''Ruffy and I just sort of fell into each other,'' says Linney, who was nominated for Best Actress and still bristles that her co-star was overlooked. ''I hope everyone who appreciates good acting has a chance to work with him. From the minute I met him -- it's almost arresting. He's a purely authentic human being. I have a hard time running into him without tearing up immediately.''
His long wait was over. With roles in John Woo's ''Windtalkers'' and the prison-uprising drama ''The Last Castle,'' Ruffalo's career was cooking. In summer 2001, he was gearing up to play Mel Gibson's younger brother in M. Night Shyamalan's blockbuster-to-be ''Signs.'' ''I was very excited to start making movies with this guy,'' remembers the director. ''And he called me probably four weeks out and said, 'There's something happening.''' A tumor had been found in Ruffalo's brain and he needed surgery. He spent the next 10 months holed up with his wife and newborn on their upstate New York farm, partially paralyzed in the face, puffed out 40 pounds from the meds.
''It was the most difficult thing I've ever been through, and ended up being one of the most important things that ever happened to me,'' says Ruffalo, fingering the St. Christopher medallion that hangs from his neck on a silver chain. ''I had been living in this exterior space for so long, and then I was just diving down into myself. I didn't understand what living really is about. It's hard to hang on to as time passes. The one thing I don't want to be is...I am not that brain tumor. And I don't ever want it to look like I'm using it for sympathy.''
When Ruffalo recovered, he promised himself he'd resist the empty roles with fat paychecks. So he dove into Jane Campion's tricky sexual drama ''In the Cut'' (proving to be one of the flawed movie's few bright lights) and Michel Gondry's ''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,'' but turned down the chance to star in Jennifer Lopez's upcoming ''Monster-in-Law'' (Michael Vartan stepped into the role). Signing on to a light movie like ''13 Going on 30,'' the time-travel sundae starring Jennifer Garner, wasn't an easy decision. ''I basically told [director] Gary [Winick] that 'unless the final scene is ''Splendor in the Grass,'' I'm not going to be able to do this movie,''' he says. ''And then he came to me a few months later and that scene was in there.''
Playing Garner's sweet, decent boyfriend turned Ruffalo into a leading man, or, at least, a charming accessory for A-list actresses in romantic comedies. ''It's an odd thing because you want to be renowned,'' he says. ''There's some part of you that wants people to say, 'That's remarkable. What that person does is really great.' But man, the day that I can't ride on the subway without being anonymous -- I don't look forward to that. Most people know me from ''13 Going on 30,'' but it's odd because I'm not doing anything in that picture. It's not my best work. I know that. My best work to date is ''You Can Count on Me.'' And how do you top that?''
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