Interview By: Benjamin Lee
On the outskirts of the A-List, always threatening to seep through, the hugely talented Mark Ruffalo is kicking off 2007 with his biggest role yet.
He first broke out in 2000 with his perfectly nuanced turn in the excellent drama You Can Count On Me. Big-budget support followed in Windtalkers and The Last Castle before his next notable role in the heartbreaking My Life Without Me. From the on Ruffalo continued to plug the mainstream with roles in romantic comedies such as 13 Going On 30, Rumor Has It and Just Like Heaven, made brave choices with In The Cut and We Don't Live Here Anymore and showed impressive range with Collateral and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
His new role sees him working with acclaimed director David Fincher in the fact-based thriller Zodiac. Ruffalo takes on the role of real-life detective Dave Toschi, a frustrated figure on the trail of the devious Zodiac killer in the late 60s/early 70s. Although this is the second time that he's hunted a serial killer (after the romantic thriller In The Cut in 2003), Ruffalo confesses that he's not at all interested in this type of movie.
'It's not really my genre man' Ruffalo admits, 'I've never really been interested in this genre. I doubt that I would have ever even done this genre if it wasn't for Fincher who does this genre well and I really enjoyed Se7en in particular. But it isn't initially my favorite thing. What inspired me more for this movie was All the President's Men.' Ruffalo also states that it was the classy nature of the production which made him change from his usual type of role.
'You're dealing with a really fine filmmaker with really fine material' he stresses, 'The writing was very good and then there's this cast. So you kinda know that you're going on a ride that has the makings of something exceptional and will transcend the genre.' Working with the masterful David Fincher was a major selling point to Ruffalo. Fincher, director of Se7en and Fight Club, is notorious for his sometimes laborious attention to detail. Not since Kubrick has a director been so specific with what he wants from his actors. But Ruffalo admits that this sort of perfectionism was easy to relate to.
'Good enough isn't good enough and I totally relate to that' he states, 'I'll be the first one to be like dude I need another take. I really respect someone who gets people out of their comfort zones. Michael Mann is the same way. You're gonna go along on that ride screaming or kicking or with some joy and openness in your heart.' Ruffalo does share though that there were times when Fincher's infamous 'take-after-take-after-take' approach wore him down. 'Me and Jake [Gyllenhaal] on our first day we did 58 takes' he reveals, 'After take 30 I was hoping he would fire me because I thought it was me that was the problem.'
In taking on the role of a character based on a true-life figure in a sensitive situation, Ruffalo knew there would be pressure. 'Inherently I feel like when you're playing a real-life person you have a huge responsibility to be honest about their lives and honor them' he believes, 'This movie's a serious movie. People's lives are at stake, people died and there are family members still living that lost their family and so you have the problem of really being respectful to people and to try and tell the most honest version of this story.' Ruffalo also believes that this was something Fincher realized from the outset. 'He knew the responsibility we had to the victims and to the ongoing case' he tells, 'He knows this movie will outlive him, that this is a stab at eternity or some sense of that.'
What was exciting about making a movie about a still unsolved case, is that new information can surface at any point. Ruffalo admits that even while they were shooting, things were still being researched and discovered. 'It would flip-flop from day-to-day' he informs, 'Someone would bring in a new piece of information, our producer was off meeting with people every day getting affidavits and adding things to the script. With each piece of information you're constantly changing your mind.' In the film and in real-life there was one suspect who seemed to fit the profile, but the evidence was never solid enough. Ruffalo believes that the importance of a fair and just investigation is something we should all remember even today. 'The thing about this movie is that it's also about the due process of law' he tells, 'You can't go on a hunch or your gut feeling. Otherwise you end up in a foreign country with 450,000 civilians dead and an illegal war based on faulty evidence.'
Playing a detective on the case of a string of brutal murders, Ruffalo confesses that it was often hard to shake himself out of the movie. 'You immerse yourself in that world and all of a sudden you do see pretty grisly images' he says, 'Your imagination starts working in a way that's a little scary at times. I'm not paranoid but you start thinking in this way. You try and leave it at work but you're living in that world so some of it does go home with you.'
With his profile ever on the rise, plus his status as a romantic lead against Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston amongst others, the title of sex symbol is something which has been attached to Ruffalo by some. The humble actor takes it all in his stride. 'Whatever they want to put on me is fine' he smiles, 'I've never been a sex symbol before. People label you all the time and it's a really nice label to have but that isn't who I am. I'm a married guy with kids. That's my life but I'll be that for now.'
His upcoming slate is busy as would be expected. Serious character dramas Reservation Road and Margaret are coming next but what's exciting Ruffalo is his new movie Where the Wild Things Are, directed by Spike Jonze. 'Really fucking great and wild!' he gushes, 'It's all puppets and animatronics but with people inside them. It's a kids movie.'
