Mark Ruffalo Says ‘It Was Easy’ to ‘Slap the S— Out’ of Channing Tatum on ‘Foxcatcher’ Set, Even Though He Accidentally Popped Tatum’s Eardrum
variety.comZack Sharf Digital News Director Mark Ruffalo appeared on “Hot Ones” ahead of the release of “Poor Things” and got asked about the time he accidentally popped Channing Tatum‘s eardrum on the set of “Foxcatcher.” The 2014 sports drama, directed by Bennett Miller, starred the two actors as Olympic wrestlers Mark and David Schultz.
Ruffalo played David, who was murdered in January 1996 by multimillionaire John du Pont (played by Steve Carell in the film) after John recruited the brothers to help train them. “[Channing] did ask me to slap the shit out of him, and it was easy to do because he’d beaten the shit out of me so many times,” Ruffalo wisecracked when the topic of Tatum’s popped eardrum was brought up. “It was like four months of learning how to wrestle together,” Ruffalo added. “He like has 30 pounds on me, so when it came time to smack the shit out of him, I was like, ‘Came from Alabama.'” Tatum first told the popped eardrum story at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, where “Foxcatcher” world premiered and where Miller won the festival’s best director prize.
Tatum said at the time: “All of a sudden it’s just making a screeching noise. I can’t hear anything. Eardrums heal, so I’m fine.” “I’m pretty sure I broke my hand in the movie in the training,” Tatum also said at Cannes. “You’re just throwing bodies around and you get caught in different angles.” “Foxcatcher” went on to earn five Academy Award nominations, including Ruffalo for best supporting actor.
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