Mark Ruffalo Details Brain Tumor Diagnosis

On Monday’s (January 22nd) episode of the SmartLess podcast, Mark Ruffalo opened up about being diagnosed with a brain tumor following the release of his 2000 film You Can Count On Me. The Poor Things actor said he had a dream about the tumor before receiving the diagnosis.

“It wasn't like any other dream I'd ever had,” he explained. “It was just like, 'You have a brain tumor.' It wasn't even a voice. It was just pure knowledge, 'You have a brain tumor, and you have to deal with it immediately.'"

Ruffalo got a CAT scan done, and a nurse told him he had “a mass behind [his] left ear the size of a golf ball.” The tumor was benign, but he still had to have it removed.

Following the surgery, the 13 Going on 30 actor said, “[I am] completely deaf in one ear, and when I woke up, the left side of my face was totally paralyzed. I couldn’t even close my eye. I was talking out the side of my mouth.” He shared that the paralysis subsided after a year but that he still has trouble hearing.