Mark Ruffalo Protested Outside Catholic Church Hours Before Oscar Win

While most stars might have been getting their tuxes pressed in the lead up to the Oscars, Mark Ruffalo was proving that for him, his role in ‘Spotlight’ wasn’t just another job.

He was among a group protesting outside a Catholic cathedral in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday just hours before the ceremony.

Speaking to the assembled protesters outside the the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, he said: “I’m here to stand with the survivors and the victims and the people we’ve lost from Catholic priest childhood sex abuse.”

The protest was organised by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), and was one of 20 similar protests around the US.

It was calling for the names of priests found to have been involved in child molestation to be released.

Victim of abuse Barbra Blaine told the LA Times: “We wanted to use this moment with all of the attention on the movie Spotlight because that movie tells our stories and gets it right.

“Every Catholic should see this film.”

Ruffalo was joined by Tom McCarthy, 'Spotlight’s director, and the movie’s writer Josh Singer.

He tweeted from the protest too, and dropped a picture of the SNAP flyer on his Instagram account.

In the movie, for which Ruffalo was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor going, he plays real-life Boston Globe reporter Mike Rezendes, who with his team uncovered unprecedented sexual abuse committed by priests in the Boston area and beyond.

The film won Best Picture, beating competition from 'The Revenant’, 'The Big Short’ and 'Room’.

On receiving the award, director McCarthy said: “We made this film for all the journalists who have and continue to hold the powerful accountable, and for the survivors whose courage and will to overcome is really an inspiration to all.”

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Image credits: THR/Instagram/AP