2023’s ‘Poor Things’ saw its UK release a week ago. Mark Ruffalo talked about his role as the fantasy comedy film’s antagonist, Duncan Wedderburn, with Deadline at Saturday’s BAFTA Tea Party.
The actor, previously known for roles like the Hulk in Marvel movies and Mike Rezendes in ‘Spotlight,’ shared his thoughts on playing a villain for the first time:
“So much fun to finally get to play the bad guy. The bad ones are the best, and I was scared of it. I really didn’t think I could do it. Being a bad person on screen, breaking whatever expectations. It’s such a flashy part, and I had never really dug my teeth into anything like that — and man, was it freeing and liberating and just joyfully wicked!”
Ruffalo’s Co-Stars Helped Him With The Part
Not receiving any offers to play the villain before the screen adaptation of Alasdair Gray’s 1992 novel, Ruffalo revealed that he felt intimidated by both the character and the film’s comedic burden. According to his words, co-star Willem Dafoe helped him find his footing, though.
A few months ago, in a joint interview with the Dr. Godwin Baxter actor, Ruffalo told EW:
“I haven’t done a lot of comedy. But we had this rehearsal, and we got to really play and goof off; I found a lot of stuff in there. He was egging me on all the time.”
When Dafoe commented on the Marvel star making him laugh on set, he went on:
“I was a total sucker for it. I just only wanted to make him laugh, and so I was pushing it more and more. He would be like, ‘Okay, you’re really going to do that?’ And I did!”
You can check out Mark Ruffalo’s recent interview here.
