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Mark Ruffalo Returns to Work

Month after brother's death, actor gears up to direct and star in new feature

By Gina Serpe, Whitney English Jan 20, 2009 9:14 PMTags
Mark RuffaloJamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Mark Ruffalo's life is resuming some semblance of normalcy just over a month after his brother was declared dead of a gunshot wound.

E! News has learned that the still-mourning actor, who dropped out of a film in the immediate aftermath of his brother's death, is gearing up to return to work, directing and starring in the tentatively titled Sympathy for Delicious.

"We're starting shooting in a week," says a production insider.

The film, originally expected to begin shooting last month, was indefinitely postponed after word of Scott Ruffalo's death broke.

Mark Ruffalo will star as a priest in the film, which follows a paralyzed DJ who seeks out the world of faith healing. Orlando Bloom, Juliette Lewis and Ruffalo's You Can Count on Me partner, Laura Linney, also star.

The cast convened for a get-together last Friday, with Bloom, Lewis, Ruffalo and his wife, Sunrise Coigney, joining forces for a low-key night out at Teddy's at the Roosevelt Hotel.

A source told E! News the foursome "sat in the back, corner table behind the DJ booth, just drinking soda water and having a good night."