Mark Ruffalo in a scene with Toni Collette in the Robert Pattinson-starrer “Mickey 17” from Warner Bros. Pictures.
“Hulk” star Mark Ruffalo recently spoke about his “impressive” experience working with “Batman” actor Robert Pattinson and Academy Award-nominated Toni Collette in the science fiction dark comedy “Mickey 17.”
In a copy of an interview sent recently to INQUIRER.net, Ruffalo praised Pattinson for fully embodying the character of Mickey, specifically showcasing grit and humility.
“At the read-through, half the cast was there in person, and half—myself included—were on Zoom. I remember thinking, How is Rob gonna do this? How is he gonna choose to do this character? And then he came in with this soft, working-class humility for Mickey—a character that maybe wasn’t the most educated or eloquent, but was deeply sincere. I was really impressed by that choice,” he recalled.
“Even his voice had this South Philly, blue-collar feel. I mean, Rob’s a movie star—he’s beautiful, talented—but here, he’s completely stripped down. He’s thin, gray, with the saddest haircut you’ve ever seen. It’s a true character transformation. But more than anything, it’s that humility—something Rob genuinely has—that makes his performance so heartfelt and beautiful,” added the actor.
Pattinson plays Mickey Barnes, a space colonist who finds himself in a dangerous circumstance working for an employer who requires the utmost dedication to die for a living.
Ruffalo, meanwhile, sang the praises of Collette, who plays his wife in the film, emphasizing that he has always been a fan of hers.
“Toni is truly the best. She just gets it—she’s a total shapeshifter, a chameleon, an incredible character actor. From day one, our dynamic as Marshall and Ylfa felt natural, like they’d been together forever. They cling to each other, dote on each other, always touching—it’s not easy to create that from nothing, but we just clicked,” he stated.
“I’ve always been a fan of hers, and working together made me think, Why haven’t we done this sooner? She’s hilarious and understands Ylfa completely—that syrupy sweetness with a killer underneath. She’s actually more ambitious and politically savvy than Marshall, but in their patriarchal world, her power has to come through him. And Toni nails that,” continued the actor.
In “Mickey 17,” Ruffalo plays Kenneth Marshall, a narcissist political figure leading the space expedition toward colonizing an ice planet.
“Mickey 17” is now showing in Philippine cinemas.