Mark Ruffalo Talks Success And Finding Happiness

Mark Ruffalo recently sat down for an interview with Indiewire magazine, that touched on many topics. Here's what he had to say about making more money than ever before in his career, and finding happiness. The magazine quotes him as follows:

"It's hard! I have guilt about it, for one thing. I have some amount of shame about it. I'm giving more and more of it away, which makes me feel good. It's been nice to be able to help my mom and my sister and my dad, and to help my nieces. It's been nice to be able to help people. And it's been nice to be able to take some more time off. And it's been nice to be able to think about buying a place instead of renting a place in New York City. What people have to understand is that I have to make a lot of money, an enormous amount of money, to have a lot of money. At the end of the day I probably walk home with around 20 percent of my paycheck. Each actor has a whole sort of business around them.

I was out at the park with my daughter the other day and this kid came up to me and said, "What are you doing here man? Why aren't you hanging out with the rich people?" And I was like, "Actors are not the rich people. Actors aren't as rich as you think they are." That being said, I never thought in a million years that I'd be where I was supporting a family of three, living in New York City, and being able to put my kids in a good school, those kind of things. Or even that I'd be leading a movie, or sitting here talking to you, or I'd be staying at the hotels I stay in from time to time. None of that I thought was possible 20 years ago, to be honest with you. So I'm really grateful for it. 

That's how I deal with it. To remember where I came from, the fact that it took so long, and to remember that I've been happy through all parts of my life and not just because of money. My happiness has been taken from being out on a beautiful walk sometimes, or seeing my kid smile or come hug me, or making love with my wife, or riding my bike, or making stuff. Doing really simple things is where I get that. Even activism has brought me an enormous amount of happiness. Activists are full of love because there's not any money in it. They care about the things they're fighting for, so they have a lot of love in them. That's where happiness comes from."

Read the full interview at Indiewire.