MARK RUFFALO: Talking About the Hulk
Mark Ruffalo took a lot of crap from people when word got out that he would be succeeding Edward Norton in the role of the Hulk for Joss Whedon's The Avengers. Flash forward, of course, and the big green guy steals the show.
“I remember the fanboys — there was a lot of negative response to me playing that part early on, and I kind of liked that challenge,” he related to the LA Times' Hero Complex. “This one really scared me. It was something that I had never done, that I don’t think anyone expected me to do.”
Added writer/director Joss Whedon, “I think he and Cap kind of share that role as the everyman who’s lost in this kind of world, who are both very centered in who they are, but at the same time, very convinced that they’re not going to be able to negotiate this modern situation.”
Ruffalo noted that his approach was to try and take the character the next step in his journey. “We left the last Hulk — Ed’s Hulk — he was sort of like, ‘OK, this is who I am. I’m going to try and see if I can have some mastery over this,’ so we end that movie with him meditating. He’s older now, and he’s been on the run his whole life, and he’s tired of fighting. He’s got a world-weariness and a joyful participation in the sorrows of the living. He’s an older Bruce Banner, and he’s kind of coming to accept his fate.”
The film establishes a connection between Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. “Tony’s the successful version of him,” Ruffalo said. “He’s like a renegade scientist too, who used his own ideas on himself, but got everything that Banner hoped he would get. So yeah, I think he sees Stark as the successful version of himself, or what could be possible for him. Stark helps him come to the conclusion that maybe … having this enormous amount of energy and power can be used for something positive for once.”
For the full interview, follow the link.
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