Poor Things: Mark Ruffalo Reacts To His Fourth Oscar Nomination

The nominees for the 96th Academy Awards were announced yesterday, and many fan-favorite actors made the list. Mark Ruffalo, the actor known best for playing Bruce Banner/Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, managed to score his fourth Best Supporting Actor nomination for Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things. Previously, Ruffalo was nominated for The Kids Are All Right, Foxcatcher, and Spotlight. This year, the Poor Things star is going up against Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer), Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction), Ryan Gosling (Barbie), and Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon). Today, Ruffalo took to Twitter to react to his nomination.

“I have the unbelievable privilege of making movies as a job. To be recognized by The Academy among the best is an honor that exceeds all ones expectations as an actor. Thank you to our brilliant filmmaker, Yorgos. And thank you to the audiences who gave this film a chance. Congratulations to my Poor Things family for all the love. Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Ruffalo shared. You can view his post, which features some behind-the-scenes photos from Poor Things, below:

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Mark Ruffalo Was Pranked Into Thinking Oscar Isaac Replaced Him: 

In Poor Things, Ruffalo plays the sleazy Duncan Wedderburn, but previously admitted he was “scared” to take on the role. In an interview with Variety‘s Acting Up, Ruffalo revealed the cast used to joke that he would be replaced by Oscar Isaac. Turns out, Isaac was working on a production nearby, so Willem Dafoe brought him over to the Poor Things set to pull a prank on Ruffalo. 

“I thought it was pretty amazing,” Ruffalo said of the script. “But I doubted my ability to do it, to be honest with you. I was scared of it. Even to the point where I tried to talk Yorgos out of casting me for a second. And he just went, ‘It’s you.’”

“They were teasing me that Oscar Isaac was going to take the role from me when we were in rehearsal,” Ruffalo added. “Willem brought him over at lunchtime and Oscar came up to me and he’s like, ‘Hey man, I’m sorry, but it’s just not going to work out.’ … I was just kind of like: ‘Oh shit, is this really happening?’”

Ruffalo revealed he had been replaced while doing a play in the past, which is why he believed the prank at first.

“I literally got fired a week before opening,” Ruffalo recalled. “It was my big break, and I was literally so traumatized. So anytime I hit a bump, I’m like, ‘That’s it, they’re firing me.’”

“It makes you stronger,” Dafoe added with a laugh when asked if he felt bad about the prank.

“If it’s going to be anybody … I mean, Oscar is the guy,” Ruffalo added. “I totally get it.”

Are you rooting for Mark Ruffalo this awards season? Tell us in the comments!