Todd Haynes Discusses Mark Ruffalo’s Influence On ‘Dark Waters’ And Early Career Struggles At Berlinale

February 18, 2025: Todd Haynes, the renowned director of films like Far From Heaven, Carol, and Poison, recently opened up about his collaboration with Mark Ruffalo on the thriller Dark Waters, during a talk at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival. Haynes, who is currently serving as the President of the International Jury at the festival, discussed how Ruffalo pushed him out of his comfort zone, ultimately contributing to the film’s success.

The director revealed that Ruffalo approached him with an early draft of Dark Waters, a legal thriller focused on a lawyer fighting against corporate malpractice. Haynes shared, “Mark Ruffalo came to me with an early draft of Dark Waters, which was just so utterly unlike the kind of movies that I’ve been associated with… He didn’t know how much I was an obsessive and passionate lover of the paranoia in this case.”

Haynes acknowledged that the script’s themes of corporate corruption were outside his usual domain of films, but Ruffalo’s initiative led them down a new creative path. “There are always going to be other pockets of desire and inspiration that aren’t necessarily the thing that people attach to you,” Haynes added. “The very fact that he came to me led us down a whole other fantastic path.”

Reflecting on his career, Haynes also discussed the three key films that launched his Hollywood career: Superstar, Poison, and Safe. All three films dealt with themes of illness and pathology in unique ways, setting the stage for his distinctive filmmaking style.

During the talk, Haynes revealed the influence of David Lynch on his early career, noting how Lynch’s approach to genre filmmaking had a profound impact on him. He also recounted the struggles he faced early in his filmmaking journey, especially when audiences found his experimental narratives hard to understand. “People would say, ‘We don’t understand what you’re doing here. What is the story? What is the tone?'” Haynes said. These challenges led to a fruitful creative partnership with producer Christine Vachon, with whom he founded a production style they called “experimental narrative.”

Haynes’s 1991 film Poison won the prestigious Teddy Award at the Berlin Film Festival, cementing his place in the filmmaking world.