Ruffalo was born on November 22, 1967,[1] inKenosha, Wisconsin.[2] His mother, Marie Rose (née Hébert), is a hairdresser and stylist, while his father, Frank Lawrence Ruffalo Jr., worked as a construction painter.[3][4] He has two sisters, Tanya Marie, who died in 2023,[5] and Nicole, and a brother, Scott, who died in 2008.[3] His father is ofItalian descent, fromGirifalco,Calabria,[6] and his mother is ofFrench Canadian and Italian ancestry.[7][8] His father was aBaháʼí, while his mother was Christian.[9] "I grew up in a household that had three religions in it, (born-again) Christianity, Catholicism and Bahai'ism, so there were different viewpoints and a lot of debate about that, and I immediately began to understand that all these people that I loved very much had very strong feelings about faith, but all of them were valid to me. I felt that none of them, my grandmother, my father or my mother, was better or worse than the other."[10]
Ruffalo attended bothCatholic andprogressive schools throughout his education. Ruffalo has described himself as having been a "happy kid",[11] although he struggled with undiagnoseddyslexia andADHD as a child and a young adult.[12] Ruffalo spent his teen years inVirginia Beach, Virginia, where his father worked. He competed in wrestling in junior high and high school in Wisconsin and Virginia. Ruffalo graduated fromFirst Colonial High School in Virginia Beach in 1986, where he acted for the Patriot Playhouse. He moved with his family toSan Diego, California, and later toLos Angeles, where he took classes at theStella Adler Conservatory and co-founded the Orpheus Theatre Company.[3] With the theater company, he wrote, directed, and starred in a number of plays. He also spent close to a decade working as abartender.[13]
In March 2007, Ruffalo appeared inDavid Fincher's crime thrillerZodiac as SFPD homicide inspectorDave Toschi, who ran the investigation to find and apprehend theZodiac killer from 1969 through most of the 1970s.[3] He acted oppositeJake Gyllenhaal andRobert Downey Jr. CriticRoger Ebert described Ruffalo's performance by writing that "Ruffalo plays him not as a hotshot but as a dogged officer who does things by the book because he believes in the book". Toschi was role model for theClint Eastwood filmDirty Harry.[22] That same year, Ruffalo played divorced lawyer Dwight Arno, who accidentally kills a child and speeds away, inTerry George's filmReservation Road, based on the novel byJohn Burnham Schwartz.[23]
In 2010, Ruffalo co-starred in theMartin Scorsese thrillerShutter Island as U.S. Marshal Chuck Aule, the partner ofLeonardo DiCaprio's character Teddy Daniels.[28] Also in 2010, he starred inLisa Cholodenko'sThe Kids Are All Right, withAnnette Bening andJulianne Moore. Ruffalo stated in an interview that he approached Cholodenko after watchingHigh Art and said he would love to work with her. Years later, she called Ruffalo and said she wrote a script and had him in mind for the part. Justin Lowe ofThe Hollywood Reporter praised all three leads for their chemistry and performances writing, "Moore, Bening and Ruffalo all deliver endearingly quirky comic performances".[29] His role earned him anAcademy Award nomination forBest Supporting Actor.[30]
2012–2019:Marvel films
Ruffalo at the Toronto premiere ofThe Avengers in 2012
Ruffalo starred inThe Avengers (2012), the sixth installment of theMarvel Cinematic Universe, replacingEdward Norton as Dr.Bruce Banner/The Hulk.[31]Peter Bradshaw ofThe Guardian praised Ruffalo's work writing, "Ruffalo actually makes Bruce and Hulk interesting, even droll characters (he also plays the monster in mo-cap), superior to theEric Bana and Edward Norton incarnations, and his version ingeniously locates the big green monster's secret not in the over-rehearsed subject of 'anger management' but depression and self-hate."[32] He reprised the role again inIron Man 3 (2013),[33] and inAvengers: Age of Ultron (2015).[34]
In 2013, Ruffalo starred in the romantic comedyBegin Again acting alongsideKeira Knightley. The film received positive reviews and was a financial success. The following year, Ruffalo starred as Ned Weeks in theHBO television adaptation ofLarry Kramer'sAIDS-era play,The Normal Heart (2014), his performance earned him an Emmy nomination.[35] He says he has had an outpouring of support for his performance:
I've never had so sincere and vulnerable a response from people for anything that I've ever done. ... And of everything that I've done since I've been on social media, which hasn't been that long, by the way, I haven't had such an overwhelmingly positive response as I have fromThe Normal Heart directly to me. And it's a blessing, man. If this is it, if I have a piano dropped on me tomorrow, then I would go down thinking, "You know what, I did okay as far as my career goes, because that's a gift. That's rare."[36]
Ruffalo married Sunrise Coigney in 2000. They have three children.[54][55] After completing work on the filmThe Last Castle, Ruffalo was diagnosed with avestibular schwannoma, a type ofbrain tumor also known as an acoustic neuroma. The tumor was found to be benign; however, the surgery to remove the mass resulted in partialfacial paralysis and affected his hearing.[56] The paralysis subsided after a year, but Ruffalo remains deaf in his left ear.[57]
On December 1, 2008, Ruffalo's younger brother, Scott, was found outside his home on North Palm Drive inBeverly Hills with an execution-style bullet wound to the head.[58][59] Scott was taken to a hospital, but died the following week.[60] The case remains officially unsolved.[61] A Saudi woman, who had initially been charged, Shaha Mishaal Adham (then 26 years old), was released from the Beverly Hills jail for what police records say was "insufficient evidence, per the warrant". Her lawyer stated that Scott Ruffalo had been playing with the gun.[62]
Ruffalo and his family live inSullivan County, New York, and he describes theCatskills as his "home". Ruffalo also owns two apartments inNew York City, one for business and another as an investment.[63] Ruffalo's mother and stepfather live inBoothbay Harbor, Maine, where he and his family occasionally spend their summers.[64] In May 2022, Ruffalo was named in a lawsuit against the producers ofI Know This Much Is True by residents ofEllenville, New York alleging improper cleanup of a fire that broke out on the set of a car dealership used as a show location.[65] The lawsuit claims that the residents suffered physical and emotional injuries and added that the fire caused damage to their homes and exposed them to toxic fumes.[66]
During the2014 Brazilian presidential election, Ruffalo initially expressed support forMarina Silva's candidacy.[67] However, he publicly withdrew his endorsement, citing changes in her party's government platform regardingLGBT rights,[68] as well as the candidate's opposition togay marriage and women's reproductive rights.[69]
Ruffalo endorsedLabour Party leaderJeremy Corbyn in the2017 UK general election. Hetweeted: "Because @jeremycorbyn offers people an alternative to the Corporate status quo, which never ends well for them, I humbly endorse Corbyn."[74][75] Ruffalo signed a letter supporting Corbyn, whom he described as "a beacon of hope in the struggle against emergentfar-right nationalism,xenophobia and racism in much of the democratic world", and endorsed him for in the2019 UK general election.[76]
In November 2021, Ruffalo criticized the not-guilty ruling in thecase ofKyle Rittenhouse in his hometown ofKenosha, Wisconsin, and said that the people that Rittenhouse shot were victims of murder.[77][78][79] In April 2022, Ruffalo urged voters to check voter ID requirements in their states through posts to his social media. Ruffalo citedVoteRiders as a source of assistance for voter ID requirements across the United States.[80][81]
In March 2016, Ruffalo narrated and producedDear President Obama: The Clean Energy Revolution Is Now, a documentary by directorJon Bowermaster which looks at PresidentBarack Obama's environmental tenure and legacy concerning the massive expansion of oil and natural-gas drilling.[91] In October 2017, Ruffalo actively supported theStanding Rock Sioux Reservation in their opposition to theDakota Access Pipeline project.[92]
In 2019, Ruffalo starred in and co-producedDark Waters, which spotlighted another one of his environmental concerns with its true-life depiction of a corporate lawyer's relentless pursuit of justice to expose poisonous pollution by chemical behemothDuPont. In June 2020, Ruffalo appeared in awebinar conference for theIrish Green Party to encourage members to accept the recently negotiated programme for government, agreed between the party,Fine Gael andFianna Fáil.[93] In 2020, Ruffalo praised the closure of theIndian Point Nuclear Power Plant, and called for the closure of additional nuclear power plants.[94]
Anti-war activism
In October 2019, Ruffalo criticizedEllen DeGeneres's friendship with former US presidentGeorge W. Bush, tweeting that "until [he] is brought to justice for the crimes of theIraq War, (including American-ledtorture, Iraqi deaths & displacement, and the deep scars—emotional & otherwise—inflicted on our military that served his folly), we can't even begin to talk about kindness."[95] In October 2020, speaking toMehdi Hasan, Ruffalo condemned what he called Israel's "asymmetrical warfare" against thePalestinians, stating, "There is no reason that an ally of America should not be held to the same standards as any other nation in the world", while also relating that he had been called anantisemite for his views, saying, "[It's] really tough to hear. And the fact that so many people will take it to that extreme, when you're talking about that kind of inequality, that kind of oppression,that kind of apartheid."[96]
During the2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, Ruffalo posted numerous tweets critical of Israel. He later tweeted an apology for suggesting Israel wascommitting genocide, stating, "It's not accurate, it's inflammatory, disrespectful & is being used to justify antisemitism here & abroad."[97][98][99] In March 2022, Ruffalo expressed support forUkraine duringRussia's invasion and referred to Ukrainian presidentVolodymyr Zelensky as a hero. He criticized political commentatorTucker Carlson, calling him a "crony" for Russian presidentVladimir Putin.[100] Ruffalo signed an October 2023 open letter ofArtists4Ceasefire during theIsraeli bombardment of Gaza.[101] In November 2023, Ruffalo criticized the Israeli prime ministerBenjamin Netanyahu for describing the civilian deaths during theIsraeli attacks on Gaza as "collateral damage".[102] At the 96thAcademy Awards, Ruffalo was one of several celebrities wearing an "Artists Call for Ceasefire Now" pin on his lapel. Ruffalo called out in support of protestors blocking the red carpet at the Awards.[103]
In September 2024, Ruffalo, alongsideSusan Sarandon,Cynthia Nixon, andRosie O'Donnell, signed an open letter fromSAG-AFTRA and Sister Guild Members calling for a ceasefire and condemning the "industry'sMcCarthyist repression of members who acknowledge Palestinian suffering". The letter followed the November 2023 firing ofMelissa Barrera from theScream franchise, due to her comments on theGaza war in which she equated Gaza to a "concentration camp" and accused Israel of "distorting the Holocaust to boost the Israeli arms industry".[104][105] In May 2025, Ruffalo signed a letter criticizing the killing of Palestinian photojournalistFatima Hassouna. She had been killed in an Israeli airstrike.[106] Ruffalo is a signatory of theFilm Workers for Palestine boycott pledge that was published in September 2025.[107] In September 2025, Ruffalo signed an open pledge with Film Workers for Palestine pledging not to work with Israeli film institutions that "are implicated ingenocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people".[108][109]
Civil rights
Ruffalo ispro-choice. He has explained his opinion by saying: "I don't want to turn back the hands of time to when women shuttled across state lines in the thick of night to resolve an unwanted pregnancy, in a cheap hotel room."[110] Ruffalo has called for an economic revolution, saying that "capitalism today is failing us, killing us, and robbing from our children's future."[111] He has shown support for theLGBTQ community;[112] however, he has received backlash from thetransgender community for supporting the casting ofMatt Bomer, acisgender man, to play atrans woman in the filmAnything, on which Ruffalo was an executive producer.[113]
In 2023, Ruffalo sought to block the sale of theWest Park Presbyterian Church, a city landmark built in the 1880s, to prevent its demolition and construction of housing in its place. The congregation said it could not afford the cost of maintaining the deteriorating church building and wanted to use the proceeds of the sale for charity work. He lives in the church neighborhood and has started a campaign to raise money for the building.[115] An independent analysis published in October 2023 found that the church would be very expensive to repair.[116][117] West-Park temporarily withdrew its application to demolish the church in January 2024.[118] Celebrities and residents had resumed their preservation efforts by 2025,[119] and theNew York Court of Appeals ruled in June 2025 that the church's community center, the Center at West Park, could be evicted.[120][121] Afterward, the Center of West Park asked local lawmakers to intervene, and they were given a final eviction notice that July.[122] Following further community meetings regarding West-Park,[123]Manhattan Community Board 7 voted in October 2025 to recommend against demolition,[124] and the Landmarks Preservation Commission hosted a hearing that December to determine whether the demolition should be approved.[125][126]
On February 8, 2024, accompanied by his wife Sunrise Coigney and the two elder of his three children, Ruffalo received a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame.[127]
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