Mark Ruffalo & Channing Tatum Beat Each Other Senseless On The Set Of Foxcatcher
Fight scenes in movies are a serious, carefully managed undertaking, especially when they're shot in a way that doesn't allow for the actors to rely on stunt people. Filmmakers obviously value authenticity, but they also don't want their onscreen talent getting injured to such a degree that they wind up in a hospital, thus delaying the completion of the movie and, likely, jacking up the budget. This gets tricky when you're working with actors who want to prove their physical mettle and perhaps outshine their co-star. And when this competition is baked into the drama, well, there's a potential for things to go a little haywire.
There are extreme examples like Jackie Chan and Benny "The Jet" Urquidez's all-out brawls in "Wheels on Meal" and "Dragons Forever," but these men are trained combatants. It's a little different when, say, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo hit the mat in Bennett Miller's depressing true-crime drama "Foxcatcher." Cast as real-life Olympic wrestlers Mark and David Schultz, the actors hurled themselves into their parts and captured the brothers' sibling rivalry with a brutal emotional intensity. Their dramatic scenes are difficult enough to watch, but when they wrestle you want to look away – particularly if you've ever had a brother. Ruffalo always seems to have the mental and physical upper hand as the older David, which infuriates Tatum's Mark. He can't win on any level. Ever.
These are two superb performances from two of our finest actors, so it's not surprising to learn that, while grappling, blows were exchanged.
Slapping the stuffing out of Tatum
Ruffalo recently appeared on Hot Ones and was asked by host Sean Evans about the time he allegedly popped Channing Tatum's ear during a wrestling scene. Here's the salient part of their exchange:
"Evans: In 'Foxcatcher,' where he told you before the take, 'Just slap the s*** out of me and get it over with?'
"Ruffalo: Oh. There was a lot of that. He did ask me to slap the s*** out of him, and it was easy to do because he'd beaten the s*** out of me so many times. It was like four months of learning how to wrestle together, and [he] has like 30 pounds on me, so when it came time to smack the s*** out of him, I was like [reaching back] came from Alabama."
Given Tatum's considerable size advantage, that had to be awfully satisfying.
Both actors got into tremendous physical shape to play the Schultz brothers and went through an intensive seven months of wrestling training. It paid off. Wrestlers like Kurt Angle, who was mentored by the Schultzes, praised the actors' portrayals and grappling ability. Given its depressing subject matter, "Foxcatcher" isn't a movie you want to revisit. Fortunately, when it comes to Tatum and Ruffalo's performances, they're so utterly unforgettable you don't have to.