Mark Ruffalo has plenty of superhero stories, but this one comes straight from real life. While filming “Now You See Me” in New Orleans, the Marvel star found himself in the middle of a full-blown bar brawl, thanks to his co-star Woody Harrelson’s quick-trigger instincts. As he later recalled on Harrelson’s podcast, he didn’t just save Woody; he probably saved everyone else in the room, too.
‘Totally Wild’ Bar Fight
Ruffalo recently appeared on the “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” podcast, which is co-hosted by Harrelson and Ted Danson, who starred in “Cheers” together.
Ruffalo said, “We were shooting ‘Now You See Me’ in New Orleans, completely on the streets. Totally wild. Capturing stuff on a long lens, getting dragged into bars during the middle of a scene, like in the middle of Mardi Gras.” The filming took place in 2012, with the magician heist movie hitting theaters the following year.
While in one of those bars, Ruffalo said, “A woman came up to him and she said, ‘Oh my God, I love you so much.’ Woody put his hand on her arm, and he said, ‘Oh, thank you. Thank you, darling.’ And this guy comes over and he pushes her outta the way, and he shoves Woody.”
Danson, who is very familiar with his co-star and co-host, said that this was “not good.”
Ruffalo agreed, stating that, “Woody’s first response is not ‘shove someone back,’ but ‘immediately punch them in the face.’”
He continued, saying a “whole melee broke out in this bar,” and he was in the middle of it. Recalling the event, Ruffalo turned to Harrelson, saying, “I grabbed you and I pulled you out. ‘Cause 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.”
Not Woody’s First Rodeo
While Mark Ruffalo told the story, Harrelson was laughing at the memory. This memory is also not the only bar fight story Harrelson could tell.
The “True Detective” star punched a drunk man back in 2021, Yahoo! Entertainment reported. Authorities stated it was self-defense at a bar in Washington.
Harrelson also got into a bar fight and was carjacked during his first day of filming “Cheers.” His co-star, Danson, told this story while he appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” last November.
Ruffalo and Harrelson will be back on the big screen together. They can be seen together in “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t,” which premieres in theaters on November 14. This is the sequel to “Now You See Me” (2013) and “Now You See Me 2” (2016).
