How 'Spotlight's' Mark Ruffalo and Director Ended Up at a Sexual Abuse Protest on Oscars Morning

By Rebecca Ford
Hollywood Reporter
March 2, 2016

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/rambling-reporter/how-spotlights-mark-ruffalo-director-872015

Mark Ruffalo at the 88th Academy Awards

The Spotlight team had a busy weekend, winning top awards at both the Indie Spirit Awards and the Oscars. But director Tom McCarthy, co-writer Josh Singer and Mark Ruffalo made some time on the morning of the Academy Awards to participate in a downtown Los Angeles rally organized by Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP). It turns out it was a last-minute decision made the morning of the event. SNAP founder Barbara Blaine was at the Indie Spirits with the Spotlight group Saturday night, and encouraged them to join her in the morning.

“It was a little spur of the moment. I didn’t know what [Oscar] day was going to look like, but as soon as I realized I didn’t have much to do but shower and put on a tux I thought, 'What better way to start the day?'” says McCarthy, who called up Ruffalo and Singer that morning to join him. “It was incredibly gratifying.” Singer adds: “We're trying to put a little more pressure on the [Catholic] Church to hold bishops accountable, have a little more transparency and do a better job protecting kids."