Why Mark Ruffalo Was Worried About Doing Sex Scenes in His 50s

Mark Ruffalo is a talented actor who's been able to take on any role throughout his decades-long career. At his age, though, the Oscar-nominated actor was skeptical if he should be appearing in any sex scenes at all, such as those in his most recent movie, Poor Things.

In Poor Things, Ruffalo plays lawyer Duncan Wedderburn, who develops a relationship with a young woman named Bella, played by Emma Stone. The film has its fair share of sex scenes, and at first, Ruffalo doubted if he could convincingly play the part, let alone if him having sex was something that audiences even wanted to see.

“I didn’t know if I could pull this off," the actor confessed to Perfect magazine of the experience. "I’ve never done anything like [Poor Things] before."

"I’m 55 now so, like, the sex scenes—am I too old to be doing that kind of stuff? Does anyone want to see that?" he wondered.

Elsewhere in the interview, Ruffalo reflected on how sex is portrayed on screen in today's world. Poor Things' sex scenes represented more of an anomaly in film these days than the norm.

"I feel like we’re in this prudish time for films," the actor said. "Sexuality is so deeply connected to the psychology of a character. And it should be explored in that sense too."

Ruffalo has earned Golden Globe and Critics' Choice nominations so far this awards season for his role in Poor Things, while Stone has racked up Best Actress wins at both ceremonies.