You probably recognize Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk from all the “Avengers” movies or as Jennifer Garner’s co-star in 2004’s “13 Going On 30.” But the 56-year-old actor has been lighting up the screen since the late 1980s.
Starring in films like “You Can Count on Me,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “Dark Waters,” and miniseries like “I Know This Much Is True,” the Kenosha, Wisconsin, native has received a ton of recognition along the way, including four Oscar nominations, two Emmys, one Tony nomination, and a Grammy nom. It’s possible, though, none of the above eclipses the love he gets from his wife, Sunrise Coigney.
Married nearly 24 years, Coigney and Ruffalo share three children. She has worked as an actor and an entrepreneur, and is a full-time mom, with Ruffalo giving her all the credit for the family’s success.
“The mornings, the breakfasts the lunches, the play dates and school stuff, and just all the ups and downs of raising kids, the wins and losses, the joys and tears. It’s everything,” Ruffalo wrote about Coigney, 51, in a Mother’s Day post from 2021. “Thank you for always being there, especially when you have to do it alone. It’s not easy being a Mom.”
Curious to know more about Mark Ruffalo’s wife? Here’s what we know about the ray of light known as Sunrise Coigney.
Coigney took a break from acting to raise her children
Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Coigney lived all around the United States as she grew up, according to a 2017 profile in WWD. Before she became a mom, she took a shot at acting, appearing in TV shows and films in the early 2000s, including “100 Centre Street” and “Campfire Stories.” She and Ruffalo shared the screen in 2003’s “In the Cut.”
Once she had children, her priorities shifted. “I had a woman tell me once, ‘You know, Sunrise, you’ll always get a second chance at your career, but you’ll never get a second chance with your children,’” she said, per WWD.
She’s been a boutique store owner in New York and California
As WWD reported, she owned a store in Los Angeles called Kaviar and Kind, and one in Narrowsburg, New York, called Sunny’s Pop.
She announced the closing of her online store (and the physical location) in an Instagram post in May 2023 that read in part, “It’s been a wild adventure, but we’re tired. It’s time for Sunny’s Pop to rest and have some ‘me time.’”
Coigney and Ruffalo met on the street
In 1998, Ruffalo and Coigney got acquainted after meeting on the street in L.A. when he was out with a friend, as Men’s Journal wrote in 2017. “I saw her and was like, ‘I’m going to marry that girl,’” he told the publication.
At the time, his home was a converted garage, but “she believed in me,” he said. “She was like, ‘I know you’re a really good actor,’ and I was like, ‘You haven’t really seen me act yet.’ And she was like, ‘I just know it, I can tell.’” And she supported him in his early career.
Coigney and Ruffalo have homes in Manhattan and upstate New York
Though she and her family currently spend most of their time in Manhattan, as GQ reported in February 2024, they also spend a lot of time in a small town upstate, where Ruffalo purchased a 27-acre plot for $63,000 when he was 28. For him, it was the fallback plan if acting didn’t pan out, as he explained to Men’s Journal.
Callicoon, New York, became home for the family after they relocated from Los Angeles, driving a U-Haul across the country.
Their children were named after they were born
Coigney and Ruffalo are parents to Keen Ruffalo (born in 2001), Bella Noche Ruffalo (born in 2005) and Odette Ruffalo (born in 2007). But as Men’s Journal reported, the right names didn’t hit them until after they’d met their babies.
Ruffalo went through a dictionary after Keen’s birth and landed on the “K’s,” and called to his wife with his idea. When she asked for the definition of “keen,” he told her it meant sharp, interested in, fond of — and also a mournful cry.
“She was like, ‘That’s perfect,’” he told the magazine.
Coigney brought (most of) the family to Ruffalo’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony
When Ruffalo was given his Hollywood Walk of Fame star in February 2024, Sunrise, Bella and Keen all attended the ceremony — during which Ruffalo dedicated the star to his wife.
“A career as an actor is never done alone,” he said during his acceptance speech. “With this star, it’s not just mine. It’s for my wife, Sunrise, who has been with me through all of it, who believed in me more than anybody.”