Even with multiple Oscar nominations, a rom-com heartthrob reputation, and a major blockbuster superhero role, Mark Ruffalo is not immune to imposter syndrome.
Before Duncan Wedderburn earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Ruffalo was convinced he would be replaced in the role. And his ‘Poor Things‘ co-stars found it almost too easy to mess with him.
Why Mark Ruffalo Was Always On Edge During ‘Poor Things’ Shoot
When Ruffalo first received the script for ‘Poor Things’, he was immediately hooked. But his excitement quickly turned to anxiety, and he started doubting whether he could pull off such an unusual role.
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“I thought it was pretty amazing,” Ruffalo said. “But I doubted my ability to do it, to be honest with you. I was scared of it.”
His anxiety was so serious that he actually tried to convince Yorgos Lanthimos not to cast him. He even suggested his ‘Reservation Road’ co-star Joaquin Phoenix for the role. But the director was convinced. “And he just went, ‘It’s you,’” Ruffalo recalled.
Eventually, Ruffalo accepted the role, but his nerves never went away. Once rehearsals began, the cast started joking that Ruffalo was going to be replaced by none other than Oscar Isaac. The joke could have ended there. Unfortunately for Ruffalo, Oscar Isaac was right next door.
Isaac was shooting in an adjacent studio, right next to the ‘Poor Things’ set, and he already knew Willem Dafoe from their previous film, ‘At Eternity’s Gate’. This set the scene for Dafoe to play the perfect prank.
How Willem Dafoe And Oscar Isaac Traumatised Ruffalo
One day, Dafoe brought Isaac over during lunch. According to Ruffalo, Isaac walked up to him and delivered the exact news he had been dreading all this time.
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“Hey man, I’m sorry, but it’s just not going to work out,” Isaac told him.
For a brief moment, Ruffalo was genuinely concerned that he had been fired. “I was just kind of like: ‘Oh shit, is this really happening?’” Ruffalo recalled.
His mind immediately went to years earlier, during his first major theatre job, when he was fired just one week before opening night. “So anytime I hit a bump, I’m like, ‘That’s it, they’re firing me,’” he explained.
Fortunately, even after being thoroughly traumatised by the prank, Ruffalo didn’t seem particularly upset. Instead, he found the humour in it. “If it’s going to be anybody … I mean, Oscar is the guy,” Ruffalo said. “I totally get it.”
When Dafoe was once asked whether he felt bad about the prank, he simply laughed. “It makes you stronger,” he said.
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