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Mark Ruffalo says playing the Hulk is 'humiliating': 'I have to wear a man-cancelling suit'

Actor has to wear a visually arresting CGI suit on set

Clémence Michallon
New York
Wednesday 04 December 2019 21:13 GMT
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Trailer for Avengers: Endgame

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Mark Ruffalo says playing the Hulk is a “humiliating” process due to the “man-cancelling” CGI suit he has to wear in the process.

The actor discussed his most iconic roles in a video for GQ, revealing that he was initially hesitant to take on the role because he thought he was the “wrong guy”.

Eventually, though, he read the script for The Avengers and ended up joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

While his portrayal of Bruce Banner/the Hulk has earned him widespread praise, Ruffalo jokingly highlighted one of the least comfortable aspects of the role.

“I’ve done so much motion capture,” he said. “I have to wear what I call the man-cancelling suit, which is this really tight leotard that makes you look big where you want to look small and small where you want to look big.”

Ruffalo added: “It was so humiliating, and all the actors, whenever I walked on set, would just start laughing at me because they were in their cool superhero costumes and I’m wearing these ridiculous pajamas that made me look like a Chinese checkerboard.”

According to Ruffalo, his co-star Robert Downey Jr ended up commiserating on the set of Avengers: Endgame.

“In the last movie, he came up to me and he said: ‘I have a lot of compassion for you,’” Ruffalo said.

“And I was like, ‘Why?’ He’s like, ‘Because I see how hard it is for you to stand around in that costume all day.”

Ruffalo went on to portray Banner in a variety of Marvel films.

Endgame became the highest-grossing film of all time in July, overtaking James Cameron’s Avatar.

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