In January, I wrote about Mark Ruffalo’s upcoming portrayal of twins Dominick and Thomas Birdsey in the HBO adaptation of Wally Lamb’s 1998 novel, I Know This Much Is True. Mark spoke about the difficulty of gaining 30 pounds to play Thomas, and of being daunted by the prospect of accurately portraying someone who lives with mental illness. Thomas has paranoid schizophrenia.
While Mark had previously mentioned that he spent six weeks gaining the weight to portray Thomas, People shares that Mark explained that the time was also to allow him to approach Thomas differently than Dominick:
“We didn’t want it to be like I run and throw a wig on and do the same scene in the same day, so we took six weeks off to really separate these two guys,” Ruffalo explained. “And Thomas is on medication, mood stabilizers and anti-psychotics. A lot of people put on weight.”
A new teaser trailer has come out and it looks like Mark nailed it. Here it is:
There are only a few seconds of Mark playing both brothers in scenes together, but I’m sure he’ll be able to pull off playing identical twins as distinct from each other. It sounds like he gave a lot of thought to that, and the break in filming probably helped immensely. I still remember learning that Hayley Mills played both Susan and Sharon in The Parent Trap, and my mind was blown. (I was probably 8 or so.) I also loved Lindsay Lohan in the remake, which is why I always hope that she’ll eventually be healthy and happy one day. Back to Mark, this looks like it will be good, if difficult to watch, but I need to read the book first! Hecate said great things about it, so I’m going to try to get to it soon. I Know This Much is True is out April 27.
photos credit: Getty and Avalon.red
I love this guy, he’s adorable.
Huh, I read this book years and years ago and I completely forgot it was about twins. I just remember the girlfriend. Maybe I should re-read it….
I feel like I should re-read it, too. I remember the twins, and I remember being blown away by the story, just not being able to put the book down. But it’s been a very long time and sadly most of the details escape me. The series looks good/heartbreaking. I’m glad I have HBO!
I love this book so I’m excited to watch the show. Mark Ruffalo is a great actor.
Wally Lamb is the BEST. This is such a good book.. and a really long book. I wonder if the series will do it justice.
I’ve had this book on my shelf for nearly 20 years! Definitely time to dust it off based on how people are describing it.
Tom Hardy was also good playing twins in that gangster movie.
I read this so long ago, I don’t remember much about it. I’m surprised it took so long to be made into a film.
As a kid I truly thought Haley Mills was 2 separate girls in Parent Trap.
I so super excited about this!! I’ve had a dream cast for this from when I read it when it came out! I’m going to have to reread it before the release!
I don’t give Susan Sarandon a Bernie pass, so I don’t give this guy one either. I used to like him.
If you appreciate the effort it takes for an actor to portray twins, you should check out Tatiana Maslany’s portrayal of multiple clones in the TV series Orphan Black (available to stream on Prime video). She played multiple parts not just in the same episode every week, but there were many scenes with more than one clone at a time. She’s amazing.
I didn’t know one of my fave books was being turned into a movie! And with Mark!!
I just brought this book up that I read like 20 years ago, IN COLLEGE! I can’t believe they are making a movie, and I adore Mark R. Great casting choice! She’s come undone was also excellent. Wally Lamb, he’s amazing.
I loved this book and he’s the perfect actor for it, it’s a beautifully written book and 💔💔💔💔💔