1967-present
Latest News: Mark Ruffalo Seeks First Academy Award with 2024 Oscar Nomination
Fourth time could be the charm for 2024 Oscar nominee Mark Ruffalo. The 56-year-old actor is once again in the running for the Best Supporting Actor trophy at the Academy Awards, held on March 10 this year. He received the nomination for his performance in 2023’s Poor Things, a Frankenstein-esque tale starring Emma Stone and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. Ruffalo’s competitors include Sterling K. Brown, Robert De Niro, Robert Downey Jr., and Ryan Gosling.
All four of Ruffalo’s Academy Award nominations have been in the supporting actor category. He was previously recognized for his roles in The Kids Are All Right (2009), Foxcatcher (2014), and Spotlight (2015). In total, Poor Things collected 11 Oscar nods, second only to Christopher Nolan’s biopic Oppenheimer about scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb that garnered 13 nominations.
Who Is Mark Ruffalo?
Actor Mark Ruffalo is known for his role as the Hulk in The Avengers movies, as well as for parts in 13 Going on 30, Foxcatcher, Spotlight, and his Emmy-winning performance in the TV show I Know This Much Is True. He started out in the Los Angeles theater scene before his career turned toward Hollywood with a role in the 2000 movie You Can Count on Me. Higher profile movie work followed, as did his first of four Academy Award nominations for his performance in 2010’s The Kids Are All Right. Two years later, Ruffalo found a new level of fame thanks to Marvel Cinematic Universe. He assumed the role of the Hulk for The Avengers and has appeared in multiple sequels and related TV shows. A prominent environmental activist offscreen, Ruffalo has lent his voice to anti-fracking and clean water causes. His most recent movie is 2023’s Poor Things, which earned him another Oscar nomination.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Mark Alan Ruffalo
BORN: November 22, 1967
BIRTHPLACE: Kenosha, Wisconsin
SPOUSE: Sunrise Coigney (2000-present)
CHILDREN: Keen, Bella, and Odette
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Sagittarius
Early Life
Mark Alan Ruffalo was born on November 22, 1967, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to Frank Ruffalo and Marie Hebert. His father worked as a construction painter and his mother as a hairdresser. Mark was one of four kids, along with his brother, Scott, and sisters Tanya and Nicole.
During Mark’s teenage years, the family lived in Virginia Beach, Virginia. They moved to San Diego after his graduation, and soon, his parents marriage fell apart. Mark eventually settled in Los Angeles.
Today, Mark’s only surviving sibling is his sister Nicole. In 2008, his brother died a week after he was shot in the head at his residence in Beverly Hills, California. Scott was found with a gun in his left hand, but the Los Angeles coroner ruled his death a homicide. Mystery still surrounds the case. Tanya died in June 2023, according to an online obituary.
While in Los Angeles, Mark studied acting at the Stella Adler Conservatory and later cofounded a theater company with friends. It was Ruffalo’s main platform for acting, though he landed small parts on TV and in films. A meeting with playwright Kenneth Lonergan changed his fate.
Ruffalo began appearing in Lonergan’s plays, notably This Is Our Youth, which led to his landing the male lead in Lonergan’s soon-to-follow movie You Can Count on Me (2000). Ruffalo’s performance drew critical and popular attention, and he took his first steps onto the Hollywood map.
Movies
After Ruffalo made a splash in You Can Count on Me (2000), notable roles came one after the next. The budding movie actor had prominent roles in XX/XY (2002), Windtalkers (2002), and In the Cut (2003). He has since starred in rom-coms like 13 Going on 30, superhero fare such as The Avengers, and indie flicks, collecting four Academy Award nominations in the process.
13 Going on 30
In 2004, Ruffalo appeared in four movies: We Don’t Live Here Anymore, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 13 Going on 30, and Collateral. The films widely varied in genre—drama, romantic-comedy, and action-thriller, among them—collectively showcasing Ruffalo’s range. In particular, 13 Going on 30 starred Ruffalo as a lovable leading romantic interest opposite Jennifer Garner and marked his biggest role to date.
Ruffalo wasn’t as omnipresent in the following years, but he consistently appeared on screens worldwide. Movies such as Just Like Heaven (2005), All the King’s Men (2006), Zodiac (2007), and Reservation Road (2007) all helped to build Ruffalo’s already blossoming reputation in Hollywood.
The Kids Are All Right
Ruffalo changed gears in 2009 when he directed the indie film Sympathy for Delicious, which was awarded the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. That year, he also starred in The Kids Are All Right, which led to his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In the film, Ruffalo portrays Paul Hatfield, an anonymous sperm donor to a same-sex couple who ends up getting entangled in the family’s complicated dynamics when his biological children decide to contact him. The movie also garnered Independent Spirit, Screen Actors Guild, and BAFTA nominations for Ruffalo.
Playing Hulk in The Avengers
A high-profile role in Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island (2010) preceded Ruffalo’s most significant role to date: Bruce Banner, a.k.a. the Hulk, in the 2012 blockbuster The Avengers based on the Marvel comic books. He reprised this role in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019). Ruffalo again appeared as Bruce Banner/the Hulk role in the Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and What If…?
Now You See Me and Thank You for Sharing
In addition to the Hulk, Ruffalo has tackled other interesting roles. He appeared in the crime thriller Now You See Me (2013) with Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg, the sex-addiction indie comedy Thank You for Sharing (2013) with Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim Robbins, and the musical drama Begin Again (2014) with Keira Knightley.
The Normal Heart
Returning to his theater roots in a sense, Ruffalo took on the lead in The Normal Heart, a TV adaptation of an acclaimed Broadway play about the beginning of the AIDS crisis. He played Alexander “Ned” Weeks, a gay man and activist navigating the rise of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s.
The 2014 cable movie proved to be a hit with television viewers; more than one million people tuned in to watch the premiere of the star-studded drama, which also featured Julia Roberts, Matt Bomer, and Jim Parsons. The Normal Heart wowed critics as well and earned Ruffalo an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie. Also an executive producer of the movie, Ruffalo walked away an Emmy statute when The Normal Heart was named Outstanding Television Movie.
Foxcatcher
Also in 2014, Ruffalo appeared as one of the lead roles in the drama Foxcatcher. He portrayed a wrestler affiliated with millionaire and self-appointed trainer John du Pont and the brother to Channing Tatum’s character, also a wrestler. Both Ruffalo and Tatum underwent seven months of wrestling training to prepare for their roles, with Ruffalo later saying, “I really felt my age… it was a lot of hard work.”
The film, which starred Steve Carell as du Pont, garnered significant awards buzz and critical interest. Ruffalo earned both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for his supporting role.
Infinitely Polar Bear and Spotlight
Continuing his string of successes, Ruffalo delivered a strong performance as a manic-depressive father trying to prove his parenting abilities in the 2015 comedy-drama Infinitely Polar Bear, snagging his fourth Golden Globe nomination in the process.
He later earned his third Oscar nod, this time for his portrayal of newspaper reporter Mike Rezendes in the 2015 drama Spotlight, which follows the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal in Boston. The movie won Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay in 2016.
The Price and Dark Waters
In the midst of his Marvel commitments, Ruffalo nevertheless found time to reprise his character of Agent Dylan Rhodes for Now You See Me 2 (2016). He then starred as an attorney who risks his life and livelihood to take on corporate chemical giant DuPont in Dark Waters. The 2019 drama, based on a true story, combined Ruffalo’s passions for acting and environmental activism.
Poor Things
Ruffalo’s newest movie is the acclaimed sci-fi/fantasy Poor Things, starring Emma Stone. Ruffalo portrays a free-roaming lawyer who travels across continents with a woman who has been brought back from the dead by a scientist. The movie premiered at the Venice Film Festival in August 2023 and saw a theatrical release that December. Poor Things earned 11 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Ruffalo’s fourth nod for Best Supporting Actor. It also won the 2024 Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy.
New Movie: Mickey 17
Up next, Ruffalo has a part in director Bong Joon-ho’s next movie Mickey 17. The sci-fi thriller stars Robert Pattinson with Ruffalo cast in a villainous part. “People don’t generally see me as the bad guy, and I’ve stayed away from that stuff. But I’m really enjoying embracing it now,” the actor told Screen Daily of his roles in Mickey 17 and Poor Things. Originally scheduled for a March 2024 release, Mickey 17 has been delayed to accommodate ongoing post-production work.
TV Shows
Primarily a movie actor, Ruffalo has brought his talents to a limited number of TV shows, most notably the 2020 HBO miniseries I Know This Much Is True.
The Beat
Ruffalo’s career could have looked a lot differently if The Beat had taken off. The cop drama from 2000 featured Ruffalo as Zane Marinelli, a quick-tempered ladies-man in the New York Police Department, and Derek Cecil as his partner Mike Dorigan. The show ended after 13 episodes.
I Know This Much Is True
Two decades later, Ruffalo made a splash in the 2020 HBO miniseries I Know This Much Is True. He earned praise, not to mention awards, for his dual performance as twin brothers, one of whom has schizophrenia, in the show based on a best-selling novel by Wally Lamb. An Emmy and Golden Globe, both for best actor in a limited series, followed.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and What If…?
Ruffalo took his portrayal of Bruce Banner/the Hulk to the small screen in a pair of Disney+ shows. The first was She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, which featured Tatiana Maslany as the titular character, known by her human name Jennifer Walters. In the 2022 show, Ruffalo’s green giant tries to help his cousin She-Hulk adjust to her new identity after some drops of his irradiated blood come into contact with an open wound on Walters’ body.
Ruffalo also voiced the Hulk in the animated series What If…? Occurring in an alternate universe, he portrays his character in the 2008 standalone movie The Incredible Hulk, which starred Edward Norton in the lead role before Ruffalo took up the mantle.
All the Light We Cannot See
This four-part limited series from Netflix is based on the novel of the same name by Anthony Doerr and saw Ruffalo play locksmith Daniel LeBlanc, the father of a blind girl, during World War II. All the Light We Cannot See was released in November 2023.
Theater
In addition to his movie and TV roles, Ruffalo has appeared on stage. He earned a Tony Award nomination in 2006 for his starring role in Awake and Sing! and returned to Broadway for a 2017 revival of Arthur Miller’s The Price.
Wife and Kids
Ruffalo has been married to actor Sunrise Coigney since 2000, and together, they have three children. Their son, Keen, was born in June 2001, followed by daughters Bella, born in April 2005, and Odette, who arrived in October 2007. Both Keen and Bella have acted with their dad as both appeared in Thor: Ragnarok (2017).
Generally, Ruffalo keeps his family life private, but Coigney and the kids have walked several red carpets alongside Mark. Most recently, they attended the unveiling ceremony for Ruffalo’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in February 2024. The actor told People the accolade is “theirs as much as it is mine,” explaining “It’s not easy being married to an actor and being the children of an actor. I’m away a lot.”
Net Worth
Ruffalo’s net worth is approximately $35 million thanks to his roles in giant blockbusters, including Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, for which he earned $3 million, and Avengers: Infinity War, for which he earned $6 million.
Brain Tumor
During his ramp-up to broader success, 33-year-old Ruffalo suffered a setback in 2002 when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor known as acoustic neuroma. In a bizarre turn of events, Ruffalo partially predicted the health scare in a dream. “It was just like, ‘You have a brain tumor.’ It wasn’t even a voice,” Ruffalo said during a January 2024 podcast interview. “It was just pure knowledge: ‘You have a brain tumor, and you have to deal with it immediately.’”
Subsequent tests revealed a mass the size of a golf ball. The surgery to remove the cancer, which was determined to be benign, led to a period of partial facial paralysis and present-day deafness in his left ear. Otherwise, Ruffalo recovered fully, and his career picked up right where it had left off.
Environmental Activism
Ruffalo is widely known as an environmental activist, mainly focusing on combating fracking in New York state. Receiving an environmental award at Dickinson College in early 2015, Ruffalo notably told graduates, “I’m here to tell you that ‘activist’ is not a dirty word.” Living that message, Ruffalo founded the Solutions Project, which pushes for 100 percent renewable energy and is active with Water Defense, a group dedicated to anti-fracking and clean water initiatives.
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