Back in 2000, just as You Can Count on Me was putting him on the map, Mark Ruffalo woke up from a dream that flipped his world the wrong way up. The message? “You may have a brain tumor.” It’s not exactly your average dream journal entry.
This wasn’t some passing nightmare. It felt like an urgent You should do something right away form of epiphany. So, Ruffalo trusted his gut and went straight to the doctor despite only coping with what gave the look of an ear infection. “I told the doctor, ‘That is going to sound crazy, but I had this dream that I even have a brain tumor,’” he shared during his SmartLess podcast chat with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett. Crazy? Perhaps. But Ruffalo was right.
The scan revealed a mass behind his left ear—a golf-ball-sized one. The doctor’s response? It’s total zombie mode. “She said, ‘We will’t tell what it’s until it’s biopsied,’” Ruffalo recalled. Cue weeks of uncertainty while his life dangled in limbo.
Here’s the kicker: Ruffalo didn’t tell anyone. Not even his wife, Sunrise Coigley, who was days away from giving birth to their first child. Yep, while she was prepping for baby Keen’s arrival, Ruffalo was quietly processing the news that he had a tumor.
When Mark Ruffalo finally told Sunrise in regards to the tumor—after their son was born—her response was brutal. At first, she thought he was joking. Then, reality hit, and she or he burst into tears, saying, “I at all times knew you were gonna die young.”
Plot twist, right?
The tumor was benign, but recovery wasn’t smooth. The surgery left him with partial facial paralysis—a tricky blow for any actor. But Ruffalo pushed through physically and mentally, and his profession didn’t just survive—it thrived.
Who would’ve guessed this real-life drama was playing out while he was rising to fame? From You Can Count on Me to becoming Bruce Banner within the Avengers, Ruffalo’s journey proves resilience is his superpower.
And that dream? Looks like something out of a movie. But hey, when your gut says something, you listen.
For more such stories, try Hollywood News.
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