Mark Ruffalo

OCTOBER 16, 2011, 2:21 PM ET
Hulk See Greed. Hulk Smash! Mark Ruffalo on Occupy Wall Street

Article
Comments (21)
SPEAKEASY HOME PAGE »
EmailPrint



+ More
Text
By Barbara Chai


Marvel Studios
Mark Ruffalo as Dr. Bruce Banner (The Hulk) in ‘The Avengers.’
Actor Mark Ruffalo hopes that the Occupy Wall Street protesters bring about the kind of change President Obama talked about during his campaign for the White House.

Ruffalo–who plays the Hulk in the coming superhero movie “The Avengers”–has been one of the most high-profile supporters of the Occupy Wall Street movement. In addition to joining regular gatherings of anti-corporate protesters, the actor-director, who is currently filming “Thank You for Sharing” in New York with Gwyneth Paltrow, has written daily messages of support on Twitter.

In an interview with Speakeasy, Ruffalo said that he’s made regular visits to check up on the protest, in between his intense filming schedule, and early promotion for “The Avengers” (he stopped by New York Comic Con to introduce the Hulk yesterday). This past week, when Brookfield Properties, the owner of Zuccotti Park, planned an official evacuation and cleanup of the site, Ruffalo showed up to help protesters clean the park themselves. (The next morning, the planned evacuation didn’t happen.)

Ruffalo isn’t the only A-list celebrity to show support for Occupy Wall Street. There have been visits by rapper Kanye West, hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, musician Jeff Mangum, author Naomi Klein, actress Susan Sarandon, actor Tim Robbins, actor Penn Badgley, and filmmaker Michael Moore.

What does Ruffalo see in the young faces he stands alongside? “Honestly, I see hope,” Ruffalo says. “The one metric that we forget is, we have to ask ourselves partially, who put Obama into the White House? That was a major coup for our country, that was the first African-American to be put in the White House, and he was put in the White House on a promise of change. A lot of his campaign promises were striking very much at the center of what I think this movement is about.”

Ruffalo credits the Obama campaign for galvanizing the young demographic in the political process, and credits the youth movement for helping to elect him. “They believed what he was telling them for the most part,” he says. “And that spirit of change is still deeply, deeply seated in their hearts and I would say a great portion of America’s hearts. Just because the change wasn’t delivered to us doesn’t mean that it isn’t alive and well in the imagination of the people.”

He first heard about Occupy Wall Street online, and the message of the leaderless movement resonated with him. “Honestly, I think in some way I was waiting for it to happen. I expected it to happen,” he says. He visited the gatherings and had extensive discussions with people about what they were protesting. “I spent a lot of time understanding the structure of it, trying to figure out if there was a hierarchy, if there was one particular group, if it had a real political bent or if it had an agenda that was self-serving.” He says he didn’t find that, and so became more excited by the idea of this grassroots movement that would take hold on the Internet and social-media platforms without one particular leader. “It’s closer to the true direct democracy than probably anything before its time,” he says.

Ruffalo believes Occupy Wall Street arose out of a “great injustice being done to the whole by a very few who are reaping the benefits of these injustices.” While he says part of the movement is a fight against that injustice, it is more about the promise of something better, but it’s part of a long process. “I think we’re in the grieving period,” he says. “We’re in the period we’re actually looking into ourselves and saying we have a lot of grief. There’s been a lot that’s been done wrong to us. Until you can acknowledge that, I don’t think there’s much you can do to move forward.”

It’s not the first time Ruffalo has shown his activist side. He has been a strong opponent of hydraulic fracturing proposals in New York State and has spoken out publicly, much like he is doing with Occupy Wall Street. While some of his peers in Hollywood may agree with him, few are as outspoken as he is. “I personally think there’s been a campaign to silence the voice of artists for a long time,” he says. “Look at the people who have stepped out against the war, they’re attacked viciously by the media and pundits of the media. They’re lambasted and it’s personal and it’s brutal and it’s ugly.”

Ruffalo is among the 1 percent that some of the 99 percent are talking about. He’s famous, and draws big paychecks in Hollywood. But that’s part of why he says he wants to contribute. “I also feel like I do have a responsibility to the people who are my fans, to the people who actually make my life possible in a way,” Ruffalo says. “I fortunately have a voice that reaches a little bit further than other people’s, and people who need to be heard, people who should have a voice and don’t.”

The actor points out that in the early years of his career in Los Angeles, he struggled to make it. He says he was poor and lived among immigrants who took him in and fed him. “I had nothing. I was happy,” he says.

Ruffalo has had his share of both success and hardship. “I lost my brother to a violent murder, I’ve been sick, I’ve been successful, I’ve been not successful. I’m still here.” He says what’s most important to him is to stay true to oneself and one’s ideas. “I feel called to do this. I don’t know why and I don’t know where it’s going to end up.” But he doesn’t see the film studios turning on him. “I see a lot of support from my fellow actors and other people,” he says. “Oddly enough the more I’ve spoken out, the better I’ve done in the business.”

As for the protesters, Ruffalo hopes he has been able to support them. “I do hope those kids know how much I respect them and adore them and admire them and look at them for some guidance for all of us,” he says.

Check back in with Speakeasy later this week for more on Ruffalo’s role as The Hulk in “The Avengers.” Follow Barbara Chai on Twitter @barbarachai

The Wall Street Journal blogs will be publishing more stories on Occupy Wall Street throughout the week.

Mark Ruffalo, NYCulture, Occupy Wall Street, The Avengers, The Hulk, WSJ Blogs Occupy Wall Street
Previous in Speakeasy
‘Rewind’: ‘Breaking Bad,’ ‘Parenthood,’ and ‘Pan Am’
SPEAKEASY HOME PAGE
EmailPrinter Friendly
Share: