“I had a dream that I had a brain tumor”: How a Nightmare Saved Mark Ruffalo’s Life
Mark Ruffalo is undoubtedly one of the most talented actors in Hollywood. He has proved his versatility as an actor by starring in romcoms, thrillers, and dramas. He gained international recognition for his portrayal of the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero Dr. Bruce Banner aka Hulk.
Mark Ruffalo has won numerous accolades in his career spanning more than three decades. He has won millions of hearts in all these years, but at one point in his life, he was not sure if he would live let alone act. He was diagnosed with a rare kind of tumor. The way he discovered that he had the tumor was rather fascinating and almost unbelievable.
Mark Ruffalo Had A Strange Dream
There are many ways in which one can find out about the life-threatening disease that they have and dreaming about it might not be one of those. This was where Mark Ruffalo stood as an exception he had a nightmare about the fact that he had a brain tumor during the filming of the movie You Can Count On Me.
Ruffalo was as shocked and concerned as any other person would be if they were to dream about such a disease. In 2013, he told the Acoustic Neuroma Association (via sixesfullofnines on YouTube):
“I was working on a movie when I had a dream that I had a brain tumor, and it was like no other dream that I’d ever had. I had become friendly with the set doctor on that movie who was on the board of the local hospital. I went to her that morning and I said, ‘Listen, I had a really scary dream last night and you’re probably going to think I’m crazy, but I think I have a brain tumor and I’d really like to get it checked out.'”
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The Poor Things actor was right about the fact that the doctor would think he was crazy. However, after going through the CAT scan and an MRI scan, it was found that he was also right about the tumor which was benign but still harmful.
Mark Ruffalo Was Afraid He Would Not Be Able To Act Ever Again
The tumor Mark Ruffalo had was between his left inner ear and brain. He was advised to get the surgery done as soon as possible because unluckily, the tumor was lying on a facial nerve. One wrong move could have led to permanent facial paralysis which would mean that he would not be able to continue with his acting career.
While talking to the Acoustic Neuroma Association, the 13 Going On 30 star revealed that he turned to religion in hopes of having his career saved. He said:
“I was praying and bargaining with God… I said, ‘please, don’t take my face and don’t take my life because without my face I can’t really support my family, and with my life I definitely can’t support my family.”
The other end of the bargain was that Ruffalo would lose hearing in his left ear. While he did suffer from facial paralysis for almost a year, he recovered from it but had permanently lost hearing in his left ear. Thankfully, he was at least still able to continue with his acting career.
