Channing Tatum Almost Lost His Hearing in One Ear After Mark Ruffalo “Slapped the Sh-t Out of Him” on ‘Foxcatcher’ Set

Bizarre things can happen in a film production. Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum’s 2014 biographical sports film Foxcatcher wasn’t an exception to this rule. The Bennett Miller-helmed endeavor is loosely based on what transpired between sports enthusiast and a member of the du Pont family, John du Pont, and Olympic gold medalist wrestlers Mark Schultz and his older brother David Schultz.

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Appearing on Hot Ones before the release of Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, MCU alum Mark Ruffalo reflected on the sports drama, recalling how he once unintentionally popped co-star Channing Tatum’s eardrum while shooting a physically demanding sequence. Although it did cause him to lose his hearing for a while, the Magic Mike alum had given Ruffalo the consent to “slap the sh—t out of” him.

Check out what the Hulk actor had to say about the incident.

Mark Ruffalo Accidentally Deafened Foxcatcher Co-star Channing Tatum

In the film, Tatum embodies the role of Olympic gold medalist and wrestler Mark Schultz. Opposite him, Ruffalo plays Mark’s older brother and another Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler, Dave Schultz.

The intense premise of the psychological sports drama necessitated character interactions that were physically taxing. Star Channing Tatum, especially, started to get thrashed and slapped for specific scenes frequently. One sequence he shared with Ruffalo entailed a similar setting. The 13 Going on 30 star, talking to Hot Ones’ host Sean Evans, revealed details of how slapping Tatum for a scene backfired after it ruptured the latter’s eardrum.

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The MCU alum humorously emphasized that he technically had permission to get rough with the 21 Jump Street actor:

“He [Tatum] did ask me to slap the sh—t out of him, and it was easy to do because he’d beaten the sh—t out of me so many times,”

Mark Ruffalo, providing further context, stated:

“It was like four months of learning how to wrestle together. He, like, has 30 pounds on me, so when it came time to smack the sh—t out of him, I was like, ‘Came from Alabama.”

This isn’t the first time we learn about these on-set antics. Previously, the star in question, Channing Tatum, revealed how he felt after the incident of having his eardrums popped during Foxcatcher‘s production.

Channing Tatum On Losing His Hearing For 20 Minutes

According to Yahoo! Movies, at TIFF 2014’s Foxcatcher panel discussion, Tatum remarked how he got “slapped around a bunch” by Steve Carell and Mark Ruffalo in the Bennett Miller-directed premise. Revealing how he got his eardrums popped by the latter, the Dear John alum stated:

“Mark Ruffalo is such a sweetheart—he comes in, and he’s got to wake me out of this crazy place that I’m in, and he’s going to slap me. First take, he pushes my head really hard, and I was like, ‘Just do it—You gotta just do it, it’s the time!’ So he really did it on the next take and perfectly cupped my ear in such a way that I popped my eardrum.”

The 43-year-old Step Up star also claimed having lost his hearing for around twenty minutes. The only thing he could comprehend was a loud screeching noise:

“I didn’t actually know what happened because it was one of those weird moments where all the sound actually goes out of the room. […] For the next 20 minutes, that’s all I could hear. It really helped me with my acting.”

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Despite going through a painful experience, the actor affirmed (via Variety) that ruptured eardrums heal on their own, so he could safely recover from the impact. Unfortunately, the actor had sustained numerous additional injuries while Foxcatcher was being produced. Given the intense nature of the script, it’s no surprise that the talent had to go through such things.

Nevertheless, the lead star’s perseverance proved fruitful. Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher reaped favorable reviews from film critics, and he won the Best Director Award at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Additionally, the cast’s magnetic performances were highly extolled.

Foxcatcher (2014) is available via buying/renting on Prime Video.