HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES — It was a “Hulk” of a day for four-time Oscar nominee Mark Ruffalo! The actor received his very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday.
His “13 Going on 30” co-star Jennifer Garner spoke at the ceremony, taking credit for having “kicked off the Mark Ruffalo rom-com era” with the 2004 fan favorite movie.
All jokes aside, Garner said she was honored to be part of his special day.
“The real success is in how thrilled and delighted your colleagues are to have the opportunity to lift you up and celebrate you. Every time your name is called, Hollywood takes a deep collective breath and says OK, the good and right thing has happened,” she said.
Ruffalo teared up while he took the podium.
“I know this is a very prime piece of real estate, so I thank you for your generosity,” he said.
The actor added that his gratefulness extends to the Native American community, saying “we are on what used to be their homelands.”
“I’m so moved. I’m so grateful for this…It’s very humbling for me. I’ve been standing here in tears,” he added.
He recalled being only 18 when he came to Hollywood.
“I literally got off the bus, and I was here on Hollywood Boulevard. I walked into the Stella Adler Conservatory, scared poopless…All I know is I want to dedicate my life to being an actor,” he said.
He spent seven years at the Stella Adler Conservatory. And as a young man, he believed in himself and his dream the way “only an 18-year-old can, totally oblivious to the fact how frickin’ hard it was gonna be.”
“My grandmother used to send me $20 a week in an envelope with a little note that said ‘I believe in you. Stay put. You can do this,'” he recalled.
He said receiving those handwritten notes and the cash every week was quite literally what kept him going during a tough time.
He had this message to share with young actors trying to make it in showbiz:
“There’s nothing that’s difficult in life that isn’t in some way worth it. Whether you make it or not, nothing worth a God damn in life is easy. So hang on!” Ruffalo said.
He also wanted to emphasize how acting, similar to everything else in life, is never done alone.
“The thing about a beautiful life is, it’s never done alone. A career as an actor is never done alone. It takes so many people to do it. So I want to say with this star, it’s not just mine. It’s yours. It’s you folks out there who are my fans who basically paid for us having this career. It’s for my friends who’ve been supporting me all these years…no one does this alone,” he said.
Ruffalo’s star is the 2,772nd along the famed landmark. It’s only fitting that it’s located just outside the Stella Adler Conservatory.
The longtime actor was nominated for three Oscars within five years for his performances in “The Kids Are All Right,” Bennett Miller’s “Foxcatcher” and Thomas McCarthy’s “Spotlight.” His latest Oscar nomination is for his role in the Frankenstein-like tale “Poor Things.”
He also plays “The Hulk” in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and who can forget him in “13 Going on 30.”
Ruffalo’s other film credits include: “Infinitely Polar Bear,” “Thanks for Sharing,” “Now You See Me,” “Shutter Island,” “We Don’t Live Here Anymore,” “Zodiac,” “The Brothers Bloom,” “Collateral,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “In The Cut,” “Just Like Heaven,” “Reservation Road,” “All the King’s Men,” “What Doesn’t Kill You,” “My Life Without Me,” “The Last Castle,” “Windtalkers,” “Committed,” “Ride With the Devil,” “Studio 54,” “Safe Men,” “The Last Big Thing,” “Begin Again,” and more.
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