These days, Mark Ruffalo seems to be riding high on his blockbuster success.
But in reality, the actor has endured overwhelming challenges to get where he is today.
From life-threatening health issues, to the loss of those closest to him, here's a look
at Mark Ruffalo's tragic real-life story.
Ruffalo grew up in Wisconsin, alongside his brother and two sisters.
But according to Men's Journal, when his father, Frank's painting business went under, the
family moved to Virginia Beach.
Then, when a second business tanked, the Ruffalos headed west.
"Your great, great grandfather was once the richest man in Boston."
"So how come we're so poor?"
In San Diego, Frank was only able to find temporary work, and the family spiraled into
bankruptcy.
Mark, who had just graduated high school, has recalled in several interviews that the
family was living in a neighborhood where drugs like meth were commonly sold.
As Ruffalo recalls it, grade school was difficult.
He told Parade,
"I was miserable.
This sounds sappy, but I was always aware of the frailty of human beings, the sorrow
in the nature of things.
I didn't know how to live in the world, how to cope.
I felt like I didn't belong."
Later in life, Ruffalo discovered he had been suffering from undiagnosed ADHD and dyslexia.
In 2017, he teamed up with the Child Mind Institute on their My Younger Self initiative,
revealing a bit of his own journey with mental health.
"There's help and that there are ways to deal with it and to manage it and to overcome it."
Ruffalo even moved his young family from upstate New York back to New York City so his children
could attend a school with a program for dyslexic students, should they need it.
While Ruffalo was living in L.A., he had a best friend named Michael.
The actor described their common bond, telling Parade,
"He was the only one I knew as sad as me who I could talk to."
But in 1994, Michael succumbed to his own depression, and took his own life.
Ruffalo remembered,
"When he died, it rocked me out of a dark depression.
The moment he left, I realized that death wasn't an escape."
To Ruffalo, acting became a way of moving forward past the pain of his younger years.
Ruffalo has dealt with depression for his entire life.
And according to New York Magazine, after high school, as his friends were going to
college, Ruffalo said he instead spent most of his time smoking, surfing, and wandering
around aimlessly.
He worked as a busboy, and said he was,
"… just about ready to jump off a bridge.”
Ruffalo now has a name for it, telling The Observer,
"It's Dysthymia.
It's a long-running, low-grade depression all the time.
I've been struggling with that my whole life."
The actor credits meditation with changing his outlook, revealing to Rolling Stone,
"It's pretty much a daily practice that quiets your brain and oddly enough, actually slows
down time, so you're not so much trapped in your immediate reactions to things.
My work started to change, my luck started to change.
The way the world looked to me changed."
After having a dream that he had a brain tumor, a CAT scan confirmed Ruffalo had developed
an Acoustic Neroma, a benign tumor in his brain.
"She said you have a mass behind your left ear the size of a golf ball."
It was a trying time.
"Yeah it was very scary…
I found out and then our baby was born two weeks later."
Several weeks after the birth of his son Keen, Ruffalo underwent surgery to remove the tumor.
But even though the operation was a success, he lost hearing in his left ear, and that
side of his face was completely paralyzed.
The crisis couldn't have come at a worse time for Ruffalo's career, either.
Due to the complications, he retreated to his home where he stayed in self-imposed exile,
unable to work.
"It lasted a long time.
It lasted to the point where they were saying you're probably not gonna get your face back."
After six months of paralysis, Ruffalo beat the odds and was able to make very slight
movements, signaling the beginning of his recovery.
According to the LA Times, Mark's brother Scott Ruffalo died a week after being shot
in the head in his own home, in 2008.
Initially it appeared that Scott might have died playing Russian roulette, but eventually
the case was ruled a homicide.
Police questioned Shaha Mishaal Adham and her boyfriend Brian Scofield after they willingly
came forward.
Shaha claimed she visited Scott to pick up some keys, said Scott then mentioned something
about Russian roulette, and Shaha says she heard a gunshot shortly after.
She was booked, but then released, and in 2012, she suddenly died, leaving the case
without a critical witness.
Scott's murder remains unsolved.
"You know it's, it'll be the great mystery of my life."
Following his brother's death, Ruffalo took a break from Hollywood.
He told the Telegraph,
"My brother passing away… reminded me that life is short and you'd better do what you
want while you have a chance."
Ruffalo fired his agent and publicist, left his apartment in L.A., and moved to a secluded
home in upstate New York with his wife and three children.
Still, Ruffalo couldn't completely leave the business, and went on to make his directorial
debut with 2010's Sympathy for Delicious.
Ruffalo remained semi-retired from acting until he read the script for The Kids Are
All Right.
As he told the Telegraph, he took on the project in memory of his brother.
"He was this incredibly beautiful, sexy, vibrant, fun loving guy…
It was a way for me to say thank you to him."
The actor has since gone on to enviable success, despite the many devastating challenges he's
faced in his life.
He looked back on his struggle, telling Life&Style,
"I was tending bar at Chateau Marmont, and I’d see Johnny Depp and Nic Cage hanging
around, hugely successful, while I was barely making a living…
I must have auditioned 800 times without landing a part."
Thanks to the support of his wife and three children, and a whole lot of honest work on
his well-being, the guy now widely known as Hulk from The Avengers is living his best
life.
"Just be patient, and accept the journey that you've been asked to take."
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).