Mark Ruffalo honored by '13 Going on 30' co-star Jennifer Garner at star ceremony
Mark Ruffalo was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday, with his "13 Going on 30" co-star Jennifer Garner paying tribute to her longtime pal with a hilarious and heartfelt speech.
Ruffalo, who scored his fourth Oscar nomination last month for his work in "Poor Things," attended the event with his wife, Sunrise Coigney, and their three children: Keen, Bella and Odette.
Garner, who 20 years ago starred opposite Ruffalo in the 2004 rom-com "13 Going on 30," delivered a hilarious speech she said she wrote in the car on the way to the ceremony after being asked to speak just the night before.
"Why wasn't I asked to do this in the first place?" she jokingly asked. "I kicked off the Mark Ruffalo rom-com era!"
"Thank God I showed up," Garner added. "I have got to be here to honor and elucidate rom-com Ruffalo."
The "Alias" alum spoke about how "lucky" she and Ruffalo are for having starred in a movie that "still means something to people."
Garner ribbed Ruffalo for having tried to drop out of "13 Going on 30" after the first rehearsal for what became one of the most memorable scenes of the film: the "Thriller" dance sequence, which the two recreated for a photo op.
"Mark went from kind of shocked that we actually had to do this to antsy to a deathly quiet to 'bro, this is not for me,'" she recalled.
All jokes aside, Garner praised Ruffalo for his acting chops, saying he "added depth to what was light."
"He was smooth, mercurial. You never see the work," she continued, noting that the through line from "13 Going on 30" to "Poor Things" is his clarity of purpose, understanding of story, standing up for his characters, being a person of character, showing up for his co-stars, bringing his family to every moment and showing up with joy.
"To work with you, Mark, is to love you -- I don't care what anyone says," she said, ending on one last laugh.
Also speaking at Ruffalo's Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony was his friend Timothy McNeil, who read a speech of his own as well as one from Laura Dern, who had to pull out of the event due to illness, and David Fincher, who directed Ruffalo in 2007's "Zodiac."
