Mark Ruffalo Recalls Saving Woody Harrelson From a Bar Fight While Filming ‘Now You See Me’

Mark Ruffalo is recalling the moment he stepped in to prevent former costar Woody Harrelson from getting into a bar fight.

“We were shooting Now You See Me in New Orleans, completely on the streets. Totally wild,” Ruffalo, 57, said during the Tuesday, October 14 episode of Harrelson, 64, and Ted Danson’s “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” podcast. “Capturing stuff on a long lens, getting dragged into bars during the middle of a scene, like in the middle of Mardi Gras.”

At one point during their time in The Big Easy, Ruffalo and Harrelson found themselves at a crowded establishment when The Hunger Games actor was recognized by a fan.

“We were out one night, and it was a packed place. And a woman came up to him and she said, ‘Oh my God, I love you so much.’ Woody put his hand on her arm, and he said, ‘Oh, thank you. Thank you, darling,’” Ruffalo recalled. “And this guy comes over and he pushes her outta the way, and he shoves Woody.”

Danson, who has known Harrelson since they worked together on Cheers, seemingly knew where Ruffalo’s story was headed.

“Oh, bad. Bad,” Danson, 77, said. “Not good.”

Ruffalo agreed, adding that Harrelson’s “first response is not, ‘shove someone back,’ but, ‘immediately punch them in the face.’” Ruffalo joked that in other instances, Harrelson’s reaction would have been “the right thing to do,” which earned a laugh from Harrelson.

Following the interaction, Ruffalo explained, “a whole melee broke out” in the bar, which Harrelson remembered as well.

“I grabbed you and I pulled you out,” Ruffalo recalled. “Cause I was like, ‘This could be fun, but it also just could go so disastrously wrong because you and I might be able to handle ourselves, but the rest of the folks we were with … I don’t think so.’”

Danson confessed that he didn’t think that he could step into action like Ruffalo did.

“I’m embarrassed to say that I would’ve been the guy who said ‘I’ll be right back, I’ll call someone,’” he quipped.

Harrelson and Ruffalo starred in Now You See Me back in 2013. The film followed a group of magicians called The Four Horsemen, who are being investigated by the FBI for a series of bank robberies. Ruffalo played FBI agent Dylan Rhodes, while Harrelson portrayed hypnotist Merritt McKinney. Now You See Me also starred Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Common, Dave Franco, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman.

Following the success of the first film, Harrelson, Ruffalo and other members of the original cast returned for the 2016 sequel. (The only one who did not return for Now You See Me 2 was Fisher.)

A third movie titled Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is set to be released later this year. Harrelson, Ruffalo, Eisenberg, Fisher, Franco and Freeman have confirmed they are all returning. Now You See Me: Now You Don’t will also feature a slate of new cast members, including Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt and Rosamund Pike. The film hits theaters on November 14.