As hard as it is to believe, 13 Going on 30, one of the best rom-coms of all time, will turn 20 years old in April 2024. But what’s not so hard to believe is the fact that Mark Ruffalo, whose character looked like he would rather have his eyes gouged than show off his moves in the iconic “Thriller” sequence, wasn’t really about the dance life in the Jennifer Garner classic. But why did the Poor Things star and Marvel Cinematic Universe mainstay have such a rotten time and why did he almost quit because of it? Well, let’s talk it out…
First, Let’s Break Down 13 Going On 30’s ‘Thriller’ Sequence
In the event you forgot about one of the most legendary dance sequences of the 2000s, let’s break down 13 Going on 30’s “Thriller” moment before we dive into what Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Garner have said about the experience. After wishing herself into the body of a 30-year-old, Jenna Rink (Garner) is thrust into adulthood where she is an editor for her favorite magazine, Poise. In an attempt to save a dull party, Jenna starts dancing to Michael Jackson’s famous track, and before you know it, the rest of the cast, including Mark Rufallo’s Matty Flamhaff is right there with her. But just when things begin to really pop off, Matty dips out...
Now with that out of the way, let’s get into why Ruffalo was not a fan of the whole sequence…
Why Mark Ruffalo Hated The Thriller Sequence So Much He Almost Quit
Okay, so why did Mark Ruffalo hate the “Thriller” sequence so much he almost quit because of it? Well, in a March 2022 interview shared by ReelBlend co-host Kevin McCarthy on his Twitter, Ruffalo revealed that he didn’t really have to try too hard to make his character look like he was having a bad time, because he was just not having a good time on the dance floor thanks to his lack of dancing ability:
Whatever Matty was experiencing in that was just me. [Jennifer Garner] had to drag me out onto the dancefloor. It took me six hours to learn what she learned in about six minutes, she was so good at dancing and I was so bad. … I almost quit the movie because of it.
Jennifer Garner, who was sitting beside Ruffalo to promote their Netflix original movie, The Adam Project, also reflected on the moment when she jumped in to add to the story, saying:
We had to talk him into staying. We had done all of this rehearsing and we finally rehearsed the dance and was like ‘This isn’t for me, I’m not doing it.’
Luckily for everyone not named Mark Ruffalo, the actor ended up performing in the scene, one that certainly helped 13 Going on 30 earn a spot on the list of best friends-to-lovers romance stories.
How Jennifer Garner Gave Him Grief About It 20 Years Later
The whole 13 Going on 30 “Thriller” dance sequence situation came up so much in February 2024 because Jennifer Garner started giving Mark Ruffalo a hard time about his reluctance to participate in the scene when the former was introducing the latter at his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony. During her comments, which also pointed out Ruffalo’s superb acting skills and decency as a human being, Garner made sure to rib her former co-star:
I wonder if these esteemed ladies enjoyed Mark's anxiety as much as I did. I wonder if he tried to drop out of their films, like he did out of ours after the first rehearsal of the 'Thriller' dance where Mark went from kind of shocked that we actually had to do this, to antsy, to deathly quiet, to 'Bro, this is not for me.’
Following the ceremony, the pair even recreated the iconic moment by performing the “Thriller” dance in front of Ruffalo’s newly installed star, as he shared on his Instagram page. He at least looked more excited to show off his movies this time around.
If you want to go back and revisit 13 Going on 30 for either the sick dance moves or see why the movie still holds up after all this time, you can do just that with a Netflix subscription, where the movie is currently streaming.
