Bong Joon-ho clarifies Mark Ruffalo’s ‘Mickey 17’ villain isn’t modeled after Trump

Director Bong Joon-ho has addressed speculation that Mark Ruffalo’s villainous character in Mickey 17 was inspired by Donald Trump.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, the Oscar-winning filmmaker clarified that the character, Kenneth Marshall, is actually a mix of various historical politicians and dictators.

“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 explained.

The Parasite and Okja director added that Marshall and his wife, played by Toni Collette, were modeled after infamous political couples such as the Ceaușescus of Romania and the Marcoses of the Philippines. “It’s always very uncanny when dictators move as couples. It makes them even more ridiculous and more terrifying,” he noted.

Ruffalo, who portrays the power-hungry leader in Mickey 17, also addressed the comparisons during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “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,” he joked.

Mickey 17, starring Robert Pattinson, releases in theaters on March 7. The film, based on Edward Ashton’s novel Mickey7, follows a disposable worker sent on a space mission to colonize an ice planet.