Mark Ruffalo as Tom Brandis in ‘Task.’
Peter Kramer/HBO
Emmy and Oscar-nominated actor Mark Ruffalo is no stranger to playing roles that challenge him, but it’s also a challenge to return to the real world once the work is done.
Playing Tom Brandis, a trauma-stricken FBI agent and former Catholic priest heading up a task force that is investigating a series of armed robberies, in Task was no exception. However, he has found a way to make that transition easier.
“I literally send a note to myself, and it’s like, ‘When I wake up tomorrow, that’s it, we’re done. I’m signing out and I’m moving on,” Ruffalo explains over Zoom ahead of the HBO show’s finale. “You can’t spend seven months spending more time playing Tom Brandis than being myself. I’m in that guy’s shoes, his clothes, walking in his house, and saying his lines. My acting teacher, Stella Adler, used to say, ‘If something passes through your imagination, it becomes the truth, darling!” The journey that he has to go through was harder than I even thought it was going to be. It was so hard to live in that place that long.”
“It was a lot of work, and the world’s heavy right now, and to add heavy on top of heavy is a risky proposition. I’m so happy that this show has become as popular as it has, considering what it’s about. I do think we’re craving a catharsis. We’re so divided, we’re so angry, and if we’re going to follow this idea that empathy is a psychosis or some disease, then we’re just left with so little grace and joy.”
Task’s popularity has seen the seven-part crime drama stay riding high in the top ten on HBO Max since its debut in early September. Brad Ingelsby created the show. He also wrote and produced the acclaimed HBO series Mare of Easttown, which starred Kate Winslet. While that series hasn’t garnered a sequel yet, could a second season of Task be on the cards?
“If we’re going to reflect the world we’re living in now, there’s the whole question of ICE, an FBI agent, Philadelphia and Delaware County, and what it means to be someone who’s protecting, serving, and to be law enforcement now in the face of that,” Ruffalo muses. “At the core of who we are, what is the decent part of that? That’s interesting to me. For instance, looking at how we interface with the immigrant community as law enforcement. Are we willing to go on that journey in a real, honest way? Where does humanity slide into that in the Ingelsby Cinematic Universe?”
Could a crossover with Mare of Easttown be an option?
“That would be cool, too,” the actor admits. “Having some of that happen and maybe a new chapter of love for him. What does it mean to move on? What does the next chapter look like going into your 60s? I’m down for that. I’m there.”
(Left to right) Mark Ruffalo, Alison Oliver, Thuso Mbedu, and Fabien Frankel in ‘Task.’
Peter Kramer/HBO
Mark Ruffalo On How ‘Task’ Tackles Law Enforcement
Something Ruffalo reflects on with Task’s conclusion is how the show represents law enforcement, especially when it came to the treatment of one character, Maeve, played by CODA‘s Emilia Jones.
“She never hurt anybody. She was caught up in something, and ultimately it was really love for her family,” the Spotlight and Poor Things actor explains. “Would this ever happen? Who knows? I mean, we hear all kinds of bad stories or the bad stuff police do, but we do have to also hear the good stories where they do good things, and you have to believe there are those people out there. I believe it.”
“I know cops that are good people and look at people as human beings, and that’s a good story right now. We need that balance. We need to remember that among the people who are protecting us are a lot of good people, and I’ve gotten to know them over the years.”
Ruffalo delivers a multi-layered performance as Brandis, a former priest dealing with a lot of issues, including sobriety, grief, and forgiveness in the non-secular world. It’s something he can relate to, having been raised in a multi-faith environment.
“I grew up in a household where there was Christianity, Catholicism, and the Baha’i Faith in the same place, and I was steeped in them all. They didn’t live peacefully together, but what I did learn from all of them was that the essential truths were true across all of them,” he recalls. “There was the idea of compassion, forgiveness, of something greater than ourselves, organizing this unique thing that we all find ourselves in, a care for those who were less fortunate, and the belief that there was something righteous in the end.”
“Those are things that we hold in high regard in the secular world. Faith is an act that is grounded in nothing but belief. It isn’t easy to have faith. To forgive people is also just another kind of faith, and the faith in the redemptive quality of mankind. It’s also the faith in our ability to grow as human beings, to grow past our pain, hurt, and our need for revenge. Look at the world right now. It is driven by revenge, and what is it getting us? More suffering, death, bloodshed, and more need for revenge. It just compounds on itself over time. The idea to stop and drop your ego and forgive is so freaking hard. That’s the journey that my character makes, and he does it.”
(Left to right) Brad Ingelsby and Mark Ruffalo on the set of ‘Task.’
Peter Kramer/HBO
Not only is Ruffalo Task’s lead actor, but he also acted as one of the show’s executive producers. It’s something he relished even when it wasn’t always as glamorous as some might assume.
“The production side of it is always like, ‘What does this ask of me?’ Usually, the number one thing is just protecting it and shepherding it. That can even be making sure the crew had air conditioning at that one point when we were working in 100-degree weather in a warehouse in the middle of Delco,” he says. “Brad is the most competent showrunner you could ask to work with. Jeremiah Zagar and Salli Richardson-Whitfield are such established directors that, for me, it wasn’t as strenuous as a producer as maybe other shows have been.”
“Brad and I were talking a lot about Tom’s character arc and so on. But for me, for this one, I was just like, ‘We’re in good hands, if you need me, I’m here.’ HBO is also just the best to work with from a filmmaker’s point of view, and there just wasn’t that much to protect as an executive producer. We had so many good people on it that I was just basically the cheerleader for our cast and our crew, making sure that people felt taken care of and that our vision, that the vision of the filmmakers, was sanctified and honored all along the way.”
(Left to right) Fabien Frankel, Thuso Mbedu, Alison Oliver, and Mark Ruffalo in ‘Task.’
Peter Kramer/HBO
Mark Ruffalo Says Empathy And The Ensemble Cast Are The Heart of ‘Task’
As well as Ruffalo and Jones, Task boasts an ensemble cast that includes Ozark’s Tom Pelphrey, The Woman King‘s Thuso Mbedu, House of the Dragon‘s Fabien Frankel, The Order‘s Alison Oliver, and The Goonies‘ Martha Plimpton.
“My greatest wish for the show is that we get an ensemble award because that’s what I really think is remarkable about the show,” he enthuses. “Silvia Dionicio, who plays my daughter Emily, is a complete unknown, and the scene with her in the therapist’s office in episode six is such beautiful work. Tom Pelphrey, whom I had waited so long to finally meet up with, Thuso, Fabien, and Alison; it’s what you wish for as an actor. Some actors don’t need other actors; they’re just amazing on their own, but that’s not how I am. What I love about doing this is that whatever happens in the playing between two people is the most exciting thing. That’s where the magic happens, and so every day was such a joy. As heavy as Task is, we laughed so much. It was fun and easy, people were free, and it was safe. Those are the things that I think really make an ensemble work so well.”
At the end of the day, as fans of the show devour the finale, the actor wants people to remember what the show is really about.
“Task has got a pulse. It’s a cops and robbers thing. It delivers on all that, but it has a heart pumping that pulse, and that heart is the empathy and the humanity of these characters, to have their lives, their experiences, their reasons, touch our hearts,” Mark Ruffalo concludes. “That’s something we need right now because in the United States, there is literally a movement against the idea of empathy. To think that empathy in some way is a sociological issue, a disease, is so antithetical to the human experience. What makes Tom so great is his ability to sit across in the shoes of the person he’s interviewing, you know? That’s a gift, that’s not a scourge, and that’s what Task is about.”
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