An emotional tribute speech given by Jennifer Garner in honor of Mark Ruffalo at his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony on February 8 brought the “13 Going on 30” co-stars back together.
Since filming “13 Going on 30,” which starred Ruffalo and Garner as the overweight thirteen-year-old Jenna who finds herself in the body of a thirty-something woman who works for a fashion magazine in New York, the two actors have maintained a close friendship. Ruffalo portrayed Matty, the adult counterpart of Jenna’s closest buddy from childhood.
In her speech, Garner made a joke about how she “kicked off the Mark Ruffalo rom-com era,” picking out a few traits that she claimed characterized Ruffalo as “Rom-com Ruffalo.” “The scruffy hair, the untucked cute button-down, both of which became the norm for cute guys everywhere for the next 20 years,” Garner added.
Garner brought up a couple of the Marvel star’s past co-stars, such as Keira Knightley, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Reese Witherspoon. “I was wondering if these respectable women relished Mark’s nervousness to the same extent that I did.”
Working with Ruffalo was a joke that Garner made. “Did he attempt to quit their films in the same way he quit ours after the first ‘Thriller’ dance rehearsal? Mark went through a range of emotions, from mild shock that we were even required to do this to antsiness, deathly silence, and finally, ‘Bro, this is not for me.'”
While Garner was making her way to the stage, she and Ruffalo danced a little bit to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” music video in tribute to a dance number in “13 Going on 30.” Ruffalo was like Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, and Frank Sinatra, according to Garner, who went on to compare him later in her speech.
“Mark made the otherwise lighthearted interesting. He had an air of spontaneity and elegance. The job is never visible to you,” she clarified. The fact that Ruffalo arrives “with joy” to every set is something else she mentioned.
As Garner said, “To work with you, Mark, is to love you, I don’t care what anyone says.” This was in reference to her upcoming appearance in “The Adam Project,” a science fiction film on Netflix that was set to premiere in 2022.
The true measure of success, according to Garner, is the level of enthusiasm and happiness shown by your colleagues when given the chance to praise and honor you. “You allow yourself to be fully known by your colleagues, by the audience, by the world,” he added. “Okay, the good and right thing has happened” is the collective reaction of Hollywood every time your name is announced.
The speech by Garner and Ruffalo is almost two years after they thrilled viewers of “13 Going on 30” by recreating a passionate scene between Jenna and Matty. In the film, Garner and Ruffalo are seen cuddling up on a couch, and Garner shared a snapshot of the two of them striking a similar stance.
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