Mark Ruffalo on His Avengers Preparation
Posted 11.19.10 by Ryan
When Mark Ruffalo was announced as the replacement for Edward Norton in Marvel Entertainment's upcoming The Avengers, some fans wondered why Marvel would replace an established actor in the Marvel movie continuity with an actor who hadn't appeared in a comic book movie before. In a interview with IGN, Ruffalo admitted that the scrutiny and attention the actor has received since landing the role has been intense.
It's like doing a sex scene. It's like doing a sex scene with 20 total strangers standing around and someone telling you how you can do it better. All eyes are on you, right?
That said, Ruffalo says his preparation for the role is less sensual than his previous comment insinuated.
You dust off. You go back. I think you go right back to the beginning and dust off your first issue of Avengers and I've been doing that. I've been watching the 100 hours of Bill Bixby's Hulk. And I've been really thinking about the inception, the original motivation of that character and why they came up with that character. He's a cross between Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein. I'm finding a lot of stuff there. And I'm actually going to be physically playing the Hulk. No other actor's ever done that. So I've been getting into Tai Chi and Pilates and doing a lot of movement stuff. I don't know what I want to do with it exactly, but I've been working physically to bring the leviathan alive.
Ruffalo is referring to the fact that he will play the human version of the Hulk, Bruce Banner, as well as wearing a motion capture suit to portray the greener, meaner version. For those fans more familiar with Ruffalo's work in independent dramas, the actor is certain that he will be able to add the necessary rage for the role.
I've heard some of the fans and I totally respect them and I hear their concern about Mark Ruffalo being a nice guy. But I assure you, just like everybody else, I have my very dark side. Maybe more because I'm an actor. That's not what I'm really worried about. What I'm worried about is bringing some spark of originality and spontaneity to that character. He's the only one who doesn't want to be there [in the Avengers] really. Everyone else is sort of digging on their superpowers and he's the only one who doesn't want to be there, which could be an incredibly uninteresting person to spend two hours with (laughs).
Ruffalo isn't sure how much rage he'll need to deliver since his scenes won't be shot until April and he's still "waiting to get the finished draft of the script" from writer/director Joss Whedon. Ruffalo is hopeful that Banner will be somewhat in control of his Hulk abilities.
We ended the last Hulk [2008's The Incredible Hulk] with him smiling and you feel like he's getting control of it. And I don't know how deep we're gonna get into that, but my general feeling is for Bruce Banner/the Hulk and what I hope we talk about is that Bruce Banner is slowly but surely — it's like riding a wild mustang. At some point, you do start to get it a little bit under control. And like I said, I don't know what the final script's gonna be, but we've talked a lot about him at some point being able to penetrate his consciousness with the consciousness of the goliath.
Next Showing: The Avengers opens May 4, 2012