Mark Ruffalo might be known for his role in the 2012 Marvel film, The Avengers. However, nearly a decade before the actor landed the character of Hulk, he almost gave up on his dreams of making it in Hollywood. The doubt crept into his mind when the actor was in the darkest chapter of his life with a medical condition that he was trying to keep under wraps.

Apart from just keeping his struggles out of the public eye, the now 56-year-old also chose to keep it a secret from his wife, who was then 9 months pregnant.

How Mark Ruffalo shared the news of his medical condition to his wife

In a recent episode of the Smartless podcast, the Poor Things star, Mark Ruffalo shed some light on his brain tumor diagnosis from 2001. He revealed that he had discovered it just a few days before his wife, Sunrise Coigney, gave birth to their first child.  However, the actor had chosen to keep the news to himself as he did not want to freak his pregnant wife out. Instead, just days after childbirth, the now father of three had told her.

Initially, the former actress had thought he was joking, but then the tears began rolling. Ruffalo also stated that his wife had told him, “I always knew you were going to die young.” While it was a bittersweet moment in the actor’s life, he revealed that his wife, Sunrise Coigney’s reaction when he shared the news with her, had put him at ease. Although he once thought he would die, he seems to have made it through to the other side with minimum damage.

With a brain tumor the size of a golf ball, there were bound to be a few side effects after the surgery was done. However, it was how the actor had found it that surprised the world.

How Mark Ruffalo found out about his brain tumor

Over the years, Mark Ruffalo has been rather vocal about his medical struggles. While he had tried to keep everything hush-hush back in 2001, once the actor returned to the spotlight, he was more candid. During one of his interviews, the father of three ended up revealing that he had only found out about his medical condition through a strange dream.

In the dream, a voicr had told him that he had a brain tumor and needed to remove it quickly. The actor’s suspicions were confirmed with a CT scan a few days later. Thankfully, the tumor turned out to be benign. However, the surgery did leave the actor with facial paralysis and some hearing issues.

What do you think about Sunrise Coigney’s reaction to Mark Ruffalo’s tumor? Let us know in the comments below.