Oscar-nominated American actor and producer Mark Ruffalo is often noticed for the effort he puts into embodying the characters he plays, from changing his physical appearance to altering his very nature.
Ruffalo was born right-handed. However, in his movie Foxcatcher, his character David Schultz was left-handed, so Ruffalo had to relearn everything he knew. Now, Ruffalo is able to perform tasks with his left hand due to the role he played in the movie.
Read more to learn how Ruffalo re-learnt his childhood passion of wrestling for Foxcatcher.
Adapting to Foxcatcher
Foxcatcher is an American biographical film loosely based on Olympic gold wrestling medalists, brothers Mark and David Schultz.
They are recruited by the eccentric John du Pont, heir to his family’s chemical corporation and obsessed with wrestling, living vicariously through the brothers.
The situation turns dangerous when John du Pont’s outlandish behavior gets out of hand.
Ruffalo stars as David Schultz alongside famous actor Channing Tatum (who plays Mark Schultz) in this dramatic true crime film. Watch him talk about his experience playing the famous wrestler below.
In an interview with L.A times, Ruffalo talks about the dedication required for him to personify his character.
He is quoted saying, “To a degree. The character I played wrestled — I’m right-handed and he was left-handed, so I had to kind of relearn everything. I had to throw out what I knew.”
Ruffalo has a background in wrestling, having pursued it throughout high school before dropping it for his acting career.
This, prior to popular belief, actually made it more difficult for him to relearn the wrestling tricks as David Schultz would have done them. He told Variety, “I wrestled leading with my right foot, and David Schultz led with his left foot, so I had to really unlearn everything I know as far as moves went, which was pretty frustrating for me,”
He elaborates on the physical aspects demanded of the job, including training for over six hours a day as the shoot approached.
Playing The Character
Ruffalo has always been passionate about adapting to his roles as an actor and is known for his versatility.
He put great effort into preparing for his role on the HBO series I Know This Much is True.
In this series, he plays two identical and emotionally complex twins, Dominick and Thomas. He drew many parallels between the characters and his own life, he told GQ magazine, including “the second generation Italian immigrant story” and the “tight-knit family bonds.”
Not only did he read the entire book that the movie was based on within a weekend, he also took several weeks away from production to prepare for the roles of Thomas and Dominick.
He lost 20 pounds in a matter of weeks to play Dominick’s role, and had to quickly put it back on and more within the next few weeks to fit Thomas.
He told GQ, “It was tough. I was never really comfortable at any point during the six months we were shooting. I was either really hungry all the time or I was so grossed out by the thought of food. I just couldn’t put another thing in my mouth.”
In order to adapt to Thomas’ schizophrenic role, Ruffalo spent a lot of time with his technical advisor, Richard Wheaton, a man who had been suffering from schizophrenia for over 30 years.
The show, exploring the bond between the two siblings, was influenced by Ruffalo’s own relationship with his late brother, which he said informed his understanding of the role in a unique and deep way.
Similarly, he had to change his body to prepare for the role of Hulk in Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame.
Even though Ruffalo was not born left-handed, he learned the skill to adapt to his character in Foxcatcher, always determined to put forth a powerful performance.