Mark Ruffalo is truly among the most kindest, humblest, and genuine souls in the entertainment world and in general. Known for his charitable works, the often outspoken and honest actor is among the most famous actors in the world, but there was a time when his life was nothing but a series of unfortunate tragedies.
The details of his tragic life are enough to make one wonder how he managed to get through it all and how he remains as humble as he is now. But before his eventual success, the actor was very near to quitting his illustrious acting career due to a personal incident that took him to a very dark place. This incident eventually convinced him to have one Julianne Moore starrer movie to be his last acting gig.
When Mark Ruffalo Nearly Quit His Acting Career
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Often in life, no matter who or what we are or what we have achieved, we question our lives, our choices, our careers, and pretty much everything else. And same happened to Mark Ruffalo back in 2008 when his younger brother Scott was murdered (via Daily Mail). His professional life, personal life, and career aspirations all collided in such a way that he began doubting everything, as Ruffalo himself stated at the Actors Roundtable by The Hollywood Reporter.
“You have your dreams, and then those start to become realised, but it’s not what you thought it was going to be, and at some point it gets away from you, and the next thing you realise is it’s all about the business and someone else’s idea of your career that doesn’t have much to do with what your idea was, and then you lose what your idea was of what your career was going to be.”
And right when he was feeling this way, Ruffalo lost his brother,
“I was already feeling that way, and then my brother passed away just before I was going to direct a film that I’d been working on for a long time, and during the course of doing that, I was like, ‘I don’t know if I want to go back to acting. I kind of feel much more comfortable here [directing].'”
Well, right then he was offered the role of Paul in Julianne Moore starrer The Kids Are Alright, which he was determined to make his last acting job.
Mark Ruffalo Wanted Julianne Moore Comedy To Be His Last Acting Job
While he was doubting his life and career, Mark Ruffalo got the chance to direct Sympathy for Delicious. His directing experience opened a new door for him, clearing all his doubts regarding his career and future path. However just then the Marvel star was offered the movie The Kids Are Alright starring Julianne Moore, which he felt was too good to let go.
Hence while he did take up the film, he decided to give it his all and act totally unhinged regardless of what anyone else told him.
“[Heading in to the film], I was just like, ‘I’m going to do whatever I want. There’s no rules anymore. I don’t have to be anybody for anybody else.’ And so I just did what I wanted with it, and it was a really freeing feeling…”
Despite landing a BAFTA nomination for his role, Ruffalo had already decided to quit acting. But sitting at the premiere and realizing what a wonderful feeling it is to create something that everyone, regardless of who they are, truly enjoys and the lack of directing opportunities made him stick to acting, and we sure are glad he decided to follow his instinct.
The Kids Are Alright can be rented on YouTube.
