Mark Ruffalo had to ‘buy Hulk toy on eBay because he ran out of charity items’

British actress Mulligan, 38, has been asking her fellow Hollywood stars to donate memorabilia for a War Child fundraiser, which will raise money for the charity that offers support to children in countries impacted by conflict.

More than 70 people from music and film have donated items including a Saltburn script from director Emerald Fennell, which was signed by the cast, and guitars from musicians Ed Sheeran and Nile Rodgers.

War Child ambassador Mulligan, who was in Bafta-nominated Saltburn and was awarded a best actress Oscar for 2023’s Maestro, told the PA news agency that Fennell organised for the cast to write their favourite lines from the risque thriller on the script.

She added that she invited other actors from awards season including Ruffalo, who was nominated for a best supporting actor award for surreal comedy Poor Things at the 2024 Academy Awards and has played Bruce Banner / Hulk in Marvel Cinematic Universe’s The Avengers movies.

Mulligan says Ruffalo told her that he had “run out of stuff” because she says he “does stuff for charity all the time” and is “always giving people auction prizes and things” so had to look elsewhere for memorabilia.

She added: “He (Mark) was like, ‘I don’t have anything’ and I was like, ‘Aw mate, don’t worry about it, then like it’s fine’.

“And he was like, ‘I’ve just gone on eBay and I found a Hulk action figure from blah, blah, blah… I’ve bought it and it’s coming to my house, and I’ll sign that.

“And I was like ‘that is above and beyond like providing your own Hulk action figure and signing it is very sweet’.”

Mulligan also said that Barbie star Margot Robbie signed a poster from the film about the doll, and “one of the highest bids on there” is for “sweaty” Muse T-shirts worn by the band on stage.

Her Maestro co-star Bradley Cooper, who was nominated for a best actor Oscar for the film about American conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein, also has given a signed vinyl album and book associated with the film for the auction.

Mulligan, who has been involved with War Child for a decade, said the charity is special due to “the level of expertise and understanding that they have of how trauma affects children in conflict zones”.

“There are so many conflicts, and at the moment, it feels like a critical time for children in conflict zones everywhere,” she also said.

“I think that there is a huge swell of support for children… and that being one of War Child’s kind of principle tenets is that no child has a place in war, no child has ever started a war, and yet they are… disproportionately affected by conflict.

“And so I think, it feels to me that there is a huge amount of support, and that, yes, we need probably more coverage of conflicts that seem to have faded into the background, but continue to kind of rage on, but.. there are incredible organisations there doing the work, including War Child.”

The War Child Spring Clean online auction closes at 12pm on Thursday.