Mark Ruffalo Ruptured Channing Tatum’s Eardrum While Filming ‘Foxcatcher’
Channing Tatum suffered a ruptured eardrum on the set of new movie Foxcatcher after encouraging co-star Mark Ruffalo to “be a man” and slap him as hard as he could.
Tatum portrays real-life U.S. Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz opposite Ruffalo, who plays his brother and fellow gold medalist Dave Schultz, and one confrontational scene involved The Avengers star lashing out at the 34-year-old.
Tatum urged Ruffalo to hit him harder after his initial attempts failed to hit the spot – but he quickly regretted his words.
Ruffalo explains, “There’s a moment where I slap him and I came in and slapped him. And he said, ‘C’mon man, I’m trying to act here. What is that? Come on! Be a man! Hit me!’
“So I walked out and I came back in and I clopped (sic) him so hard across the head, but I hit his ear… I broke his ear drum! And (director) Bennett Miller yelled, ‘Harder!'”
But Tatum wasn’t the only one left nursing a painful injury on set – Ruffalo, who plays angry superhero The Hulk in The Avengers movies, adds, “His arm is literally the size of my torso. I play The Hulk in the (Avengers) movie, and he is The Hulk!
“He hit me so hard one day (wrestling for the film), I felt like someone literally dropped a piano on me. I almost dropped to the ground, but I couldn’t, we were shooting.”
And Ruffalo admits he is still suffering from the wrestling move: “(Tatum’s burst eardrum) healed, but my neck hasn’t.”
Despite the onset injuries, the Oscar nominee is a big fan of Tatum.
He concludes, “We are brothers. That guy, I love. We went through the most amazing process together; he’s amazing in the film.”
Photo Credit:Sony Pictures Classics
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