New York Daily News

‘It’s a horror story that has to be told’

- Mark Ruffalo on playing lawyer who took on DuPont BY LINDSEY BAHR

LOS ANGELES — Mark Ruffalo learned about corporate attorney Rob Bilott, who for 20 years battled DuPont to expose the harmful effects of the chemical PFOA, along with most of the country: in 2016 through an article in The New York Times Magazine.

A cold call from a West Virginia farmer in 1998 who believed his creek was being contaminat­ed and his animals poisoned by DuPont runoffs began the long investigat­ion that ended in 2017 when DuPont and Chemours Co. agreed to pay more than $600 million in a class action lawsuit on behalf of thousands.

Ruffalo was captivated and immediatel­y set out to acquire the rights to make Nathaniel Rich’s “The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare” into a legal thriller in which he’d play Bilott.

“It’s a horror story that has to be told,” Ruffalo said. “It’s a story for our time.”

The result, “Dark Waters,” directed by Todd Haynes and co-starring an impressive ensemble including Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins, Bill Camp, William Jackson Harper and Bill Pullman, opens this week in theaters. Bilott also wrote a book about the ordeal, “Exposure,” which hit shelves in October.

DuPont said in a statement that it believes the film “misreprese­nts things that happened years ago, including our history, our values and science.” The company also said it supports regulating the chemicals spotlighte­d in “Dark Waters.”

Ruffalo spoke to The Associated Press about the film. Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Was it difficult to get the rights?

I was in the process of acquiring the rights after reading (the article) and I got a call from my friends at Participan­t Media who said, “Hey, I think we’re actually bidding against each other for this story. We love it. Would you like to join forces with us?” I’d done “Spotlight” with them and I was like, “I would like that.” And then we started to develop it. This thing happened in record time. It (usually) takes five to seven years to get a movie made.

Why did you think of Todd Haynes to direct?

We’d been bumping into each other for years and I’d been such a big fan of his. I thought he would do something really beautiful with this. It needs that kind of spaciousne­ss and depth to really make it work because there’s so much legalese and data that unless we’re attached to this character and really understand him, no one will stay with this story. (Haynes) would figure out a way to bridge 20 years in a movie elegantly and he would make the most gorgeous version of this movie.

When did you meet Rob Bilott and start to develop a relationsh­ip with him?

Very early on. While we were in talks of acquiring the story, I wanted to talk to him about it. I was on the phone with him for quite some time laying out my vision for it. But I wanted to know more. I felt like the whole story wasn’t really in that New York Times article. Especially concerning his relationsh­ip to (his law firm) Taft and what that must have been like and how difficult that must have been.

When you read that initial story, did you have a late-night moment like Rob does in the movie where you’re throwing out all the Teflon products?

Yes. I (changed) everything. I have a water filter on the house. I’ve stopped buying even my favorite progressiv­e sports brands that use PFOA in their waterproof­ing.

What are you hoping audiences take from this?

Just having the knowledge. Knowledge is power. Before you didn’t know so you couldn’t even make a choice. We were living with this stuff. It was all around us and we had no idea so we couldn’t even decide whether it was something we wanted in our life or not. There’s power in that, just being able to say, “Hey I don’t want this in my life. This causes six diseases so I’m not going to cook on this anymore, I’m not going to buy these products anymore. I’m going to find the alternativ­e.”

 ?? SCOTT GRIES/INVISION ?? To get the rights to the New York Times Magazine article, Mark Ruffalo teamed up with the film production company that he worked with for “Spotlight.”
SCOTT GRIES/INVISION To get the rights to the New York Times Magazine article, Mark Ruffalo teamed up with the film production company that he worked with for “Spotlight.”

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