Mark Ruffalo Says First Oscar Nod Saved His Acting Career

Before he became one of Hollywood’s most respected actors — and a Marvel superstar — Mark Ruffalo was ready to walk away from acting for good.

The Crime 101 star recently revealed that his first Oscar nomination completely changed the direction of his career.

Ruffalo earned his first Academy Award nomination in 2011 for Best Supporting Actor for The Kids Are All Right. But at the time, he says, he had already decided he was done with acting.

“I directed a movie… and I literally loved it so much that I quit,” Ruffalo shared in a joint interview with his Crime 101 co-stars Halle Berry and Chris Hemsworth. “I fired my agent and manager and was like, ‘That’s it.’”

That movie was Sympathy for the Delicious, his 2010 directorial debut. The drama followed a newly paralyzed DJ who becomes involved in faith healing. The film premiered at Sundance and won the Special Jury Prize, marking a strong start for Ruffalo behind the camera.

But just as he was preparing to focus solely on directing, the unexpected happened.

“I got nominated for an Academy Award, and everything changed for me,” he said. “So I went back to acting.”

In The Kids Are All Right, Ruffalo played Paul, the biological father of two teenagers raised by a same-sex couple portrayed by Annette Bening and Julianne Moore. The film was widely praised and received multiple Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. It also became one of the first major mainstream films to center on a same-sex couple raising children.

That nomination reopened doors for Ruffalo — and led to a career-defining opportunity.

Two years later, he stepped into the role of Bruce Banner, aka the Hulk, in The Avengers. The film launched him into global fame as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Despite the blockbuster success, Ruffalo continued to balance superhero movies with powerful dramatic roles. He received additional Oscar nominations for Foxcatcher, Spotlight, and Poor Things, bringing his total nominations to four.

Still, directing remains close to his heart.

“There’s something I’ve been developing for the last four years that I really want to do,” Ruffalo said. “It’s starting to get some traction right now. So I’d like to go back to that.”

For now, Ruffalo is back on the big screen in Crime 101, which is currently in theaters. But if his first Oscar nomination proved anything, it’s that sometimes one unexpected moment can completely rewrite a career — and change a life.