Mark Ruffalo on coping with self-isolation
Los Angeles – The versatile and talented Mark Ruffalo is quarantining with his family in upstate New York.
“I’m kind of an Olympic Black Belt of self-isolation,” he said. “When I’m not working, I’m a homebody. I like to be with my family but they don’t like to stay in and so now they have to stay there with me and other than the enormous anxiety of going out and doing the shopping and becoming accustomed to this way of life where we have to social distance and the kids want to go out. They want to be social and we have to convince them that this is the way forward and to be patient and all of these things.
“We’re not seeing anybody. It’s just us and we don’t really have very good Internet where we live. I’m actually in a hotel – a closed hotel that has good Internet but I wouldn’t be able to do this where I live. There’s no cable. It’s just
LTE and it’s not even good enough to do a video conference like this so we’re talking more, we’re eating more, we’re cooking more, we’re spending more time together.
“I’m gardening.
I’m lucky enough to have some space to garden and so I’m starting a garden which I love to do and I’m fixing the leaks in the faucets and all the things that I’ve been walking past for the last four or five years saying I should get to that one day. I’m taking care of all those things but it’s all about family right now. Mostly it’s family and friends.”
So is he enjoying being a normal person again?
“I am enjoying,” he admitted. “I am enjoying not having so much busyness in my life. I forgot how enjoyable just having some time with family without running around. Everyone running around doing something is it’s been a long time and so I am enjoying that. I have a lot of anxiety about folks.
“I’m lucky. I have some money in the bank but I know a lot of people who are really struggling and that’s really making me anxious. People who I love and I know who aren’t as fortunate as me. So we’re sending out a lot of like little care packages and checks and trying to make sure everyone’s got a little leg up right now who are less fortunate.”
Mark is earning rave reviews with his performance on his latest TV drama series, “I Know This Much Is True,” where he portrays twin brothers – - – Dominick and Thomas Birdsey.
Based on the novel of the same name, the miniseries follows the troubled lives of identical twin brothers, one of which is a paranoid schizophrenic, coming from a family with a dark tormented history. It is a story of betrayal, sacrifice and forgiveness.