Ruffalo is one to watch

Comparisons with Marlon Brando couldn't have been further from Mark Ruffalo's mind during the years he spent treading the boards in the States.

But those comparisons are exactly what US film critics have been throwing at the brooding 33-year-old, thanks to an acclaimed performance as Laura Linney's feckless sibling, Terry, in Kenneth Lonergan's You Can Count On Me.

For Ruffalo, this breakthrough is like the light at the end of a very long tunnel. He turned to acting as a rudderless 18-year-old, out of desperation.

Though he claims his introspective nature made him ill-equipped to be an actor, he had been performing for much of his life. 'I was voted Most Fun To Be Around at school but it was the tears of a clown,' he confides. 'I was always really miserable inside, but no one knew because I put on an act to hide it.'

Helped by a wealthy uncle, Ruffalo trained at the distinguished Stella Adler Conservatory in LA. Nevertheless, after 30 plays his career was going nowhere fast. 'I actually quit acting at least five times,' recalls Ruffalo, who tended bars for nine years to make ends meet. 'That really starts to hurt your self-image, and I was already really insecure and didn't like myself very much.'

He was 24 and drowning in depression when, out of the blue, his best friend committed suicide. Although the tragedy hit Ruffalo hard, it galvanised his desire to live. It explains why he is pushing himself so hard now, grabbing opportunities for both film and stage work as though each job could be his last. 'I'm definitely driven,' he says. 'And I think that has a lot to do with it. Certainly I see it as being a part of this need to keep creating. '

Which is just what he's doing, with parts opposite Nicolas Cage (Windtalkers), Gwyneth Paltrow (A View From The Top) and Robert Redford (The Castle) coming soon. He continues to act in and direct productions for his first love, the theatre, and this summer will become a father for the first time. If he doesn't burn himself out, 2001 could be the making of Mark Ruffalo.