When director John Curran began the casting process for “We Don't Live Here Anymore,” the very first person to come onboard the project was Mark Ruffalo. Curran knew the film required actors who would come off as human and relatable, even though their actions are highly questionable. In Ruffalo, Curran believed he'd found an actor the audience would embrace despite the character's struggles and flaws.
“Mark is one of the most sincere, likable people I've met in such a long time, and I think this comes through in anything that he does on screen, no matter what immoral choices his characters are making! He was horrified at much of what Jack was doing but was determined not to pull any punches in his portrayal,” says Curran.
In “We Don't Live Here Anymore,” Ruffalo plays a man who feels trapped in a marriage with a woman he can no longer relate to. In this interview, Ruffalo discusses why he choose to play 'Jack' and how he's often confused off-screen with the characters he plays onscreen.
INTERVIEW WITH MARK RUFFALO ('Jack'):
What keeps drawing you to these quirky relationship dramas?
(Laughing) The quirkiness, pretty much. I like a light, sort of pitter patter, you know? Something that's light and bouncy and sort of frothy.
Do you consider this light? You're dealing with some serious themes.
Are you kidding? You didn't get the humor of it?
I get that it's adultery.
Yeah, it is adultery. I was aware that this was a darker, sort of subject matter. And, you know, it's better than blowing people up.
Which you've done.
Yes, which I've done, and didn't love that. And so, I, I don't know, I read this, and I thought it was a real honest look at a marriage in crisis. And I hadn't really seen a film that kind of plumbed these depths, the depths of this movie, since “Ted and Alice” — what is it? “Bob and Mary and Ted and Alice?”
Carol.
Yes. And I just thought it was a real honest rendering of that, and it was great character work, and it was really great writing. And I knew John's work, and I thought he could handle it really beautifully, and here we are.
What specifically did you find to be honest about it?
You know, 50% of the marriages in America end in divorce. And 80% of married couples, one or the other has had adultery. But that wasn't so much it. It was kind of the distance and the ugliness that they portrayed to each other from being so out of communication and having such resentment built up between them over so many years.
I think it's a classic sort of story. You know, it's the mid-life crisis that he's going through. And I've had three friends' relationships break up in the last two years, with kids. And I saw them, in similar sorts of situations. I don't know, it just struck me. I read it, and I just like, “This is really honest, and it's unflinching, and everyone's human.” I can't really say anyone is really particularly the bad guy in it. They're all sort of struggling with their own humanity.
What was it about your character that really jumped out at you, that you really liked?
Maybe not so much the guy, but a lot of the acting difficulties in it, and challenges in it. I think at his core he's a man who believes deeply in love and in marriage - and loves his children. But, so, when he does these amoral things, like cheating on his friend's wife, it means a hell of a lot to him. It isn't some flip thing. I think as a guy, he's coming to the end of his youth, in a strange way. His dreams haven't been realized, and he doesn't have money, and him and his wife have gone completely out of communication. And I think he feels himself getting soft, and he's trying to fix himself in some way, so he ends up going into this affair.
Have you met anyone like him?
Yeah. Yeah, I have. I mean, some of my friends have gone through this — that are a little bit older than me – [and] are treading in this same area. And you see it all over. You know, the older guy with the 20-year-old stripper girlfriend in his, like, convertible, right? Especially here [Los Angeles]. But I think it's happening all over the U.S. I think it's an honest look at a marriage that's in deep crisis.
Do you think you could have played Hank instead of Jack?
I was, at first, sort of asked to played Hank. And I thought, “God, Jack's so sticky, and it's so sloppy, and he's so quagmired in it,” you know? Hank has this real sort of who-gives-a-s**t outlook. And it's funny, Hank sort of is like Teflon. I've had people come up to me and say, “Your guy is such a jerk.” And I'm like, “Well, what about Hank?” She's like, “Well, he's not as bad.” And I said, “Well, why not?” “Well, because he doesn't know that he's doing something wrong.” And that was kind of my reaction when I read it. You know, he doesn't come off so badly. But then the director said, “Get off your ass. You have to be Jack.” And I was like, “Well, I really don't want to do that much work.” (Laughing) And he's like, “No. C'mon, man.” And so, it was very sad. I was terrified to play that part. And especially today, as an actor, you play a part like that, people expect that that's who you are. So, I'm aware of that. Now I look at a part and I think, “What's the press junket going to be like for this?” (laughing)
That only means that you're good, that you did it right.
Yeah, that you did it right. But you know, at the Hollywood Foreign Press I did today, and it was just all about, “So you and your wife, do you have problems like these? Is that why you did this movie?” And it's not, and it's always my dread. And so yes—to get back to the question—I wanted to play Hank but I ended up playing Jack.
At the risk of sounding like the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, how do you make sure this doesn't happen in your marriage?
Talk. I think communication, I think that's the key. I mean, I don't know much. I haven't been married long. But, the relationships that I see work, even if they're talking - as long as they're telling the truth, you know, and saying the things that you don't ever want to have to say to another human being, that you have to say to your spouse. That is the only way that I think it's going to work.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2: Mark Ruffalo on Sex Scenes, Relieving the Tension, and Character Types
"WE DON'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE" RESOURCES:
Interview with Naomi Watts
Laura Dern Interview
"We Don't Live Here Anymore" Photo Gallery
"We Don't Live Here Anymore" Credits, Trailer and Websites
