy Award nomination and BAFTA Award nomination. Additionally, it received widespread critical acclaim with critics.
In 2016, he reprized his role with the same cast in the sequel heist "Now You See Me 2". The film, which grossed $334 million worldwide, garnered mixed reviews from critics. In 2019, he appeared alongside Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins, Bill Camp and Victor Garber in the legal thriller "Dark Waters" directed by Todd Haynes.
Ruffalo also made cameo appearances as Banner in the superhero films "Iron Man 3"(2013), "Captain Marvel"(2019), and "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" (2021). He also reprized his role in the TV mini-series "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" (2022). While the series received generally positive reviews from critics, reactions to its visual effects were mixed.
Later that year, he starred in the science fiction action comedy movie "The Adam Project" (2022), directed by Shawn Levy, with Ryan Reynolds, Walker Scobell, Jennifer Garner, Catherine Keener, and Zoe Saldaña. The film received mixed reviews, with praise for the performances, and was nominated for multiple awards in various categories.
In 2023, he appeared with Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe and Ramy Youssef in the movie "Poor Things" based on the novel of the same name and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. The movie is expected to hit theaters on September 8, 2023. He also appeared with Robert Pattinson, Steven Yeun, Naomi Ackie and Toni Collette in the science fiction film "Mickey 17", based on the novel and written and directed by Bong Joon-ho. The movie is scheduled to be released on March 29, 2024.
Private life
Ruffalo decided to marry Sunrise Coigney in 2000. The couple has three children. He lives with his family in Sullivan County, New York.
In 2001, Ruffalo was diagnosed with a type of brain tumor, also known as acoustic neuroma. He was told that the tumor was benign and needed surgery. Ruffalo, who had partial facial paralysis after surgery, also affected his hearing. Although the facial paralysis subsides after one year, the hearing problem in his left ear continues. Not afraid to speak up for many problems and issues, Ruffalo also took part in different campaigns and shows.