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When the muse strikes… Mark Ruffalo dreamed about how he would punch Ryan Reynolds on screen: 'It was right'

When the muse strikes…

Mark Ruffalo dreamed about how he would punch Ryan Reynolds on screen: 'It was right'

When the muse strikes…

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

EW's editorial guidelines

October 17, 2025 8:56 p.m. ET

Mark Ruffalo and Ryan Reynolds. Credit:

Dia Dipasupil/Getty; Emma McIntyre/WireImage

Once in a blue moon, artistic masterpieces will come to creators in their dreams: the Beatles' "Yesterday," Jasper Johns' "Flag," Robert Altman's *3 Women*. Now Mark Ruffalo is revealing that he added another visionary masterstroke to the canon of dream art in 2022.

The *Zodiac* and *Avengers* star recently told *GQ* that he dreamed of the bizarre technique he used to punch Ryan Reynolds in the face in the Netflix sci-fi comedy *The Adam Project*.

"I had a dream that that's what the punch should look like, and I just did what I did in my dream," Ruffalo revealed. "And we did it, and they were all laughing, and [director Shawn Levy's] like, 'Well, let's do it again, but I think we have it.'"

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The scene in question sees Reynolds' character — a future version of Ruffalo's onscreen son, portrayed in the present by young actor Walker Scobell — punch his dad after being warned not to time-travel into his own timeline, as the convergence of two versions of the same person could threaten the space-time continuum. Ruffalo's character then hits back, balletically leaping into the air and kicking his leg up behind him as he strikes Reynolds' protagonist across the face.

"That was one of those moments where the spontaneity just — it was right," Ruffalo reflected.

When asked how many times he had to hit Reynolds in order to perfect the scene, Ruffalo simply responded, "Once."

Mark Ruffalo punching Ryan Reynolds in 'The Adam Project'.

Elsewhere in the interview, Ruffalo recalled working on another Levy comedy, 2010's *Date Night*, which starred Steve Carell and Tina Fey. Ruffalo played a small role in the movie: a friend of the lead couple whose pending divorce from his wife (Kristen Wiig) inspires the main characters to spice up their dates.

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Ruffalo told *GQ* that Carell was shocked to see Ruffalo take such a limited role in the film. "I'll never forget when I walked in there, he was like, 'Man, why are you doing *this*? I can't believe you're doing *this*,'" he recalled the *40-Year-Old Virgin* star telling him. "He was like, 'I'm honored to meet you, and I'm so glad you're doing this, but I don't know why you're doing this little part,' you know?"

Original Article on Source

Source: "AOL Movies"

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Source: GETTY MAG

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