Mark Ruffalo

Summary

Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Danson & Woody Harrelson (Sometimes)

Guest: Mark Ruffalo

Episode Date: October 15, 2025
Podcast by: Team Coco

---

Episode Overview

This episode reunites Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson—iconic “Cheers” alums—with their longtime friend and renowned actor Mark Ruffalo. Through witty banter and heartfelt storytelling, the trio delves beyond career highlights into vulnerability, struggle, courage, and hope. Mark shares formative stories from his youth, discusses his well-known environmental activism, explores grief and mental health, and gives a deep, behind-the-scenes look at his latest project, “Task” on HBO Max. Genuine rapport and thoughtful candor make this a meaningful, inspiring listen.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Catching Up & Community

[01:08–03:13]

• Ted expresses admiration for Mark's acting range and Woody’s community building skills.
• Woody checks in from Paris, confirming frequent shifts between Austin and Maui.
• Mark and Woody reminisce about forging family-like bonds on set, setting the tone for sincere conversation.

2. Riotous Stories from the Set

[03:15–05:09]

• Mark and Woody recall a faux bar fight turning unexpectedly real in New Orleans during "Now You See Me" filming.

• Mark’s wrestling background surfaces as they joke about physicality and self-defense.

  “I was a wrestler. He handles the head, I could take the legs. We’re like the perfect combination.”
  —Mark Ruffalo [05:14]

3. From Wrestling Mats to the Stage: Finding Their Tribe

[06:10–16:29]

• Mark details his shift from high school wrestling (with brutal weight cuts) to drama class, inspired by the energy and diversity in the drama department.

• Woody and Ted share their own stories of discovering acting, emphasizing live performance's intoxicating effect and the joy of making people laugh.

  “My first scene, a big laugh. And I was like, this is what I’m gonna do for the rest of my life.”
  —Mark Ruffalo [10:13]

  “That big laugh did it, right?”
  —Woody Harrelson [11:15]

• Woody learns the art of not being upstaged:

  “Afterwards, my mom said ‘that little Jimmy was back behind you during your song, doing the funniest dance.’ That’s where I learned about upstaging.”
  —Woody Harrelson [12:54]

4. Courage, Tragedy, and Growth

[19:38–29:44]

• Ted calls out Mark’s “courage,” referencing both activism and artistry.

• Mark attributes his bravery to an early sense of wanting to be liked, but also tells of loss and resilience:

  • Recounts a saying from his samurai-trained karate teacher:

    “He wrote on my sword, ‘Courage conquers all’… it’s been like a mantra of mine throughout my life.”
    —Mark Ruffalo [22:47]

  • Shares the impact of his best friend’s suicide and resulting vow to live fully for both of them.

  “After that... I saw what suicide does to a family and friends... I said, okay, I’m living for all of us now.”
  —Mark Ruffalo [27:56]

• The trio discusses depression—treatments, ongoing management, and how responsibilities, especially parenthood, can be grounding.

• Woody describes escaping a bout of depression in 1980s New York by immersing in fiction:

  “Getting into these other characters’ lives... was one of the most helpful things for my, you know, rather destructive thinking.”
  —Woody Harrelson [35:01]

5. Empathy, Activism, and “Task”

[39:47–49:49, 51:43–74:25]

• Mark unpacks the genesis and complex character work of “Task,” his HBO Max show, which explores trauma, empathy, and redemption.

  • He explains the show's layered, deeply human protagonist and the value of shadowing real FBI agents for authenticity.

• Ted steers discussion to empathy in life and art, which segues into Mark’s activism against environmental and social injustice.

• Mark critiques the lack of empathy in U.S. policy, economics, and incarceration, highlighting how economic disparity—not just culture wars—is driving division.

  “The real war is a class war… It’s what I see.”
  —Mark Ruffalo [62:35]

• Storytelling’s power to foster empathy and drive social change is championed:

  “There have been so many documentaries... but that [the film Dark Waters] changed more laws... It’s storytelling, and storytelling is empathy in action.”
  —Mark Ruffalo [64:01]

6. Reflecting on Hope, Grief, and Moving Forward

[54:46–76:20]

• The challenges of modern society are discussed frankly, with Mark and Ted emphasizing hope, engagement, and the gifts found in hardship.

• Mark frames the current era as an “apocalypse” only in the sense of a revealing—an opportunity to rethink and rebuild.

• Ted and Woody discuss environmental justice, renewable energy, and the urgent need for engaged citizenship.

  “I see people actually getting engaged who weren’t engaged. And we need to be engaged. We need to be awake.”
  —Mark Ruffalo [59:42]

• Mark and Ted talk about their children and grandchildren as sources of hope and reminders of why the fight for a better world continues.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On purpose and resilience:

  “Every terrible thing that’s happened to me has always been a gift inside of it. Even when somebody dies, they’re actually leaving you a gift of learning something.”
  —Mark Ruffalo [55:12]

• On empathy’s role in healing and justice:

  “We all want to be witnessed… you don’t have to forgive me for what I did, but I do want you to see me.”
  —Ted Danson [49:04]

• On class and division:

  “The real war is a class war… They’re having us fighting a culture war, but the real war is a class war.”
  —Mark Ruffalo [62:35]

• On storytelling’s unique power:

  “What is storytelling, other than empathy in action?”
  —Mark Ruffalo [64:01]

• Woody reflects on not owning a phone:

  “We should all have a right not to be digital. We’re like forced to be digital. We don’t have a choice.”
  —Mark Ruffalo [53:13]

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction and catch-up: [01:08–03:13]
• Bar fight story & wrestling chat: [03:15–06:09]
• Theater beginnings & first big laughs: [06:10–16:29]
• Discussion on courage & loss: [19:38–29:44]
• Depression and finding purpose: [29:46–36:53]
• Dealing with dyslexia & memorization: [37:02–39:47]
• Deep dive into “Task” / FBI character: [39:47–49:49]
• Empathy, activism, and the class war: [51:43–63:12]
• Storytelling as activism (“Dark Waters”): [63:39–66:32]
• Reflections on family, hope, and climate: [74:25–76:20]

---

Tone & Style

The conversation is affectionate, vulnerable, and sincere—balancing irreverent humor with raw honesty. The language is conversational, peppered with real-life anecdotes, occasional profanity, and a camaraderie that brings forth warmth and wisdom.

---

Conclusion

This episode offers a moving, authentically human exploration of where art, activism, and personal history intersect. Listeners gain insight into Mark Ruffalo’s life and philosophy, Ted and Woody's enduring friendship, and the crucial role of empathy in navigating a world full of challenge and change. The episode closes with mutual appreciation and a call for hope, engagement, and community.

---

Recommended Next Step:
Stream “Task” on HBO Max for more of Mark Ruffalo’s nuanced performance, and keep tuning in to “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” for more unscripted, heartfelt conversations.

Transcript

[Ted Danson]

Where everybody knows your name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson sometimes is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and and affiliates price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Before we begin, a word of caution. This episode contains a brief discussion of suicide, which some listeners may find upsetting. If you or someone you know needs support, please call or text the national suicide prevention lifeline at 988.

[Woody Harrelson]

I've emailed you like 50 fucking times.

[Ted Danson]

No, no, no, don't go there.

[Woody Harrelson]

No, I'm kidding. I.

[Ted Danson]

Welcome back to everybody knows your name. Mark Ruffalo is a guy that I've admired from afar, which is stupid. I should have tackled him years ago and sat down and talked to him or whatever. I so admire him. His range is Incredible, from the 2015 drama Spotlight, for which he was nominated for an Oscar, to playing the Hulk and Bruce Banner in eight Marvel movies. He currently is the star and executive producer of Task on HBO Max, which I really encourage you all to watch. Today is a double treat for me. We've got Woody joining us from Paris over Zoom, so. Hello, Woody. Hello, Mark Ruffalo. This is a big deal. Woodrow, I'm so excited to see you, buddy.

[Woody Harrelson]

Woody, good to see you, brother. How you doing, T?

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, good. Really good, actually. You guys, kids, grandkids, babies crawling around. It's been very.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Are they here?

[Ted Danson]

Ojai.

[Woody Harrelson]

That's wicked. I love Ojai, man. I really love it.

[Mark Ruffalo]

It's amazing. I like where you are, too, Woody. I gotta come see you there in Austin.

[Ted Danson]

Austin?

[Mark Ruffalo]

No, on the island. Is he on the island still?

[Woody Harrelson]

Well, I mean, I've kind of been living in Austin more lately, but I'm definitely always going to be going back to Maui for sure anytime I can.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

You know, the reason why I'm doing a podcast and loving it so much is because I. I watch Woody create family and community wherever he goes. True. And it's a genuine party and people flock to him. And he really has this community of people. He loves and love him. Huge community. I don't. You know, I don't. I don't have time for you if you ask me to go have a beer and let's talk.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Look, here we are.

[Ted Danson]

I know that's.

[Mark Ruffalo]

We get to do that. This is good. This is a good excuse.

[Ted Danson]

All right, enough about me and Woody.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Woody and I had a bar fight in New Orleans while we were making a family together.

[Woody Harrelson]

We were faking it like we were fighting.

[Mark Ruffalo]

No, no fighting. Well, it turned into. Do you remember a woman came up to you. We were shooting. We were shooting. Now you see me, the first one in New Orleans, completely on the streets, totally wild, you know, capturing stuff on a long lens. Getting dragged into bars during the middle of a scene, like in the middle of Mardi Gras. But we were out one night, and it was a packed place. Woody. And a woman came up to him, and she said, oh, my God, I love you so much. And Woody put his hand on her arm, and he said, oh, thank you. Thank you, darling. You know, and this guy comes over, and he pushes her out of the way, and he shoves Woody.

[Ted Danson]

Oh, bad, bad, bad. No, not bad.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah, I remember that because Woody's first response is not shove someone back, but immediately punch them in the face.

[Ted Danson]

Yes.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Which is the right thing to do, by the way. It's the absolute right thing to do. But then a whole melee broke out in this bar.

[Ted Danson]

Anyone on your side? Or was it all.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Well, and I was in the middle of it, and. And it was turning into a. I mean, it was. It was going to become a whole thing. And I grabbed.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, we needed to. We. We needed. Yeah, that's right.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I grabbed you, and I pull. I pulled you out because I. I was like, this could be fun, but it also just could go so disastrously wrong, because you and I might be able to handle ourselves, but the rest of the folks we were with, I don't think so.

[Ted Danson]

I'm embarrassed to say that I would have been the guy. I said, I'll be right. I'll call someone. I'll be right back.

[Mark Ruffalo]

You wait right there. Well, I was a wrestler. He handles the head, and I could take the leg. So together, we're like a perfect combination.

[Ted Danson]

I'm very impressed with the wrestling thing. That's a real deal. That's a real sport. Real. You work your ass off when you're a wrestler.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Oh, yeah, that was the most, you know, a wrestler.

[Woody Harrelson]

Wrestler, It's. Is a way better fighter because it's like jiu jitsu, in a way, because they want to get close. They want to get on the ground, and. Great. You want to get on the ground. Let's get on the ground.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

You know, normally you're thinking, I don't want to be on the ground. No.

[Ted Danson]

But.

[Mark Ruffalo]

No, we want to be on the ground.

[Woody Harrelson]

Mark. Yeah, he's ready to get on the ground?

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah, I do better on the ground.

[Woody Harrelson]

Really? You like a good wrestler, right?

[Mark Ruffalo]

Like, I was pretty good. Yeah, I was pretty good. And then what weight class? You know what? I started in seventh grade, and £86.

[Ted Danson]

Oh, geez.

[Woody Harrelson]

Wow.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I was just a little. I see pictures of me. It's like these little legs in tights with my. My knee pads. Or like my legs came out and the knee pads were like this. They're like these little marshmallows around my leg in my toothpick legs.

[Ted Danson]

And you fought until how long. How much did you weigh when you quit?

[Mark Ruffalo]

When I stopped, I was 126, but I. I was losing 15 or 20 pounds to make weight. You know, at that time, you were cutting all this weight, which was insane. Your body's growing and you're literally starving. Yeah, you're starving.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I mean, I would walk down the. I. I'd walk down the hallways like a zombie hadn't eaten.

[Woody Harrelson]

And you do it.

[Mark Ruffalo]

You wait till the last minute, you know, so you're literally cutting 10, 15, 20 pounds in the course of, like, three days. It's all water weight. So you're spitting in a cup.

[Ted Danson]

Oh, geez.

[Mark Ruffalo]

You're wearing garbage bags. Yeah, garbage bags, essentially. And you're trying to make as much sweat. It's all water weight, and so you're delirious. And I'm going from one class to the next, just trying to get to making weight, which is three o'. Clock. And then we would go out and binge on Snickers, Big Gulps, Slushies, pizza, the crappiest junk food. Most of it was sugar, and it was terrible. But it was also an incredible form of discipline at that early age.

[Ted Danson]

Until you were 18, maybe.

[Woody Harrelson]

I did.

[Mark Ruffalo]

When I was 17, I left. I went. I was. I used to walk by the drama department, and I secretly wanted to be in.

[Ted Danson]

Where are you?

[Mark Ruffalo]

I was in. I was in Virginia Beach, Virginia, at First Colonial High School, and Nancy Curtis was the teacher there. And I'd walk by the drama department. I'd look in there, and there was. You know, I'm in the wrestling room, and it's a bunch of guys and we're all on the mat sweating and in each other's crotches and, you know, just miserable and tearing tendons and, you know, bloody mouths from your braces getting scraped across your face. And I walk by the drama department, and it's like 20 girls and two guys, and they're all rolling around on the ground. And I'D be like, I want to do that. I want to be in there. So my senior year, I quit. I quit wrestling and I. And I joined the drama department. And.

[Woody Harrelson]

Hold on. You didn't want to quit the one before you knew you were going to get to do the other, did you? Or did you already? I mean, in other words, you didn't get cast in something and then.

[Mark Ruffalo]

No, no, I just. I took the drama class.

[Ted Danson]

I.

[Mark Ruffalo]

As an elective, I took drama. And all my friends are like, is there something you want to tell us? You know, you're. You're quitting wrestling and going into the drama department. Like, is there something? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, yeah, I'm sick of rolling around with a bunch of guys when they're in there rolling around with a bunch of girls. But I really wanted to be an actor secretly. And so it was my segue. I could say, oh, I was an easy A. That's what I told everyone. Yeah, it's an easy A. My senior year, it's an easy A. I can. You know, I'm gonna take the drama department. But I. As soon as I got decided, you knew you'd found your tribe, and a kid broke his arm. In the first production, the kid broke his arm. And Nancy Curtis, my teacher, said, I want you to replace him. And I said, I don't know if I can. And she said, I think you can.

[Ted Danson]

Do you remember what it was?

[Woody Harrelson]

What was the play? It was. It was a.

[Mark Ruffalo]

It was a.

[Ted Danson]

It was.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I think it was. It was called Runaways, and it was about these kids who were run. It was a musical about runaways living in a. Like a halfway house and one. And they're all in trouble. And I play a detective who comes in, and I basically just did Peter Falk. I was just. Can I ask you a question? I just did Peter Falk. But. But I got a laugh. My first scene, a big laugh. And I was like, what was the.

[Woody Harrelson]

Remember the joke?

[Mark Ruffalo]

It was some. Some. I was on a phone and I was like, yeah, excuse me. Mrs. Hold on a second. And I, like, I just made something up. I was smoking a cigar and I was like, excuse me. And there's a big laugh. It was just a stupid bit, you know, and shameless and. Well, you know me. And it was a big laugh. And I was like, this is what I'm gonna do for the rest of my life.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, that big laugh did it. Right.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Funny. There is nothing better, right?

[Ted Danson]

Nothing.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Nothing better happened to me.

[Ted Danson]

The same way I followed a girl into an audition Cause I wanted to be with the girl. She didn't want to be with me. Made up. I thought she was making up that she had to go to an audition just to be away from me. I tagged along to stay in the room. I had to audition. So I made something up. And somebody laughed. I don't think a lot, but somebody laughed. And I went, oh. Oh, this is almost as good as basketball. Almost.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Right.

[Ted Danson]

And I was.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I was hooked, but not as hard.

[Ted Danson]

But everything made sense in life.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Right.

[Ted Danson]

Everything just went.

[Mark Ruffalo]

So after that, you knew. I mean, you had the calling.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Mark Ruffalo]

And, Woody, you were doing theater, too, right?

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah. My senior year, it was like you.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah. And it was the same kind of vibe. They call you a theater. You know, the kids were just so hot. You know, there's jocks.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yes.

[Woody Harrelson]

And there's all the different surfers.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yes, yes. Did you move freely between all those, by the way? Just quickly, were you. Were you someone who moved freely between all the different groups?

[Ted Danson]

You know, he was.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah, I think so.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, I kind of did. Yeah. But. But it. You know, it was like. I remember doing the. The first play I did was Little Abner. That's right. And I played Senator Fogbound, I think it was. And I. And I had one number, Right.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yes.

[Woody Harrelson]

I do this number in front of the live audience when we finally, you know, did it. And after all that rehearsal and everything, and it sure paid off. The audience was, like, in hysterics, and they loved it, although I didn't think it was a particularly funny song. But the appreciation was over the top. And afterwards, my mom said, oh, you know, that little Jimmy was back behind you during your song, doing the funniest dance. And that's where I learned about upstaging. And I never forgot.

[Mark Ruffalo]

No, you have not. Let me be the upstage.

[Woody Harrelson]

That's right.

[Ted Danson]

Oh, that's great.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I love that you're like, yeah, yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

I was just thinking, man, am I crushing it?

[Mark Ruffalo]

That's amazing. But you fell in love with it.

[Woody Harrelson]

I think it's the same thing. Well, what. But I. You know, I did that my senior year. I just did a couple things. And then it was really. When I went to Hanover College, I had thought, well, you know what I could keep my hand in. I like this theater thing. It's exciting, scary. You know, you don't see. And. But it was my sophomore year, I did this play, Mad Woman of Chaillot.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Oh, yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

Like French play, you know.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah, yeah. That's. A lot of people were doing that back in the Day that was like one of the popular ones.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, I don't, I mean, I don't remember if it was a good play or not, but probably fun play. And anyway, I was playing a very kind of a small part. I was like a sergeant in the, you know, in the French police department. And, and I was just so boring. Like, I was just really, really boring. Right.

[Mark Ruffalo]

So.

[Woody Harrelson]

And I, you know, I don't, I didn't need anyone to tell me I was boring, you know, you can tell?

[Mark Ruffalo]

Oh yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

So I go up to the guy. Doug Rogers was the lead in the play. And he'd done, he'd done a lot of stuff. He was a senior and a veteran at this point. And so I asked him, what should I do? I just feel so boring and I'm not good. He says, what if you don't like what you're doing? Just change it up. Like, you know, change your voice, change your clothes, change the way you walk. And I did all of it. I was walking funny, you know, and I changed my voice. I was talking like this. There's a man drowning in the sand. You know, like weird voice. But, but. And I, and I pull. I did that classic kind of, you know, the thing Johnny Rats does. You know where he pulled up the, the pants so you could see the white socks.

[Ted Danson]

Yes.

[Woody Harrelson]

And in. Anyway, so then my very first thing I'm supposed to do is to walk from on the upstage and look at the mad woman and then walk off. No, no lines. But, you know, I got my belly club and I'm doing this funny walk. Ovation. They applauded and I came off, you know, and hadn't said. And. And the, and the other actors are like, what did you do? And I'm like, I'm not sure, but.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I'm doing it again tomorrow.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah.

[Mark Ruffalo]

And that was it.

[Woody Harrelson]

I was hooked.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I'm still that actor.

[Ted Danson]

I'm always looking for a. Couldn't I have a scar or a limp that, that, you know, Please give me something. Something. Yeah, clearly I'm not enough.

[Mark Ruffalo]

No, you had to stand up.

[Woody Harrelson]

Man.

[Ted Danson]

Forged by nature and alive with fall color. Maine does autumn the way it's meant to be. Think quiet, misty mornings, glowing foliage, salt scented breezes. Then fresh lobster. Just press cider and warm donuts straight from the farm. There's no script here, just woods, waves and whatever comes next this fall. Write your story in Maine. Start [e-mail]. you probably think it's too soon to join AARP, right? Well, let's take a minute to talk about it. Where do you see yourself in 15 years? More specifically, your career, your health, your social life? What are you doing now to help you get there? There are tons of ways for you to start preparing today for your future with aarp. That dream job you've dreamt about? Sign up for AARP re skilling courses to help make it a reality. How about that active lifestyle you've only spoken about from the couch? AARP has health tips and wellness tools to keep you moving for years to come. But none of these experiences are without making friends along the way. Connect with your community through AARP volunteer events. So it's safe to say it's never too soon to join aarp. They're here to help your money, health and happiness live as long as you do. That's why the younger you are, the more you need AARP. Learn more at aarp.org wise friend home chef is rated number one by users of other meal kits for quality, convenience, value, taste and recipe ease. Whatever kind of day it is, classic recipes with fresh ingredients, 30 minute meals, oven ready trays or quick microwave options. Home Chef has you covered. I'm looking here at maybe our next meal. Roasted Salmon with Ginger Scallion Sauce and Charred green beans. Prep time 25:35 minutes oh, difficulty level intermediate. That'll be Mary then. Not me. For a limited time, Home Chef is offering our listeners 50% off and free shipping for your first box. Plus free dessert for life. Go to homechef.com Ted and Woody that's homechef.com Ted and woody for 50% off your first box and free dessert for life. Homechef.com Ted and Woody must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert. Let's talk about how courageous you are. I mean, Woody, you are too. But we're going to talk about Mark.

[Woody Harrelson]

Well, Mark, you are such a proud guy. You're one of the great environmentalists. Dude.

[Ted Danson]

Balls.

[Mark Ruffalo]

You too, brother.

[Ted Danson]

You've been talking a lot about what's going on in the world, which I'd love to get to in all of that, but it's also in your performances. Poor Things to Me is one of the most astounding performances I've ever seen. Truly, it was so good. Did you see it, Woodrow?

[Woody Harrelson]

That wasn't with Emma.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

Absolutely.

[Mark Ruffalo]

It was outrageous. It truly was over the top. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

What's his name? What's that? Director Yos.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ted Danson]

And I know there's lots of stuff that happened in your life which we can talk about or not, whatever. But there's a lot of human, real, intensely real tragedy. So did you. Was the courage that you feel to talk out in life, to act and be bold, did that come before human stuff that was big in your life? The death, you know, the, the tumor, the. All of that stuff? Or did you get that from your parents? Yeah. Were you always that way? I'm always courage.

[Mark Ruffalo]

You know, I was a pretty courageous kid. I mean, part of it was wanting to be liked. So, you know, I was not good in school, but I was pretty good physically. You know, Woody could probably. Probably knows a little bit about this, too. I think we're similar in that way. And so to stand out, you sort of had to be a little bit more brash. You had to be a little bit, you know, you'd have to be the one to jump off the roof first. But I did learn early on that, you know, Kenny Lonergan always tells me with you, what does he say? Fortune favors the brave or something like that? The bold. The bold, yeah. Fortune favors the bold. And that is a truism that I stumbled upon. I had a karate teacher when I was 13 years old. He, He. He gave everybody. You have a bukto, which is a. Which is your sword, but it's a wooden sword. It's a practice sword. And on your bukto, he wrote in Japanese. He was a 17th generation samurai. He would write in Japanese a phrase that was meant for you and who you were. And I was. But I also had a timidity to me as well. And he wrote, courage conquers all. And I really took. And he specifically wrote that specifically for me.

[Woody Harrelson]

And.

[Mark Ruffalo]

That really internalized that. It was a moment in my life where I was really looking for some guidance from, From a male, you know, that I respected, and he gave me that. And I never. It's like. It's been like a mantra of mine throughout my life. It's sort of always in the background repeating itself, you know, and.

[Woody Harrelson]

It is.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Fed by loss because, you know, my best friend killed himself when I was 20. And he was my dearest, dearest, you know, in a way, a soulmate. And after that, Michael Darden was his name. Beautiful, incredible guy, but just depressed.

[Woody Harrelson]

But you couldn't tell that he was.

[Mark Ruffalo]

No, I knew. No, I knew. And he was trying to find help, and I was in the same boat. I mean, we related to each other on our depression. Honestly, like that. That was something. We were both. You know, he was the only person that I could really talk to about it, you know, because guys don't really talk about that. He was the only guy that I could, like, say, I loved you when I was in my 20s, you know? And we knew each other since I was like, 12. And we went to Mexico together. We had this huge. The Mexican witch doctor came out of the mountains with a giant bag of mushrooms. And he cooks that down for us.

[Ted Danson]

Oh.

[Mark Ruffalo]

And we were these kids. We were on a surfing trip. We were like, these kids. And we were like, maybe we should try mushrooms, you know? So this guy comes down and he boils this concoction down with some other stuff in it. And he hands us a. A giant cup like this. And he's like drinking like a glob. Like globule.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yes.

[Mark Ruffalo]

And it's thick. And we were like. And he just went. And we're both just like, glop, glop, glop, glop, glop, glop, glop.

[Ted Danson]

Wow.

[Mark Ruffalo]

And he leaves us and we're under the almond trees in Puerto and Oaxaca and Puerto Escondido, like this monster wave. It was the best. It's a Mexican pipeline. It was hardcore. And we're in our hammocks under the almond trees. And this like. I remember he gets up to go to the bathroom and I just hear him go, oh. And then boom. He just passes out. And I'm like, I'm not feeling anything. I run over there and he's just.

[Ted Danson]

Laying on the ground like, oh.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I'm like, what is he like, oh. Are you okay? Yeah, I'm okay. And so we have this ego shattering thing. But. And this is a very long story.

[Ted Danson]

No, no, keep going. I love mushroom stories.

[Mark Ruffalo]

We're literally sitting across the room in communication with each other without speaking.

[Ted Danson]

Wow.

[Mark Ruffalo]

And for hours was this hours. Oh, man. This thing went on. I woke up on the top of this rock in the edge of the ocean, like 70ft up, by myself. I don't know how I got up there. Wow. I had to get down. And it was just a cliff, a sheer cliff. And I woke up there by myself. Right. I mean, part of the night. I don't even know what happened, but the last time I saw him, we were sitting there and we were having this kind of talk.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Mark Ruffalo]

And we were these guys. We were these macho surfer dudes, you know, And. And. And it was just like, hey, man, I love you. It was the first time I ever had that with a man or I mean, even a woman, like, just to be like, hey, man, you're like a brother to me. I love you. And we've been through so much together, and it was just this, it was just a deep, deep sense of brotherly love, you know?

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Mark Ruffalo]

And, but that was our relationship after ever, ever since then. It was just that connection, you know? And then, yeah, he. So he, he, he killed himself. He was, he was too unhappy.

[Ted Danson]

How old were you?

[Mark Ruffalo]

I was 21. And so it was 36. 36 years ago. But what I got out of that was, you gotta live. I have to live. I'm living for him now because suicide was always something that was in my mind too, as this young, depressed guy, you know? And after that, and I saw what suicide does to a family and friends. It's, it's, it's, it's just, it's a bomb that goes off and it's just leaves devastation all around you, you know? And I understand it, like, but I also know the cost of it. But what I did say was like, okay, I'm living for, for all of us now. And it's been like that ever with all the people who have died in my life. I'm just like, okay, I'm living for them now too. And so you don't like, what pulled.

[Woody Harrelson]

You out of your depression? Where are you pulled out of your depression?

[Mark Ruffalo]

I just manage it, man. I, I, you know, I've tried medication, talk talk therapy, you know, everything you do. Age has helped. Having the kids was a huge help. You know, just having to, like, engage with the kids every single day when they're little and their needs like you, there's just no time.

[Ted Danson]

And it's very hard to approach your kid and go, whoa, I'm depressed.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah, bro, I'm out for the day. I'm laying in bed. No, you can't do that. And so, like, that was a big thing, Woody. And work, you know, not struggling so much has been helpful, but really, like.

[Ted Danson]

Struggling with worker money. Yeah.

[Mark Ruffalo]

As an actor and money, like, the rejections, the, you know, it was so hard in the beginning, and there was just no reprieve. It was just so hard. And so just being able to support myself as an actor was like, oh, yeah, you know, and not having to worry about my car getting booted and taken away and never to be seen again because I. It's too expensive to get it out. The car's not even worth what it costs after you finally figure out where they've taken it in Los Angeles, you know? You know what I'm saying? Yeah. And so over time, it's Gotten better and better, you know, and then just the relationship to the. To the earth, like, that's probably do.

[Ted Danson]

That a little more. What do you mean?

[Mark Ruffalo]

Just making sure that I'm out and in that reality and letting it speak. Being in it enough for it to speak to me.

[Ted Danson]

Nature.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Nature. Just on a hike, just touching the ground, sitting on. Being grounded on the ground with your body, with some part of your flesh in touch with the ground, you know, but listening, and it's the feeling. It's a. And you have to sort of. I sort of do it alone, mostly because if you're with people, it sort of becomes a more thing about you and the people and communicating with people. But the awesomeness of it, even in the smallest places, like Central park, there's an awesomeness that is available to anyone at any time. And it just is, like, that feeds me now. I'm like, oh, I need the fix of that. I need the hit of that. And so that helps me. And then exercise, man. I never used to exercise.

[Ted Danson]

Do you surf? Because being in the ocean.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah, the ocean's my place. But I live in Manhattan. It's the hardest thing to do. So I'm on my bike. Like, I'm on my peloton, or I'm on my road bike in the mountains of upstate New York. Or we have a pond. I swim in there. I spend a lot of time in the pond.

[Ted Danson]

You guys are kindred spirits, you and Woody.

[Mark Ruffalo]

You really are.

[Ted Danson]

There's so much I know.

[Mark Ruffalo]

He's my brother. I mean, that's like. You know this Woody, because I think we also came up this. Our dad. My dad is a wild guy, too. There was a. You know, it's just I relate to his story quite a bit.

[Ted Danson]

Yep.

[Mark Ruffalo]

And he's. He's courageous, too.

[Ted Danson]

Oh, Lord.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Right? I mean, that guy's, like, fearless nothing. I'm more afraid of the world than he is.

[Ted Danson]

I have to be careful. I have to be careful with Woody because he's a little bit. If I try to fly too high, you know, it's like Icarus. If I get too close to Woody, I get burned. I burn, sizzle, and I crash to the ground.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Oh, he's crashed me out.

[Ted Danson]

No.

[Mark Ruffalo]

One night with him in New Orleans, I was, like, laid out.

[Ted Danson]

I have to stop. I consciously had to stop comparing myself to you, Woodrow. Cause it was just.

[Mark Ruffalo]

It's hard.

[Ted Danson]

It's too hard.

[Mark Ruffalo]

He's got an engine inside of him.

[Ted Danson]

Admire and love from a distance.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah. I feel like I'm at my own funeral.

[Mark Ruffalo]

This is wonderful. Just wait till you die. This is nothing.

[Woody Harrelson]

So, you know, the time I got. I got depressed when I moved to New York and I. I was living with two roommates who were. Both. One was going to Julliard.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Oh, my God.

[Woody Harrelson]

Rob was going to. He was getting all these commercials and everything.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

And I. I couldn't even get an agent.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

You know, and it's like that catch 22 where you realized, well, the agent's not going to take you if they haven't seen you in something. And you can't be seen in anything because you don't have an agent to send you on and on. You know, it's like that.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

And I just. I'd sunk into this depression, the winter of 1983. And you know what really pulled me out of it more than anything was. So one day I went and I was a Tempo at some. At. At a Random House, right?

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

And I. But tenth, like, I'd answer the phones, I'd type. And, you know, the reason. The way I got the job was when I went in to try to get the job to become a temp. Anyway, they sent me around to different places. But anyway, I. I found in the trash a version of what I was supposed to be typing. The typing test. So when I did the typing test, did I score? Well, because I had it. Already typed it up.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah, of course you did.

[Woody Harrelson]

But anyway, I was at Random House, and then I was. I was leaving Random House, and I said, well, oh, man, you got all these books here, and there's a bunch of classic novels and stuff, and they go, you can take whatever you want. I was shameless. I took. I literally. I must have taken 200 books off that show.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Like you.

[Woody Harrelson]

They were thinking, you can have a book, you know, And I had it in a box that I had to drag because I couldn't carry it. It was so heavy. I had to drag this thing all the way down to the subway. My apartment. Huh. And this is in. I was living on 51st with 28th. And. Anyway, so I. I get him back and I start reading. And it was one of the most helpful things for my, you know, rather destructive thinking. Was just getting into these other characters lives. And of course, many of them have real trouble, you know, you reading Charles Dickens. Everybody in there is having more trouble than you are.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah. That puts things in perspective.

[Woody Harrelson]

Anyway, I never heard that story.

[Ted Danson]

I love that story. I never knew that. Yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah.

[Mark Ruffalo]

And then did that pull you out? Pretty much. Have you had bouts of it? You don't seem like you're ever depressed.

[Woody Harrelson]

No, I. I'm really a generally happy person, but. But I do think that that was maybe the best thing that I just. I just. You know, I've always been a. A reader, you know, but. But I just was so immersed in these other stories, you know, like you read Papillon, for example. I mean, you got no problem.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Exactly. That's 100 true. That's right. Oh, yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

Anyway, was that one of the ones.

[Mark Ruffalo]

You read was Papillon?

[Woody Harrelson]

No, I read that when I was in high school. I read that when I was like 15 or so.

[Mark Ruffalo]

God bless you. See, I was dyslexic, so I was.

[Ted Danson]

I didn't read.

[Woody Harrelson]

Well, I am dyslexic, but I don't know. I over.

[Mark Ruffalo]

You could read it.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, I was reading about you having dyslexia and I thought. I don't remember you. Did you ever. Did we ever talk about that?

[Mark Ruffalo]

No. No, we didn't. No, people didn't talk about that. That was something I was ashamed of. I didn't want people to know.

[Ted Danson]

So you were kind of faking your way.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Oh, man. I told me too. Faked. Well, how do we look at us now?

[Woody Harrelson]

Does your brain still mix up the.

[Mark Ruffalo]

No, no. It's a thing you grow out of. Did you grow out of it? You feel like I have a different.

[Ted Danson]

Thing I don't mix up. Sorry. I have a thing where I can't retain. I can read for pleasure because it just goes in and out. But if I'm supposed to retain and regurgitate what I can't do it.

[Mark Ruffalo]

So hard to do.

[Ted Danson]

No, I have to study it paragraph by paragraph.

[Mark Ruffalo]

So you wander.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, I gave up is what I did.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, but how's your. How's your memorization skills generally?

[Ted Danson]

Teddy, I have to hear it. I have to be taught nowadays. I have to be taught by my daughter. And I orally. I get it right away.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah, I use a. I use an app that I. That I record every. My lines in and I listen to them and I say them with the line.

[Ted Danson]

It's.

[Mark Ruffalo]

It's hard for me. I'm. I'm terrible at memorizing lines. It's so. Woody. It's easy for you.

[Woody Harrelson]

Well, I wouldn't say it's. I mean, I'm memorizing now. I mean, this is an epic amount of words I'm memorizing. I start Monday, this movie, and it's like, holy, man. Like the brain. Like. Yeah. And I haven't done anything to Help my brain. I gotta say, I've done a lot to not help my brain. And boy, it's like, you know, I memorized Zeus story on a Sunday. The whole thing, all the monologues and everything, on a Sunday. When I was in college.

[Mark Ruffalo]

That's another.

[Ted Danson]

You got a different brain. We don't relate over that.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I can't even understand.

[Woody Harrelson]

Well, now it's my brain level as the wattage is just down to like one last neuron or Dendrite. I mean, it just barely. No way.

[Ted Danson]

When they turn the cameras around, while they're turning the cameras around, I have to reload the lines into my brain.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I get it. You know, I'm there.

[Woody Harrelson]

You know what?

[Ted Danson]

But you do what you have to do.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Fuck it.

[Ted Danson]

Who cares? It's harder.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Who cares? I mean, there's a lot harder job to do.

[Ted Danson]

Athletes, they play hurt. We're playing hurt.

[Mark Ruffalo]

That's right. It makes us better. It makes us have to learn the lines in a way that makes it better. I don't know. It's a gift.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I think it's all. There's always a gift in the. In the hardest things. You just don't. It takes you a long time to know what it is.

[Woody Harrelson]

Tell me about Task.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah. People seem to like it.

[Ted Danson]

No, it's really good.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah. Thank you.

[Ted Danson]

Smart, dark and scary.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Dark, scary. And it's got. It's got. It's. It's got a heart. You know, it's got a good pulse. You know, it's got a good pulse.

[Ted Danson]

But your character got a good heart.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Pushing that pulse.

[Ted Danson]

You're an ex priest.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Priest, yes.

[Ted Danson]

FBI?

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yes.

[Ted Danson]

Does this come from a book or how did this sound? So many layers, it feels like it was created in.

[Mark Ruffalo]

That's Brad Inglesby, our writer. He is incredible. He wrote Mayor of Easttown and. Wow, he's just.

[Woody Harrelson]

That's great.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah. But this is. Even. This is on a whole other level. There's some. He, like, front loaded. This character, my character Woody is. He's an ex priest who. Catholic. Catholic priest who became a chaplain for the FBI and was going to mass shooter events to counsel the community. And he met a woman while doing that, doing social work. Fell in love, left the priesthood and decided because he made those connections at the FBI, to move towards, you know, police work and married the woman, couldn't have kids. Adopted two Puerto Rican kids, Dominican kids, and one of them's mentally ill. And he. This is before the first episode, ends up having a schizophrenic break. Attacks the Mother. My wife pushes her. She falls down the stairs and dies. He's in prison. He's in prison. And that's where the show begins. I'm on leave. I'm basically working a desk at a jobs fair, totally falling into alcoholism. And that's where the show starts.

[Ted Danson]

I'm surprised they didn't come to me first.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I'd love to see you in that part, actually. Oh, man, that would be a treat, actually.

[Ted Danson]

You have so much life under your belt that you walk in and you don't have to do anything or that's your acting talent. One of the two or both. But you hung out with FBI.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah, so I hung out with FBI. I've done three played. This will be my third FBI agent, but one of them was in.

[Ted Danson]

Right. Don't.

[Woody Harrelson]

Now you see me.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Now you see me. And so I spent. Actually for that. I did spend a lot of time with FBI guy. And that was probably the most. The deepest FBI preparation that I feel like has set me up to play FBI agent for a while. But I also had this great guy, Scott Duffy, who is an FBI agent and a trainer who was with us every single day on set.

[Ted Danson]

Which one for which one for Tasks for Task.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Oh, wow. And so he was really. I was always going to him or calling him or texting him and just being like, what is this? How does this work? Does this seem honest? You know, what about this approach? And he's an interesting.

[Woody Harrelson]

It's an interesting work out with him, too.

[Mark Ruffalo]

No, no, you'll have to see his parachute when you see me.

[Woody Harrelson]

Oh, no.

[Mark Ruffalo]

He trains other FBI agents. He's a teacher. He's like a teacher. Yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

Oh, I thought he did.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I thought you meant, like, did you guys become such good friends that you started training together too?

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, Mark got a little plump for this role.

[Mark Ruffalo]

That's a suit.

[Ted Danson]

Oh, God bless. Much easier on your body.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Oh, my God.

[Ted Danson]

Because I was thinking, damn, you really did put on some weight.

[Woody Harrelson]

You just never let yourself go, do you, Mark?

[Mark Ruffalo]

I have.

[Woody Harrelson]

You're fit, dude. You're fit as a fiddle.

[Mark Ruffalo]

No, no, no. And this Sunny came to visit me. I hadn't seen her for like a month or three weeks, and she came to visit me with the kids for Mother's Day. And she looked at me, she's like, well, your father's eating his way through Philly. I started with the fat suit, and the fat suit just got fatter and fatter and fatter as I was getting fatter and fatter and fatter underneath it.

[Woody Harrelson]

But you Just dispense with the fat suit.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Just like, hey, this fat suit was so stupid. I look like a little Ken doll. A little fat boy coopy doll with this thing on. It was.

[Ted Danson]

Was that your idea, fat suit?

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah, it was funny. I went in for my costume fitting, and I was like, I see him as, like, 30, 40 pounds heavier than me. And they went, yes. They made that face, Woody.

[Woody Harrelson]

They went.

[Mark Ruffalo]

They're like, what? I was like, I see him as 30, 40 pounds heavier than me. They're like, okay. I said, do you have anything like, well, we have a pregnancy belly we can work with. I was like, get it? So we're doing the costume fitting, and they're pulling out bigger clothes, and my assistant is watching this, and I go to. Go to the. Ask him for something to go to the bathroom. He's like, can I talk to you for a minute? I was like, yeah, what's going on? I was like, I don't think people really want to see you as a fat guy. And I was like, thank you. Thank you for the input, Arthur. But this is kind of how. But when I walked out, we were doing a screen test that day, and I walked out, and the producers literally saw me, and they were like, same response. Like, what is he doing? And I was talking to the director and Brad Inglesby, and I was like, this is how I see it. They're like, no, no, no. Well, we just. We got to see if, you know, make how it looks on camera. Everyone was freaked out. And then after that screen test, the first day, they were like, okay, we love this. We love this. But no one had seen it like that.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, but I just felt like it just felt right for that character.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah. Yeah. You know how you daydream about the character? Like, I'll. I'll read something. I just, Like, I'll daydream about it, you know, like, the part of the preparation is just, like, laying there and daydreaming about it. Like, what does he sound like? What does he look like? What does he. You know, just impressions. Sometimes even dreams, real dreams.

[Ted Danson]

You know, it gives you a sense of layer upon layer upon layer of life.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah.

[Ted Danson]

When you think. When you walk in. No, I mean, you. That it was like, oh, this person's gone many miles in life.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yes. And he has. And his shoulders are. You know, he sort of.

[Woody Harrelson]

Has.

[Mark Ruffalo]

He sort of had. His shoulders are like. It's just like the weight of the world.

[Ted Danson]

And I love that you said that you discovered FBI, the empathy.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yes.

[Ted Danson]

That the guy you were hanging With.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I think the great FBI agents are empathetic. They. They're one of the great. I mean, the. The really. Where you really do the FBI work is. Is interviews. It's all about interviews, you know?

[Ted Danson]

Right.

[Mark Ruffalo]

And to be a good interviewer, you guys know, because you're good interviewers, is you have to be empathetic. You have to, like, listen and feel and find what is motivated and be curious. Yeah. And to be curious, you have to be empathetic to somebody. You know, you have to feel into them a little bit. And my guy was like, scott Duffy's clearly an empath, you know, and he's like, yeah, yeah, that's one of the techniques that really pays off. You want people to trust you. You want them to feel safe with you. And the way that you can do that is through empathy, understanding where they're coming from. I have a friend who spent some time in prison. He had a drug issue. He's sober 17 years now. He's a great actor.

[Woody Harrelson]

Oh, oh, is his name Robert Downey.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Jr. That's one of them. I have another friend who has been in prison who has a drug addict. But he told me. He's like, mark, there's no excuses, but there's reasons. And he told me that early on, Well, I was talking to him about this, and it was not. It wasn't about this. It was about something else. But he said that phrase to me. There's no excuses, but there's reasons. He's like, I'm not going to make any excuses for why I ended up in prison. I deserve to be in prison. But there's reasons why I got.

[Ted Danson]

And we all want to be witnessed, you know, we don't want to have to be. You don't have to forgive me for what I did, but I do want you to see me, you know, and.

[Mark Ruffalo]

That'S the reason this is my story.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Mark Ruffalo]

And we all want to tell our stories. That's why I think we're so lucky as actors, because. And we get a bad rap. Right? Like you actor, Hollywood, liberal, whatever. Right. We get a bad rap, but what are we really doing but, like, entering people's lives and trying to tell their stories as honestly as possible without judging them. Yeah. I mean, and you can't really. I mean, we could do send people up and do, you know, satirical stuff, but you really want to tell. We want to tell the truth, you know?

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. Forged by nature and alive with fall color Maine does autumn the way it's meant to be. Think quiet misty mornings, glowing Foliage, salt scented breezes, then fresh lobster. Just press cider and warm donuts straight from the farm. There's no script here, just woods, waves and whatever comes next. This fall, write your story in Maine. Start [e-mail] as the weather cools, it's time to swap in the pieces that actually get the job done. Warm, durable and built to last. And Quince delivers every time with wardrobe staples that'll carry you through the season. Quince cuts out the middleman to deliver premium quality at half the cost of similar brands. So to keep it real, I'm looking at this half zip flow, knit, high performance dealio and I'm going to buy it because we're going to Japan in the fall and I think I'll look sharp. So there you are. Layer up this fall with pieces that feel as good as they look. Go to quince.com Ted and Woody for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com Ted and Woody free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com TedandWoody boy, we could switch gears if you guys want to. Empathy is a great way to start talking about what's going on in the world or lack of empathy. And you are so outspoken. Outspoken is the wrong word. You are outspoken. No, you know, you speak out. That's better.

[Woody Harrelson]

You're a great voice for the truth, dude.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Thank you, guys. I don't know.

[Woody Harrelson]

So weird. It's like we're all on the Titanic and then, you know, we got the champagne going, we got the violins and had felt a little bump there. Okay, no problem. Let's keep the party. And then it's just like. And we going off. Then we're going in, we're going in.

[Mark Ruffalo]

The triangle of sadness.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Mark Ruffalo]

It'S the triangle sadness. I loved you in that. I haven't seen you since that I love. I sent you a text, but I don't know. I don't know if I still have your number, the right number.

[Woody Harrelson]

So I don't even have a phone anymore for five years. But you definitely.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I love that someone's been like, woody, how you doing?

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, he's a free spirit. Everyone around him is working their asses off, but he's a free spirit. Hi, Laura, I'm talking about you.

[Woody Harrelson]

It's hard sometimes. Like when I go somewhere and I'm supposed to meet someone and then they're not there and I'm like, well, I don't know. What my next step is. I don't have phone. I have no ability. I don't. Wouldn't even. I don't even have a number to call, you know, Like, I don't. It's like that happened to me the other day. Just like I. There's. There's Sometimes you think I. I might have to get a fucking phone again, you know?

[Mark Ruffalo]

I love. You don't have a phone. We should all have a right not to be digital. We're like forced to be digital. We don't have a choice.

[Woody Harrelson]

Except your woods. I still email. I still email. Yeah, but the problem is if I email you now, you get. It's. It's an email address you're not familiar with. So you. I get.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Have you emailed me?

[Woody Harrelson]

I've emailed you like 50 times.

[Ted Danson]

No, no, no, don't go there.

[Woody Harrelson]

No, I'm kidding.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I made that up.

[Woody Harrelson]

I was like.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I missed your email. Wait, what is your email address again? Just. Just for the.

[Ted Danson]

Oh, we'll cut it out.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Go ahead, tell us. Yeah, go on.

[Woody Harrelson]

It's too dangerous. Too dangerous.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I'll be asking you to do all the time. You know that if you can.

[Woody Harrelson]

I'm gonna send you a email and I'm gonna. And I'm just put a loa in the.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Okay. You know, well, I have a new email address too, so.

[Woody Harrelson]

Oh, me. Okay. How am I gonna go through me.

[Ted Danson]

I got the same one that I've had since.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I'll give it. I'll give it to.

[Woody Harrelson]

Oh, perfect.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I'll give it to you.

[Woody Harrelson]

Okay.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I love it.

[Ted Danson]

You just call me T. That's what Winnie used to call me.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I heard him call you T. I still call you.

[Ted Danson]

You were listening. I wasn't. Sorry.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Well, you've been with him a long time. Yeah, horrible time. It's a sad time.

[Ted Danson]

It's a sad time. It is sad. It's scary. I don't like to say it's hopeless, even though they may have won already. But it's not hopeless.

[Mark Ruffalo]

No way. Yeah, no, we can't succumb to that. I mean, we can. And it's grievous.

[Ted Danson]

With smidge of touch of wickedness every once in a while.

[Mark Ruffalo]

But it's also like we can be in grief. We could have grief about this, you know, like, that's okay, I think, you know, we're. We're. We are. There is a loss. Something's being lost, something that we feel, a loss. But also like I said in every. Every bad thing is a gift. We just. There's an inherent gift that comes along with it. And that's just been my experience. Every terrible thing that's happened to me has always been a gift inside of it. Even when somebody dies. When somebody dies, they're actually leaving you a gift that of learning something. You learn from their death that you can't get any other way but them.

[Ted Danson]

Passing them because it is so real and so truthful. When death is. There's no wiggle room.

[Mark Ruffalo]

No. And whether you're coming to terms with your own mortality or you're coming to terms with how to grieve, or you're coming to terms with how much you love somebody or love them and miss them and the value of that person to you, that can only come through their death. That's their gift that they're giving to you in parting. And that is part of your growth as a human being. And so nothing. There's nothing that's happened to me. I mean, terrible things have happened to me and I would take many of them back. But I also know that I learned more about being a human being here from those things. And I feel like in this time, what we're seeing, someone said the apocalypse. The apocalypse. The apocalypse is the actual word, Apocalypse. The root of that word is the veil. To move the veil back. And I feel like what we're seeing is a reality that's been ongoing, but under a veil. But under the veil.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Mark Ruffalo]

And now we're all seeing it. And now we have to be conscious and make a choice about who we are, who we're going to be in the world, what kind of world we want it to be. And that's where the hope is. Because I've seen people. I'm seeing things happen that I never five years ago would have imagined. I'm seeing people engage in ways that I never thought would happen in America. I'm seeing the world being engaged on issues that I never thought would happen. And I don't see any other way for us to move forward without it. Because the system has been so gamed, it's been so corroded, it's been so.

[Woody Harrelson]

Tooled up.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Fucked up tooled, yes. To work against the people. There's a study that just came out. 0.01% of policy who just came out with this. Oh, we all love him. I'll think of it in a second. 0.01% of policy is actually reflective of the common citizen of the United States. Every decision, policy wise, that's being made is money and power. And that's why we're here where we are today, with people so desperate that they're willing to kill somebody over a political idea. That's where we're at, and that's the reality.

[Ted Danson]

And the only way you can go down that road is if you lack empathy.

[Mark Ruffalo]

When you get to the point where you're. The only way to solve a problem is to kill it, is to use violence against it. You're either so desperate you're mentally ill or you've lost your empathy, which is really mentally ill. Yep. In a way, isn't it?

[Ted Danson]

Yep.

[Mark Ruffalo]

But I see this time, and believe me, I. I wake up in the middle of the night, like, what is happening? Is this a nightmare? Is this real? But by dawn, yeah, the day breaks.

[Ted Danson]

You see your kids.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I see my kids, and I see people actually getting engaged who weren't engaged. And we need to be engaged. We need to be awake. Now the question is, is what do we do? And that. That's qu. That's a question that I think people are starting to seriously ask now.

[Woody Harrelson]

What'd be nice if you could take just a fraction of the hundreds of. Well, the trillions of dollars spent for the war machine and just put that toward buying up rainforests, you know, or just doing simple meta. Hopefully metamorphosizing the way we have our. Our energy and our energy needs. Both really. Both, you know, collectively and personally.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yes.

[Woody Harrelson]

You know, like, this feels like that if we just had the same will we have as a. As a country and as a. Well, politically, the same will that to support war. And you just.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

Just modify that a little bit and help out the mother nature. It'd be so cool.

[Mark Ruffalo]

It'd be so cool. And we can do it. I mean, that was the other thing of the study is all of our. We are paying more welfare to the fossil fuel industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the agricultural industry, the industrialized agricultural industry, the weapons industry, than we are to actually our own welfare of human beings in the United States and abroad.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. And if you believe in free trade and all of that markets and all of that, then take away all those.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Subsidies and let's see when Your gasoline's actually $30 a gallon.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. You all of a sudden. Yeah. Would not be all gung ho.

[Mark Ruffalo]

But no, we are supporting. And it's the. And when we say we, it is.

[Ted Danson]

Literally our tax dollars.

[Mark Ruffalo]

It's our tax dollars.

[Ted Danson]

This has nothing to do with a Republican or a liberal or a conservative. Fact.

[Mark Ruffalo]

They got us all in this game. We're at each other's throats. While these guys are making off like bandits. And I think that's the reality that people are coming to understand now. The same people in MAGA who are raging. They're raging over. And this is the same. They're. Trump tapped into this idea that there's corruption, that the people aren't getting what they deserve, they're not getting what they need. The elites are taking it all. The game is rigged against us. But what he did was get it, but make it on the idea of race. He's scapegoating race and immigration, which is what a fascist regime does. Right. But the truth of the matter is it's all of us. It's what. This is why they killed. This is why they killed Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. Was actually using the civil rights movement to integrate the working class and the people of color. That was the next move. And that is too powerful, because once the work. Once you take that race out and you unite the people based on economics, they're having us fighting a culture war, but the real war is a class war. I don't want to be that too radical, but that's what I see.

[Woody Harrelson]

Beautifully stated. I mean, I feel like. No, go ahead, Teddy, go ahead.

[Ted Danson]

I'm the only place where I feel confident talking. Not because I'm an expert, but I've been doing it for 35, 40 years. The environment, climate change, oceans, all of that. I've hung around scientists and been a spokesperson, so I have some. I feel I have some license and not to score points. I don't get to go. So you see, these floods are coming because of oil companies. I don't get to do that.

[Mark Ruffalo]

No, no.

[Ted Danson]

All you get to do is be human, caring, hopeful. Da, da, da.

[Mark Ruffalo]

That's how we do it. Because. And that's storytelling. Why does storytelling work?

[Ted Danson]

Why.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Why can't. Why does something like Dark Waters. Okay.

[Woody Harrelson]

Which is really fantastic. Fantastic.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Like, why does that.

[Ted Danson]

I'm so sorry I didn't see it. Just quickly.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Dark Waters is about a. It was a story that I read in the LA Times, New York Times Magazine, by Nathaniel Rich, Frank Rich's son. And it was the title of. It was the Lawyer that is dupont's nightmare. And he was a corporate lawyer who defended chemical companies. His family's friend reached out to him and said, my cows are dying. My cows are dying, and dupont has poisoned them. And I want someone to help me. And you're the only person I know.

[Ted Danson]

Wow.

[Mark Ruffalo]

So he shows up there. He grew up next to this farm, going to this farm in the summertime knew this guy. He shows them the cows. The cows got their eyeballs are milked over, they have huge tumors. And right above him, the water is Dupont's dumping and the stream is coming through his land and it's killing his cows. And he says, I'm going to help you. And he uncovers the fact that Dupont had been poisoning us since the 50s with forever chemicals, PFAS. And he got the biggest class action lawsuit in the world, which he used to make the biggest human health study ever done to prove that pfas, Forever Chemicals, which is in all of us is linked to 17 different illnesses. And then he used that to. And this is the story of that, right, that. There's been so many documentaries written, done so many articles written, but that movie, wow, that's amazing. That movie has changed more laws in the world than any of those other efforts. It's storytelling and it's storytelling. And what is storytelling other than empathy in action? What is storytelling? I mean, the whole idea of empathy being some made up thing is so. It's so funny to me. You know, it's just like the world would not work without empathy. You couldn't do your job without empathy. I don't care what your job is. If you're a salesman, if you're a doctor, if you're a lawyer, even. Even working. I just don't know how the world would run without empathy.

[Ted Danson]

And it's smart if you want to be selfish. It's brilliant selfishness to understand the other person.

[Mark Ruffalo]

It's what we need to survive. It's not what we're using to destroy ourselves. It's not suicidal. It's how we actually are going to live and thrive is through empathy. And look at every single successful person that we know has. Well, no, I can't say that. Sorry. There's some real assholes who don't have empathy. They're sociopathic and they do pretty well. Elon Musk, for example, or Jeff Bezos or any of these people now, you know, Mark Zuckerberg, all of them are lacking empathy.

[Ted Danson]

Just a quick parenthetical thing. I was in a show called Damages where I play this billionaire sociopath and they had me talk to, they were so brilliant, the writers, to a Fortune 500 guy. And he said, because the study that came out of, I think Harvard was that the similarity between people in prison and Fortune 500 executives, they're both sociopaths. They both have a lack of empathy. This is a sweeping generality. No, I know, but this Guy said, I realized with the help of my family that I didn't have the ability to empathize. Just literally don't. I hired somebody to be with me in literally every meeting who was capable of empathy so he could pat me on the shoulder and go, you're missing the point here. Wow, isn't that amazing?

[Mark Ruffalo]

That's incredible.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, yeah. We have too many people lacking empathy running the show.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah. But I was going to say there's a lot of people in prison who do have empathy.

[Mark Ruffalo]

That's right.

[Woody Harrelson]

That's true. Per capita, more Fortune 500 people without the empathy gene.

[Mark Ruffalo]

That's right. Yeah. Thank you.

[Ted Danson]

Thanks for throwing. Putting that in.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Well, now we're just warehousing people in our prisons. I mean, look at. We have more people in prisons in here than any other country in the world, per capita.

[Ted Danson]

I feel like, because I have a friend who does pathway to kinship, which is this helping people get out by learning to truly empathize with what they have done to a family. Which is the only way, if you've done your time, you will get paroled, really is if you see that, you really do understand the impact you had. Help them do that. This person, my friend Mark.

[Woody Harrelson]

And then.

[Ted Danson]

He helps them get jobs, high paying jobs and unions and stuff like that to keep them out of jail.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yes, they do.

[Ted Danson]

Because if you don't be smart about that, then you're just feeding the system again and again.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yes. And that system is a big money making system. And look at all these. I mean, the Alcatraz, the Alligator Alcatraz. I mean, how much was that? It was like hundreds of millions of dollars for a few tents. Someone ran off with that money, they closed it down. Now that money's gone. You have Holman taking $50,000 from some schmo in cash. And what is that? That's a bribe for one of these prisons, these detention centers that they're building. And these detention centers are. They're building them all over the United States to house warehouse people who have mental illness, who didn't have a chance, who weren't taught any skills. I mean, and that's their. But we look at Baltimore, what the mayor of Baltimore is doing, what does he do? He opens up the pools later for the kids. He's teaching the kids at Community. He's opening up more and more community hubs for the kids to go to after school. And the crime rates have plummeted there. We know how to do this. Sure, we know how to do this.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Mark Ruffalo]

But there's big Money in prisons. Huge money. And when we took, we stopped, we made the, we made privatized. Privatized prisons. This is all fixable stuff. You know, this is not so esoteric. You know, there's other countries that know how to rehabilitate criminals. You know, it's doable. I'm sorry.

[Ted Danson]

No, no, this is good. All of a sudden I, I thought, this is the podcast that changed the world.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Never.

[Ted Danson]

People listened and went, oh, my God, those three actors.

[Woody Harrelson]

Oh, all right.

[Mark Ruffalo]

No, it's going to take what's happening.

[Woody Harrelson]

For the common man. Hey, but guys, I'm sorry to say I have to go because I have a dinner that I'm supposed to be at.

[Ted Danson]

Wait, where are you, buddy?

[Mark Ruffalo]

He's in Paris.

[Woody Harrelson]

Oh, I'm in Paris and I'm doing this movie. We start shooting Monday, and Kristen Stewart's playing my daughter, so I was supposed to meet her for dinner, and I think it'd be really impolite to be late.

[Mark Ruffalo]

No, you can't give her, Give her.

[Ted Danson]

Mary's in my life.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, just like, just like a father. Late as always, you know, whatever.

[Mark Ruffalo]

You could do that.

[Ted Danson]

I love you so much. Give Laura our love, will you?

[Mark Ruffalo]

Love you, man.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, I love you too. Dave. Mark, what a. What a pleasure to see you.

[Mark Ruffalo]

And get.

[Woody Harrelson]

And I wish I was there in person with you guys. Daddy always, always the best. I'll see you down the road.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I'll see you down the road.

[Ted Danson]

Love you, buddy. Now we can talk. Now we can talk about him.

[Woody Harrelson]

Oh, now you guys can talk.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Oh, damn. He was listening.

[Ted Danson]

Hey. Hey, man, we don't have to go on, but I.

[Woody Harrelson]

So thank you.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Sorry, I got on my soapbox. That gets actually kind of boring, actually.

[Ted Danson]

No, no, no, no, no, no. See, that's. No, I'm sorry. This is. Well, for me. I'll just speak for myself that I am in that position of am I being courageous? Am I speaking out enough? Am I. What is my lane? What makes me feel comfortable and real and what's really, for me, the thing I thought about before we sat down was how much license you have when you talk about gun violence. You have a. There's genuine deep empathy that comes out of you because of where you've been and that your, your brother died from gun violence. So I, I, I so honor that. That same kind of courage and going for it. You have in your acting, you have in your life, and it's legit. So I'm really glad you spoke. Okay. Because it is.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Thank you.

[Ted Danson]

You're not talking about ideals and belief systems and. Fuck them. You're talking about empathy.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah, I try.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Because we're all in this together, right? Ultimately, yeah, we are.

[Ted Danson]

And that's the one thing that kind of. Well, it's probably me being righteous, to be honest, but I always think, you know, you can call it a hoax, you can do this, you can do that, you can, you know, but climate change doesn't give a rat's ass what your belief system is.

[Mark Ruffalo]

No.

[Ted Danson]

You know, it's marching forward.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Oh, yeah. And we're only gonna. It's only gonna get worse.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. And I think it's a shame to lose us as a species, because do.

[Mark Ruffalo]

You know that 80, 80 million Americans believe that climate change is real and it's caused by actual burning fossil fuels? And they want someone to do something. They want the state to do something about it. That's the polling. That's the recent polling. 80 million Americans, a fraction of that, is actually voting. And so there's a huge untapped sort of power in that that none of our politicians are actually capitalizing on.

[Woody Harrelson]

We.

[Mark Ruffalo]

I mean, in the last election, how much time is talked about climate change?

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Mark Ruffalo]

But also there's also, like, this incredible economic opportunity for us. The biggest emerging market in the world right now is renewable energy.

[Ted Danson]

And. And we're handing that all over to China. I don't mean we're.

[Mark Ruffalo]

We're walking away from it.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah.

[Mark Ruffalo]

And just even this year, it's a 10% jump in renewable energy. And by the way, we're also at peak fossil fuel. The reason they have to do fracking, the reason they have to do tar sands, the reason. Because it's going away, it's gone. And the reason. Gas, it's only going to get more expensive. The reason we don't actually see what we're paying for it is because we're subsidizing it. But we're literally paying 20, $30 at the pump because all of our tax.

[Ted Danson]

Money has this wonderful irony, I think, that the most clean energy coming out of solar is coming out of. And wind is coming out of Texas.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Texas.

[Ted Danson]

Isn't that wonderful? Of course, because they're not dumb. No energy is cheaper.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Exactly. And that's the way it is. If it's cheaper, we move towards it and it's cheaper now. So it's just all. But we're going to come out of this.

[Ted Danson]

How old are your children now?

[Mark Ruffalo]

My son's 23, my middle daughter's 20, and my little one's going to be 18 in a little over two weeks.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah. Pretty magnificent. We have all of our kids. We have four together. I had two, Mary had two when we got together. And they're now in their early to mid-40s. And our grandchildren are 13 down to.

[Mark Ruffalo]

You know, that's amazing. How big is the whole family now? How many grandkids and five grandkids and.

[Ted Danson]

You know, four kids and their mates.

[Mark Ruffalo]

That's beautiful.

[Ted Danson]

Yeah, it is. So you know what? We may not know how to do.

[Mark Ruffalo]

It, but they're pretty.

[Ted Danson]

There is hope.

[Mark Ruffalo]

There's. They're hip. Yeah, I think there's a lot of hope. I just think, you know, it's always darkest before the dawn.

[Ted Danson]

Love talking to you.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Love.

[Ted Danson]

And I, you know, we didn't pay enough attention to how magnificent and an actor you are, but everybody knows that. So this was fun. It was fun to.

[Mark Ruffalo]

That's an honor.

[Ted Danson]

Hang out with Woody from you.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Yeah, I loved it. It was so fun.

[Ted Danson]

Thanks, man.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Thanks, man. Thank you.

[Ted Danson]

Thank you, Mark Ruffalo. Thank you, Woodrow. Watch Mark in Task streaming now on HBO Max. That's it for this week. Special thanks to Team Coco. Hey, I say that a lot, but truly, special thanks to Team Coco. I wish you all could see who I get to work with. They're all amazing people, except for Conan. If you enjoyed this episode, send it to a loved one, subscribe on your favorite podcast app and maybe give us a great rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Thank you very much. If you like watching your podcasts, all our full length episodes are on YouTube. Visit YouTube.comteamcoco See you next time. Where everybody knows your name. You've been listening to where everybody knows.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Your name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson.

[Woody Harrelson]

Sometimes.

[Mark Ruffalo]

The show is produced by me, Nick Liao. Our executive producers are Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross and myself. Sarah Fedorovich is our supervising producer. Engineering and mixing by Joanna Samuel with support from Eduardo Perez. Research by Alyssa Grohl. Talent booking by Paula Davis and Gina Bautista. Our theme music is by Woody Harrelson, Anthony Yen, Mary Steenbergen and John Osborne.

[Ted Danson]

With Disney and Hulu, there is so much amazing entertainment, you'll discover something every day. Whether you're looking to binge a hilarious classic hit like Modern Family, enjoy the biggest blockbusters like Marvel Studios Thunderbolts on Disney, catch the latest news on what you need to know, or check out new episodes of Only Murders in the Building, this is the one place that has it all. Get all of this and so much more with Disney and Hulu every day. It doesn't get better than this. 18 only offer valid for eligible subscribers only terms apply.

[Mark Ruffalo]

Whatever your vision for holiday decorating, the Home Depot has what you need to bring it to life. Like our warm white holiday lights with steady lit technology so your lights stay glowing even if one bulb fails. Whether you're going for a soft, warm glow or a colorful display of holiday cheer, choose from our wide variety of holiday lights starting at $5 in store only. Find everything you need to get your holidays started with the Home Depot.