Three-time Oscar nominee Mark Ruffalo almost veered away from his passion, but a phone call from the actor’s mother reset him on a focused path.

Mark Ruffalo, 55, has proven himself to be a master of all genres. From channelling teen longing in 13 Going On 30 to holding his own against Leonardo DiCaprio in Shutter Island, Martin Scorsese’s chilling thriller. Mark also stepped into the role of the Incredible Hulk, one of the key players to kick off the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

But all of this success and Hollywood celebrity might not have come Mark’s way if it wasn’t for his mother’s stern advice.

Mark Ruffalo struggled to get his career start

Mark Ruffalo was born in Kenosha, Winsconsin to Frank Ruffalo and Marie Hebert. After his parents separated, the family relocated to Virginia Beach, Virginia, where his father worked.

The Marvel star struggled with both dyslexia and ADHD growing up, describing it as a “disastrous” experience to the Detroit News and explaining he had limited career options. After graduating from high school in Virginia Beach, Mark expressed his intentions to become either a teacher or a therapist, but the prospect of more schooling deterred him.

Mark turned his hand to landscaping and electrical work but didn’t find favor there either. Eventually, he decided to pursue his love of acting, which he had discovered starring in high school plays.

Mark Ruffalo almost gave up on acting before his mother intervened

After deciding on his career path, Mark relocated to Los Angeles to train at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. The years after he graduated from the acting school, Mark had small roles in commercials and low-budget horrors.

This deterred Mark again, a feeling that was only enhanced after an interaction with his younger brother.

Mark told the Detroit News that his younger brother sat him down to ask him what his plans were for life. “That’s not the talk you want to have with your little brother,” the Shutter Island star joked.

Mark revealed that this conversation pushed him to return to Kenosha and ditch his Hollywood ambitions. But it didn’t take long before Mark’s mother caught wind of this plan that she put a stop to it.

‘If you quit acting, I will be so angry with you’

Upon hearing of Mark’s plans to move home, his mother called him up to express her disappointment with this plan.

“She called me and said, ‘if you quit acting, I will be so angry with you, I don’t know if I will speak to you again,'” Mark explained to the Detroit News.

“This is a woman who would never, ever, I mean ever intercede like that. That was not her style. And it was shocking to me. And it saved me. It gave me a boundary: I was like yeah, she’s right. And it gave me permission, kind of, to go back. So I was like, ‘Dad, I don’t think I can do this, I’m going to go back to L.A. and try that out again.’ And he was like, ‘absolutely.'” 

A few years after his return to Hollywood and Mark was beginning to pick up more significant roles. His breakthrough arrived in 2000 after being cast opposite Laura Linney in You Can Count On Me. The early 2000s saw Mark placed on Hollywood’s radar starring in the likes of In The Cut (2003), 13 Going On 30 (2004), Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004), and Collateral (2004).