Mark Ruffalo Learned About His ‘Avengers’ Casting in This Ridiculous Way

We’re at a point where the novelty of major actors joining the MCU has long eroded. It’s now a punchline about how quickly an actor will get sucked into the Marvel machine, to the point that newly minted stars like Paul Mescal and Jeremy Allen White have talked about dodging that bullet. This wasn’t the case 14 years ago, when it was first announced that indie darling Mark Ruffalo would become Bruce Banner for The Avengers, launching his stardom into a whole new stratosphere that he’s still thriving in. Joining such a franchise is a huge ordeal, and Ruffalo once shared what the process of getting the role was like, and it speaks to how freaky doing mainstream studio fare can be. Continue reading

How ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ Got Away With Making Jokes About Michael J. Fox

No one in Hollywood was bigger in the 1980s than Michael J. Fox. In the same decade, he was the biggest TV star, thanks to his Emmy award-winning turn as Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties, and then the biggest movie star, after Back to the Future and its sequels became pop culture phenomenons. With his boyish good looks, his humble personality, and how nice he was to everyone, it was impossible to not root for Fox. Continue reading