Mark Ruffalo admits he priced himself out of a stand-alone ‘Hulk’ movie (and may have cost himself a Paul Thomas Anderson gig)
Mark Ruffalo, currently in the home stretch of the campaign for his Best Supporting Actor nomination for “Poor Things,” recently spoke with GQ and floated a theory as to why we won’t see him lead a film for his most widely-known character.
“I’d love to do a standalone Hulk,” he said, speaking about his superhero persona in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “I just don’t think that’s ever going to happen,” he added, explaining “it’s very expensive if you did a whole movie, which is why they use the Hulk so sparingly. I priced myself out!”
He was sure to say that it was the computer-generated imagery that was so costly – all those processors churning away to make his enormous green muscles look real – and not his salary, of course!
The actor, who still works on the Broadway stage from time to time, also batted away raised eyebrows from fellow thespians who feel appearing in superhero pictures is a waste of talent. “I’ve heard it a lot from my peers,” he said. “Sometimes I think it’s jealousy, a little bit. Because then I see them run off and do it.” Ruffalo then shared that he heard from the actor’s grapevine that Paul Thomas Anderson won’t work with performers who have been sullied by spandex.
Ruffalo took over the role of Bruce Banner, the gamma-irradiated scientist who bulges out into a verdant rage beast from time to time, from Edward Norton. Norton played the role in Louis Letterier’s “The Incredible Hulk,” the second MCU picture back before Marvel Studios was all under one roof at Disney. Letterier’s picture was set up at Disney while Jon Favreau’s “Iron Man” was at Paramount.
In addition to his “Poor Things” nomination, Ruffalo has been nominated three other times for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar—for “The Kids are All Right,” “Foxcatcher,” and “Spotlight.” He was also nominated for a Tony for “Awake and Sing!” and has two Emmy wins for “The Normal Heart” and “I Know This Much is True.”
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