"I just had this fear of dying on the operating table." 'Hulk' Mark Ruffalo suffers from facial paralysis due to a brain tumour [69], Ruffalo signed a letter supporting Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn describing him as "a beacon of hope in the struggle against emergent far-right nationalism, xenophobia and racism in much of the democratic world" and endorsed him for in the 2019 UK general election. Mark Ruffalo's surprising apology (opinion) | CNN Mark Ruffalo - IMDb In 2010, he co-starred in the Martin Scorsese thriller Shutter Island as U.S. Then every news organization in the country ran it without bothering to check if it was true. RELATED:Two-Time Cancer Survivor Kathy Bates Warns Others Never to Do This. It was successfully removed with surgery, but Ruffalo suffered from partial paralysis of his face for a . [11], 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). Its like a low-grade depression that just is running all the time in the background.". Apparently Disney Could Get The Full Rights To Marvel Characters Hulk Mark Ruffalo - Biography - IMDb "It was big-time," he told Men's Journal. Mark Ruffalo - Wikipedia As a result of the tumour, he briefly suffered a period of partial facial paralysis. The side effects of the operation, however, have left Mark with many side effects. It catapulted his career. It's not accurate, it's inflammatory, disrespectful & is being used to justify antisemitism here & abroad. After burning through his Clearasil money, he started tending at a local dive bar. Ruffalo did in fact lose his hearing soon after surgery. Not for the first time in his career, losing a role because of a tragedy turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as when Ruffalo returned to the fold he gained Academy recognition and a part in what would become the highest-grossing Hollywood franchise of all time, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, all within the space of a few years. ", "Conspiracy Theories About Zika Spread Through Brazil With the Virus", "Dear President Obama: The Clean Energy Revolution is Now", "Mark Ruffalo seeks help in stopping MSNBC's white conservative hiring spree", "Mark Ruffalo in hulk rage at NBC, pushes petition to end 'white conservative hiring', "Election 2017: The surprising and not-so surprising ways celebrities will be casting their ballots today", "Who are celebrities voting for in 2017 General Election? She went "white as a sheet" when it turned out he was right. [27] He says he has had an outpouring of support for his performance: I've never had so sincere and vulnerable a response from people for anything that I've ever done. In an interview with New York Magazine, Ruffalo detailed his struggles after graduating high school. Atsushi Nishijima/HBO. Saturday, 4th March 2023See today's front and back pages, download the newspaper, order back issues and use the historic Daily Express newspaper archive. [42], Also in 2019, Ruffalo starred in and co-produced Dark Waters, which spotlighted another one of his environmental concerns with its true-life depiction of a corporate lawyer's relentless pursuit of justice to expose poisonous pollution by chemical behemoth DuPont. Inspired, he signed on for the role of Paul, a man who is contacted by two children born to a lesbian couple who used his donated sperm. "I was scheming things for my character," he admitted. All Rights Reserved. [51] The paralysis subsided after a year, but Ruffalo remains deaf in his left ear. Before surgery he was told he had an 80 percent chance of losing the hearing in his left ear and 20 percent chance of losing his facial nerve. Not that he wouldn't change things if he could. According to theLos Angeles Times, on Dec. 8, 2008, Mark's brother, Scott, died a week after he was shot in the head in his own home. Bestlifeonline.com is part of the Meredith Health Group. [7], Ruffalo spent his teen years in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where his father worked. Luckily, they were able to remove the tumor successfully. Ruffalo, 34 at the time, was diagnosed with acoustic neuroma in 2001, a benign brain tumour that slowly grows on the nerve used for hearing and balance. Eventually, word got out about Ruffalo's diagnosis and subsequent surgery, putting those rumors to rest. Ruffalo had a condition called an acoustic neuroma, a tumor situated behind his ear. [22] Ruffalo also made cameo appearances as Banner in Iron Man 3,[23] Captain Marvel,[24] and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,[25] and he reprised the role in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.[26]. We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. Even after he got his first paid acting gig (a 1989 Clearasil commercial that really hasn't aged well), he couldn't afford to move out of the Los Angeles' MacArthur Park, an area notorious for being overrun with drug dealers and dangerous addicts. You never get over it, you just get used to it. He was raised alongside two sisters and a brother by working-class parents of Italian and French-Canadian descent. His father, Frank, owned a construction painting business that he inherited from his father while his mother, Maria, worked as a hairstylist. Now at 53, his popularity has increased even more due to his role as Bruce Banner aka Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He had been the angriest man in the world, and he had such a calm demeanor. Instead, he asked God to take his hearingsomething his doctors had informed him was one possible outcome of the surgery. When hate rises, it calls all of us to rise . He is the founder of the 'Solutions Project', which works for achieving 100% renewable energy. "For a long time, I felt like someone had it in for me," Ruffalo told Parade. The brain tumor Mark was diagnosed with was found to be benign. It was a rough journey with prescribed steroids slowing down his recovery. [43], In October 2020, speaking to Mehdi Hasan, Ruffalo condemned what he called Israel's "asymmetrical warfare" against the Palestinians, stating, "There is no reason that an ally of America should not be held to the same standards as any other nation in the world." "Your priorities become very clear. In an interview with Men's Journal, Mark Ruffalo described his childhood and experiences as a young man. However, he beat the odds after six months of paralysis, Ruffalo was able to make very slight movements, signaling the beginning of a recovery that would still take several more months. Within an hour of the test, his doctor returned to share the results of the imaging. Three weeks after he welcomed son Keen into the world, he went under the knife, but not before recording a message in case he never woke up. [16], Ruffalo starred in The Avengers (2012), the sixth installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, replacing Edward Norton as Dr. Bruce Banner / Hulk. [58], In May 2022, Ruffalo was sued by residents of Ellenville, New York for not cleaning up a fire that broke out on the set of a car dealership that was used as a location for I Know This Much Is True. When speaking with theTelegraph, Ruffalo said that after six months of paralysis, the chances of regaining motor control over his whole face would be remote. As he told New York Magazine,he contacted director M. Night Shyamalan in an attempt to keep his acting gig in the upcoming film Signs. However, in the year 2000just as his career was taking offthe actor suffered a setback that could easily have thwarted the many achievements that lay ahead. Ruffalo said: I was praying and sort of bargaining with God I was like hey man, please um you know don't take my face and don't take my life because without my face I can't really support my family and without my life definitely can't support my family.. In an interview with Parade, Ruffalo described how he and his friend remained close, saying, "He was the only one I knew as sad as me who I could talk to.". While Mark Ruffalo was living in Los Angeles and taking classes at the Stella Adler Conservatory, he had a best friend named Michael. Self deprecation is the most lethal weapon in any ladykiller's arsenal. xhr.open('POST', 'https://www.google-analytics.com/collect', true); [1] With the theater company, he wrote, directed, and starred in a number of plays. I had become friendly with the set doctor on that movie who was on the board of the local hospital," the Spotlight star told the Acoustic Neuroma Association (ANA) in 2013. } ); "There were all kinds of rumors about what had happened to me," he said. Just saying, 'Hey, this is who I am.'" The A-Z of famous names supporting Labour, the Tories, the Lib Dems and Greens", "Mark Ruffalo in Standing Rock; Leo DiCaprio, Jesse Jackson Head to Standing Rock", "Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo enlisted by Green Party in bid for government support", "I have reflected & wanted to apologize for posts during the recent Israel/Hamas fighting that suggested Israel is committing "genocide". "When these things happen, you sort of remember your religion a little bit," he told the ANA. In 1994, Mark's best friend died by suicide. And I thought, 'yep.' The pair went through some of their toughest times together, forging a bond that went beyond blood. Ruffalo has described himself as having been a "happy kid",[6] although he struggled with undiagnosed dyslexia and ADHD as a child and a young adult. How Mark Ruffalo Discovered He Had a Brain Tumor Best Life Your IP: Gia Marcos is a writer based in Manila, Philippines. Mark Ruffalo health: Actor's life-threatening condition "Its Dysthymia. Ruffalo's statement chose to stand up for the dignity of Jews, who are facing a surge in anti-Semitism, and risk being attacked by his political allies. MBC A retelling of his life in He failed several times in the audition and went through tremendous suffering such as being judged for a brain tumor, facial paralysis, and deafness. In 2014, Ruffalo starred as Ned Weeks in a television adaptation of Larry Kramer's AIDS-era play, The Normal Heart; his performance earned him an Emmy nomination.