Credits: Todd Haynes' early short film, Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story became an underground cult classic in the late 1980s. The film, which traces the singer's demise from anorexia nervosa, used Barbie dolls instead of live actors. Haynes' first feature, Poison, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 1991 and played at numerous festivals before being released theatrically. His other films include the acclaimed features Safe, starring Julianne Moore and Xander Berkeley, and Velvet Goldmine, featuring Ewan McGregor, Toni Collette, and Christian Bale. He also co-wrote the dark comedy Office Killer with the film's director, famed artist Cindy Sherman.
On writing for women: "In all the films I've done that have dealt with women, I have been interested in women who we find initially in disenfranchised roles."
Early influence: Haynes discovered the films of director Douglas Sirk while studying semiotics (now called the Modern Culture and Media department) at Brown University. "I went to college in 1980, and at that point Sirk was one of the last 'auteurs' to be brought into the canon and become a subject of reevaluation," said the writer/ director, whose latest film, Far From Heaven, is heavily inspired by Sirk's 1950s melodramas, Magnificent Obsession and All that Heaven Allows. Said Haynes of the acting in Far From Heaven, "It has a very specific style. That grittier, more distressed style of acting, where you try to tether the words and break them up and throw them away and scratch your nose in between--things that we use as indicators of naturalism--were not appropriate for this kind of film."
Acting tip: Advised Haynes, "The thing about acting is that there is no one kind of acting. There is no one style. Unfortunately most movies and most people who make films assume that everything is naturalistic and there is only one way to approach every single kind of part. But every kind of movie should require an acting style that is specific to it. To get too comfortable with one style of acting and to feel that is the only style there is limits yourself, as least with the kind of films I do and that interest me."
On the casting process: "I find it really excruciating for actors, and it's hard for me, too," said the writer/director. "There is something so reductive about it. It feels exploitative. It's cruel. There's too much power on one side and too much vulnerability on the other for it to be an enjoyable process for me."
How a good casting director can help: Haynes most recently worked with Laura Rosenthal, whose casting credits include Jesus' Son, Judy Berlin, Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, Analyze This, Sidewalks of New York, and Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown and Hollywood Ending. On Far From Heaven Rosenthal was instrumental in suggesting such great characters actors as Celia Weston (Dead Man Walking) and James Rebhorn (The Talented Mr. Ripley) for small but significant roles. As for the principal actors in Far From Heaven, Haynes was in many cases a fan of their prior work, but Rosenthal's input was certainly important. In addition to Moore (for whom Haynes wrote the film's lead role), Far From Heaven stars Dennis Quaid (whom Haynes loved in the 1988 film Everybody's All-American), chameleon Patricia Clarkson (High Art, The Green Mile), Dennis Haysbert (24, Love Field), and Viola Davis (who can next be seen in a powerful scene in Antwone Fisher, directed by Denzel Washington).
On directing actors: Haynes has come to understand that every actor's process is different, and therefore so is his approach to each performer. These days, the director tends to allow his actors much more freedom. "I was much more hands-on with actors in the beginning, but I was working with a lot of people who were from theatre, who didn't have film experience," explained Haynes, who cast his film Poison out of Back Stage in New York. As his projects' budgets have increased, Haynes has relied more and more on casting directors, who have steered him to more seasoned actors. Noted Haynes, "There was a part of me that felt sad saying goodbye to this unknown world of faces required a whole different kind of interaction, but I realized that the amount of energy and preoccupation it requires to find people from the unknown world was enormous. What you also realize is that, in the world of professional filmmaking, so much of your directing is in the casting stage, and when you are using actors who are, to some degree, 'known' quantities, you can refer as much to their body of work as to their audition or what it's like to meet or talk with them."
His rehearsal process: "Rehearsals are very important, even simply at the technical level of movement through space--camera placement and how to block actors. I'm a very planned kind of director. I need to know where the camera is going to be and where the actor is going to be in relation to the camera. So I need to do a lot of blocking before shooting. It's not a lot about nailing down the performance in rehearsal; that's not what's useful to me."
Editing his actors' performances: While he works with an editor on his films, Haynes describes his approach to editing as "very hands-on." One thing that has helped him in terms of shaping performances in the editing room is his understanding of acting. He explained, "I did theatre when I was young, and I enjoyed acting a lot. I think that really helps me. To do a good job editing your performances, it's important to know acting." As Haynes added, film may be known as a director's medium, but in the end it's the actors whom audiences are watching on-screen. No matter how good the script, cinematography, sound, or score is, it's the performance on the screen we're most affected by. BSW