Writer/director Austin Chick's relationship drama, "XX/XY," delves into the lives of three college students on the verge of adulthood. The students - Coles (Mark Ruffalo), Thea (Kathleen Robertson) and Sam (Maya Stange) - are immediately attracted to each other. That attraction leads to a passionate encounter that forever defines the group's dynamics.
Acting in films since the early 90s, Mark Ruffalo won critical acclaim for his standout performance in the Kenneth Lonergan movie, "You Can Count On Me." When casting the part of Coles, director Chick was looking for an actor with humility. That particular quality was absolutely necessary in bringing life to this character who could easily alienate audiences. Chick signed Ruffalo to the project early on, and never looked back.
In this interview, Mark Ruffalo discusses how he went about creating a character with few obvious redeeming qualities. He also talks about working with first-time director Austin Chick, and his own outlook on relationships.
MARK RUFFALO ('Coles')
Why do you think this guy can't be happy with just one great woman?
Who can be? He looks at too many cool hip magazines. He bought into Wall Street's sales pitch that there's always something hotter, better, sexier, greater, out there. I also think he's immature and he has that first love that's just kind of a passionate and sexy, torrid relationship haunting him. I think it's a really classic sort of dilemma for men.
You just said, “Who can be happy with just one woman?” Do you believe that?
No, no, I don't believe that. I don't know, one out of every two marriages ends up in divorce so there's a lot of great people out there who people aren't happy with.
Your character has a great line toward the end of the film where you say, “Honesty has no place in a healthy relationship.” How much do you believe that really reflects what people think about a relationship?
I don't know. My personal belief is that you carry your own water in a relationship. If you see a girl and you think she's hot, that's a very human reaction, but you don't go and tell your spouse that, you know? So in one way it's how you behave. It's like do you go after that girl? Do you make an advance? It's about what you do. Once you cross that line, then you are in another territory. Complete honesty? Maybe not. Maybe some people can do that, too. I don't know. I have no idea. Coles says it and obviously he doesn't know how to have a healthy relationship. It doesn't really come from someone who is really working on a high level with a relationship.
What do you think Coles learns, if anything, from who he is at the beginning of the film to who he is at the end?
I think he's the kind of guy who just doesn't understand consequence. He's too self-involved to really think about other people. When Claire reveals to him what she knows, I think he sees himself in a mirror for the first time and doesn't like what he sees, or what he's done. I think reality kind of hits him at that moment. I think it's the beginning of a new kind of living for him.
Do you think he'll wind up being a different person?
Only in the slightest way that people can be different people. I'm not sure that he'll ever go off and do exactly the same thing that he's done. I think he does learn to value her, in a way. She's very mature about what happens. I think he sees what he's done and for the first time, it really lands on him. So who knows what's going to happen? I don't know what happens. Who knows?
How much freedom were you given in terms of creating your character?
Pretty much what we shot was what was on the script. Austin [Chick] was still doing rewrites during rehearsals and meetings, but that guy was pretty much as written. The challenge of playing that part was to take this guy - he's basically an a**hole, he does really questionable things - and make him human enough that the audience doesn't just completely shut down on him. They see, maybe, some part of themselves in some flaw that he has. Something, some charming aspect, something that lets us never quite completely shut the door on the guy. I feel like that's curtains, the movie's over.
It's hard to make that work. I knew that was going to be the challenging part of this film. The first half is brutal. It makes your skin crawl.
What part of yourself do you see in Coles?
I don't have a lot in common with Coles as far as the things that I've done, that he ends up doing in the film. There's constant commitment issues that you go through. I mean, now I'm happily married. I got engaged when we were in rehearsals for the film and then two weeks after we wrapped, I got married. I ran to my marriage, I was happily ready to take on marriage.
Coles' life, living in the film, it's kind of hell. Anyone who has had an intense first love can get lost a bit in thinking that that's an ideal. It haunts you as you go through life. You measure things to it. There's a reason why people broke up. You forget some of the bad things, or maybe it just wasn't real. To me, I think that's kind of a universal thing. To really be with somebody is to really be real and stay in the moment with that person and not compare.
Do you see this movie in a tradition of "Carnal Knowledge" and "High Fidelity," that type of relationship drama?
Yes. I think it's closer to “Carnal Knowledge” in how hard it is. It's really unflinching in a lot of ways, you know? But that type of stuff interests me. It's a little bit harder. You're engaged, I think. You're like, “God, I know that guy,” (groaning) or “I went out with a guy like that,” or “I was that guy.” Or “I was the guy who didn't get the girl.” It's like these people in this movie are kind of archetypical in the modern love drama.
Do you prefer this type of film to big action movies?
Yes, generally. I love acting. I love to act and I like that genre, [it] has its own particular challenges. But in my heart of hearts, this is the kind of thing… this is what everyone is struggling with in their lives - relationships and family. To me, it's always an interesting area to mine. I'm drawn to it.
"XX/XY" was shot fairly quickly. What was it like on the set and how did Austin Chick handle everything?
It was great. Austin was up against a lot as a first time director. He was working with a guy named Mitchell Robbins who was our producer, who is kind of a hard a**. Austin really was challenged a lot and really just hung on to his creative beliefs about the film. He has a great eye. I really enjoyed working with him.
We ended up being together for about eight months with this project. We were going to make it on digital video for $100,000. We were going to make if for $25,000 and just steal stuff around the city. Then “You Can Count On Me” came out and it just, you know, it ended up giving us a budget. So it went from this little DV movie to being shot on film with a five week shoot. He and I went through a lot together. He's one of my real close friends now.
You once said you don't have much range as an actor. How much do you really believe that?
Someone had said to me, "You always play the same characters." And I was like, "It's because I don't have much range." I know my range. I have a pretty diverse range, pretty flexible, from years of doing a lot of theater and from years of getting to play a lot of different kinds of roles. I think if you see this movie and the only work of mine that you know of mine is "XX/XY" and "You Can Count On Me," you might say it's very similar. I think if you saw something of the 20 films I've done over the past 15 years now, you see that there is other things I can do. I think it's pretty wide, as wide as anybody.
