When Mark Ruffalo Revealed The Unexpected Reason He Wore Extra Padding For Intimate Scenes With Emma Stone In Poor Things
Mark Ruffalo opened up about wearing extra padding for his role in Poor Things and how Yorgos Lanthimos' unique vision transformed his character alongside Emma Stone's bold performance.
Mark Ruffalo’s Role Prep (Photo Credit – Facebook)
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Mark Ruffalo had a Poor Things panic moment. The 56-year-old actor was absolutely not feeling his age when it came to his s** scenes with Emma Stone in the quirky, science-fantasy flick. “I didn’t know if I could pull this off,” Ruffalo confessed in a recent interview, adding that he wondered, “Am I too old to be doing that kind of stuff? Does anyone want to see that?”
Cue the anxiety about baring it all. The Avengers star admitted he spent some time in doubt, worrying about how fans would react to his role as Duncan Wedderburn alongside Stone’s Bella Baxter. But his biggest worry? Hollywood’s prude phase. “Sexuality is so deeply connected to the psychology of a character,” Ruffalo shared, pointing out that it should be explored through the character, rather than shying away from it.
But Ruffalo’s Poor Things anxiety didn’t stop there. During a candid chat on Variety’s Actors on Actors series, he revealed his director, Yorgos Lanthimos, had a unique vision involving some serious body modifications. “Do you know I had an ass pad in?” Ruffalo laughed, explaining that he was wearing extra padding to create a more “thicker physique” for his character.
To pull off Lanthimos’ look, Ruffalo wore a corset, shoulder pads, and even a built-out chest piece. “My legs were, like, four inches bigger,” he joked, adding that the eccentric director wanted him to look birdlike. “He really wanted the silhouette,” Ruffalo said. But one of Lanthimos’ more extravagant ideas, a chest piece, didn’t make the final cut. It was just too much.
All the while, Ruffalo was navigating Poor Things’ wild premise. The film, based on Alasdair Gray’s 1992 novel, tells the story of Bella, who is resurrected by her husband using a child’s brain and runs off with Duncan, her lawyer (played by Ruffalo). It’s a bizarre, visually stunning film that’s as much about breaking societal boundaries as it is about embracing the absurd.
Despite his worries, Ruffalo found comedic relief in these moments of vulnerability. He admitted, “I saw it as very comedic and also, like, an extension of the physical comedy that we were already finding. So it was just another way to tell the story.”
Meanwhile, Emma Stone also embraced her unique challenges in Poor Things. The film, a follow-up to Lanthimos’ The Favourite, had Stone’s Bella delivering a mesmerizing performance that earned her several accolades, including a win at the Critics Choice Awards. Stone confessed that playing Bella was one of the “greatest joys of my life.” She also shared how the role allowed her to “unlearn parts of shame and societal stuff,” making it a transformative experience.
While Ruffalo’s padding might have been a quirky solution to his concerns, Stone’s performance was nothing short of remarkable. And with all the award recognition, it’s safe to say both actors took bold risks in Poor Things, redefining what it means to dive into a role without fear.
