While “The Avengers” has already garnered critical acclaim ahead of its May release, one young critic was less than pleased with Mark Ruffalo’s performance as Bruce Banner/The Hulk – his 4-year-old daughter.
“I had to drag my child out of the theater at that moment,” Mark revealed to Access Hollywood’s Shaun Robinson at “The Avengers” junket in Los Angeles on Friday of his daughter’s reaction to his on-screen transformation into the raging green Hulk. “She was like, ‘I don’t like it, Papa!’ She totally got scared.
“She totally freaked out,” he added, laughing. “I said, ‘Do you want to go?’ And she was like, [nods]. She was in a little ball in my lap… I didn’t see much of the movie.”
Mark’s fellow Avenger and new dad Robert Downey Jr., who was also on hand for the film’s junket, offered his advice on avoiding scaring children when it comes to movie-going.
“PG-13 means if they’re four, you shouldn’t be sitting with them,” he told Mark.
“I know. I made a bad [call],” Mark admitted. “She doesn’t even see movies, so it was so overwhelming for her on so many levels.”
And Robert’s parenting advice wasn’t the only sage bit of information the actor offered to Mark – Mark revealed it was Robert who convinced him to sign on for “The Avengers.”
“I made a promise to myself that I would never sign on to a movie that didn’t have a script,” Mark told Shaun, when asked why he was initially hesitant about joining the superstar cast. “I talked to Joss [Whedon] and I liked him, and I called Robert and I said, “Robert, what do you think?” And he said, “Come on. We can do this. We got this, buddy. It’s gonna be fun. We’ll take care of each other.”
“God – imagine if it had gone belly up!” Robert interjected with a laugh.
“The Avengers” hits theaters on May 4.
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