Poor Things' NSFW Scenes Had Mark Ruffalo Questioning Everything
Acclaimed Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos has a unique way of cutting straight to the heart of his oddball characters — sometimes literally, but always in the most provocative ways. The director behind "The Lobster," "The Killing of the Sacred Deer," and "The Favourite" is no stranger to the idea of using violence and esoteric imagery as a means of bringing idiosyncratic worlds to life, though his most recent film "Poor Things" (reviewed here to great praise by /Film's Mike Shutt) has found itself on an awards track partly by incorporating an even spicier ingredient into the mix: sex. To Lanthimos fans, this was merely another item in the toolbelt for the journey of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) and her Frankenstein's monster-like transformation into a full-fledged human being. But for co-star Mark Ruffalo, cast as the rascally ne'er-do-well Duncan Wedderburn (my personal pick for 2023's greatest cinematic villain, in fact) and the subject of much "furious jumping" with Bella, the rather revealing demands of writer Tony McNamara's script had him questioning everything.
Namely, it had to do with the age-old question of, well, whether he was a little too old for such a role.
The talented actor admitted to such doubts in a recent profile with Perfect Magazine (via CinemaBlend), ironically featuring a photoshoot with Ruffalo baring plenty of skin. (All you animals can check that out over at Perfect Magazine's Instagram page). But perhaps nothing makes actors feel more vulnerable than sex scenes, and Ruffalo confirmed that he felt the pressure:
"I didn't know if I could pull this off. I've never done anything like [Poor Things] before. I'm 55 now so, like, the sex scenes — am I too old to be doing that kind of stuff? Does anyone want to see that?"
'I feel like we're in this prudish time for films'
Believe it or not, "Poor Things" isn't entirely new territory for Mark Ruffalo. Audiences of a certain age might only know the actor through his Marvel role as Bruce Banner/the Hulk or his tendency to sink his teeth into surly investigators and/or reporters (as seen in "Dark Waters," "Spotlight," "Shutter Island," "Zodiac," and many more). But may we never forget his blistering performance in Jane Campion's polarizing 2003 erotic thriller "In the Cut," undercut somewhat by the fact that the film mostly sparked headlines and controversy over rom-com sweetheart Meg Ryan's shocking amount of nudity. Because how dare actors, you know, act and try different things.
All that to say, pop culture hardly seems to have changed much in the intervening 20 years, and Ruffalo has taken notice. There has been a pervasive trend throughout the last several years, particularly on social media, in which certain circles have all but rejected the notion that sex scenes are "necessary" in film and television — a troublesome take that we here at /Film have rightfully pushed back on. In that light, the depiction of sexual pleasure and exploration in "Poor Things" might as well feel downright taboo. For Ruffalo, that's a symptom of an even broader issue, as he explains later on to Perfect Magazine:
"I feel like we're in this prudish time for films. Sexuality is so deeply connected to the psychology of a character. And it should be explored in that sense too."
Preaching to the choir, Mark! No one movie can stand as a referendum on any cultural concern, of course, but the commercial success of "Poor Things" – sex, nudity, and all — does feel like an encouraging sign. "Poor Things" is currently playing in theaters.