Mark Ruffalo lost out 'Blue Valentine' to Ryan Gosling

Ruffalo said "Blue Valentine" director Derek Cianfrance tried and failed to cast him in "Blue Valentine" in a role eventually played by Ryan Gosling, reports variety.com.

He missed out on the role of Dean Pereira that Gosling portrayed opposite Michelle Williams' Cindy Heller.Gosling got a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama for the role in the hit movie.

Ruffalo opened up about losing the role while talking about his new HBO mini-series "I Know This Much Is True", which is directed by Cianfrance.

He got Cianfrance on board to write and direct all six episodes saying that his "rough and holy" style would be "an ideal fit" for the blue-collar story based on the novel of the same name by Wally Lamb.

In the series, the "Avengers" stars as two very different twin brothers in the story, which is about a blue-collar Connecticut family's struggle with schizophrenia and loss.