Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum played real-life brothers and wrestlers David Schultz and Mark Schultz in the 2014 film Foxcatcher. Tatum and Ruffalo underwent seven months of intense training for their roles. The two actors went at each other several times in the film, making it unsurprising that some blows resulted in actual pain.
Ruffalo revealed that one of his on-screen slaps left Tatum with a hearing loss for almost 20 minutes. The brilliantly depressing film won several awards and received three Oscar nominations for Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actor.
Mark Ruffalo Popped Channing Tatum’s Ear Drum During One Of Their Stunts In Foxcatcher
Mark Ruffalo tried some really spicy wings when he appeared on Hot Ones. He also spiced up the show with one revelation to host Sean Evans. When asked if he popped Channing Tatum’s ear in a stunt scene from Foxcatcher, Ruffalo concurred. He admitted that he caused pain to the Magic Mike actor, but pointed out that it was easy considering Tatum also slapped him several times.
The Avengers actor revealed that such beatings were common during their four months of learning how to wrestle together. However, he shared that Tatum, being the physically stronger one, caused him more pain during the training. So Ruffalo ‘hulked out’ when he got the opportunity and delivered a memorable smack. Ruffalo shared with Hot Ones:
“He did ask me to slap the sh*t out of him, and it was easy to do because he’d beaten the sh*t out of me so many times. It was like four months of learning how to wrestle together, and [he] has like 30 pounds on me, so when it came time to smack the sh*t out of him, I was like [reaching back] came from Alabama.”
Tatum and Ruffalo faced the challenge of living up to the legacy of 1984 Olympic gold winners Mark and David Schultz. Kurt Angle, a professional wrestler who received training from the Schultzes, praised both the actors’ performances in his Facebook post, calling them “right on”.
Channing Tatum’s Revelation About The ‘Slap’ Left Mark Ruffalo Red-Faced
Foxcatcher featured in several festival circuits before its theatrical release in 2014. During a session at the Toronto International Film Festival, Channing Tatum opened up about the details of the ‘slap’ incident. Tatum revealed that after a failed first take, he encouraged Ruffalo to give it his all. Ruffalo, taking the Step Up actor’s challenge seriously, popped his eardrum in the next take. Tatum shared (via Yahoo!):
“A fun story about a not so funny scene — Mark Ruffalo is such a sweetheart — he comes in and he’s got to wake me up out of this crazy place that I’m in and he’s going to slap me. First take, he pushes my head really hard and I was like, ‘Just do it – You gotta just do it, it’s the time!’ So he really did it on the next take and perfectly cupped my ear in such a way that I popped my eardrum.”
Ruffalo, visibly embarrassed by Tatum’s revelation, struggled to make eye contact during the revelation. Tatum further added that he couldn’t hear anything for the next 20 minutes. Director Bennett Miller and Steve Carell, also present at the session, enjoyed the story with smiles on their faces.
Foxcatcher is now available for rent on AppleTV+.
