Mark Ruffalo revealed on the “Everywhere Everyone Knows Your Name” podcast that he saved Woody Harrelson from a brutal bar brawl while filming “Now You See Me,” Louis Leterrier’s 2013 heist thriller about a group of illusionists who pull off a heist, in New Orleans. Ruffalo played an FBI agent trying to capture the group.
“We were filming ‘Now You See Me’ in New Orleans, completely on the streets. It was completely wild,” Ruffalo said (via Entertainment Weekly). “Sometimes you’re shooting something with a long lens, or you’re dragged into a bar in the middle of a scene, like in the middle of Mardi Gras.”
Ruffalo and Danson remained outside after filming for the day and went to a “packed place” for drinks when things escalated.
“A woman came up to[Woody]and said, ‘Oh my God, I love you so much,'” Ruffalo said. “Woody put his hand on her arm and said, ‘Oh, thank you. Thank you, darling.'” And then this guy comes along and pushes her out of the way and shoves Woody. bad. Because Woody’s first reaction is not to “push someone back,” but to “punch him right in the face.” That’s correct, by the way. That is absolutely correct. But then a brawl broke out at the bar. I was in the middle of it and it was getting big…and I grabbed (Woody). ”
“I grabbed (Woody) and dragged him out,” Ruffalo continued. “Because I thought, ‘This could be fun, but it could also go in a disastrous direction, because you and I might be able to handle ourselves, but the other people that were with me…I don’t think so.’
Ruffalo and Harrelson starred in Now You See Me alongside Jesse Eisenberg, Melanie Laurent, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, and Morgan Freeman. The film grossed $351 million worldwide and spawned a series that led to 2016’s Now You See Me 2 and the new film Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, which opens in theaters on November 14th.
Watch Ruffalo’s interview on the podcast “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” in the video below.
