‘Mickey 17’ Director Bong Joon-Ho On Idea Donald Trump Inspired Mark Ruffalo’s Villain & Who The Character Is Actually Based On

Bong Joon-ho is addressing chatter about Donald Trump being the inspiration behind Mark Ruffalo‘s villainous character in Mickey 17.

In a new interview, the Oscar-winning director discussed who really inspired the egomaniacal politician Kenneth Marshall, portrayed by Ruffalo.

Joon-ho told Entertainment Weekly that the character was inspired by “a mix of many different politicians” and “dictators that we have seen throughout history.”

The filmmaker noted that audiences seeing parallels between Trump and the fictional character are seemingly only projections.

“When we showed the film in Berlin and talked to people from many different countries, it seemed like people were projecting the most stressful political leader onto the character of Marshall,” Joon-ho said.

The Parasite and Okja director also noted the role Tony Collette’s character Gwen (Marshall’s wife) plays into the mix

“They move as a couple,” Joon-ho said. “To me, that was quite important. So think about the Ceaușescu couple from Romania and the Marcos couple from the Philippines. It’s always very uncanny when dictators move as couples. It makes them even more ridiculous and more terrifying. And it’s true love that [the characters] have.” 

During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Ruffalo said he “totally underplayed” his character, hinting at the comparison to Trump.

“I play a petty dictator,” he said on the NBC late-night talk show. “At the time, we shot it three years ago, and I thought this is over the top. And now, I realize it’s totally underplayed. I mean, I made a documentary.”