Marvel Cinematic Universe fans know Mark Ruffalo best as Bruce Banner, aka The Incredible Hulk. But he's way more than just the guy behind the big green guy. Ruffalo is one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood, appearing in award-winning prestige TV and arthouse films, when he's not supporting various charities and causes, like clean energy. But there was one key moment back in 2001 — right after his breakout turn in the Academy Award-nominated "You Can Count on Me" opposite Laura Linney — that Ruffalo cites as truly life-changing. This is the one tragedy that changed Mark Ruffalo forever.
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00:00Mark Ruffalo is one of those celebrities who is practically impossible to hate. Not only
00:06is he an incredible actor, but he also appears to be a good guy all around. He supports various
00:11charities and causes, often engages with his fans, and is even known to pick up hitchhikers
00:17on the road. Of course, Ruffalo's body of work is equally admirable. His ticket to super stardom
00:23was his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Bruce Banner, a.k.a. the Incredible Hulk.
00:29But he has also received critical and commercial acclaim for his roles in The Kids Are Alright,
00:34Foxcatcher, and Spotlight. Before Ruffalo became one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood,
00:40however, he encountered some major roadblocks, including a significant health scare. Ruffalo's
00:46first big break came with a role in the 2001 action drama film The Last Castle. But even as
00:52this happened, his world was turning upside down. Around the same time, Ruffalo found out that he
00:57had a brain tumor. In one instance, after wrapping up the film, producer Jeffrey Katzenberg reached
01:03out to him. As Ruffalo told New York Magazine in 2003,
01:07"...there I was on the phone with him, and I can't move the left side of my face because
01:11it's paralyzed, and no one knows."
01:14So you were sitting on this in your head for a month?"
01:17"...I thought, honestly, I thought I was gonna die."
01:20Ruffalo had something called an acoustic neuroma, a tumor situated behind his ear.
01:25It threatened to compromise his work as an actor, as it put his facial and auditory nerves at risk.
01:31And while the tumor was benign, removing it involved a 10-hour operation.
01:36After Mark Ruffalo's brush with ill health, he began to view his profession in an entirely new
01:42light. He realized that it's something he's truly passionate about, and that he should be more
01:47conscious of his choices when it comes to his career. The experience also taught him how to
01:52be more grateful. In a 2005 interview with The Guardian, Ruffalo explained,
01:57"...the whole experience of getting close to mortality changed my perspective on work.
02:01I wasn't enjoying acting before. I felt like I wasn't in charge of my career.
02:06After the brain tumor happened, I realized I love acting. I've always loved it. I may never
02:12get a chance to do it again." And while some people may view having
02:15had a brain tumor as a debacle, Ruffalo has come to see it as a blessing. In 2004, he told UPI,
02:22"...in retrospect, now it was probably one of the greatest blessings that I've had.
02:26It really gave me an in-depth understanding of myself and my strengths and my weaknesses.
02:32It gave me a year to kind of stand back and really think about what I wanted for my career
02:37and my life, because things were getting really out of control at that point."
02:41Weirdly enough, Ruffalo wasn't all that surprised when he found out he had a brain tumor. He told
02:47New York Magazine in 2003 that he even had a dream about having a tumor, which alarmed him
02:52enough to consult doctors, who then told him that he was right. The doctors explained to him that
02:57they could operate, but there was a 30 percent chance that he'd experience partial facial
03:02paralysis. Ruffalo said,
03:04"...I woke up one morning with the knowledge that I had a brain tumor. It wasn't so much
03:08that I dreamt I had a brain tumor. It was like someone just poured the knowledge into my head.
03:13It wasn't like an image. It was just like knowing. It was so weird,
03:17which is why I paid attention."
03:19Things weren't helped by the fact that Ruffalo had a newborn at home,
03:22which led him to worry about the thought of his son growing up without a dad. He also said that
03:27after the surgery, he experienced cognitive dysfunction and lost much of his confidence.
03:33Ruffalo recalled,
03:34"...You know what the biggest thing was? I lost all my confidence,
03:37just across the board. I completely lost my gut."
03:40It took another year for him to make a full recovery,
03:43and eventually, it was acting that got him back to his feet. As Ruffalo said,
03:47"...I finally felt like, I'm okay, I'm back. And it was acting that brought me back."