Mark Ruffalo: on Dark Waters and life as an activist

Mark Ruffalo: "stories transcend politics." Photo / Emma McIntyre / Getty Images

Michele Manelis talks with Mark Ruffalo about his latest film, Dark Waters

As a father of three, have you passed on your passion for environmental issues?
Well, I feel that their generation is much more aware. My kids grew up in Upstate New York where there were trees and ponds and streams but there was also hydro-fracking. So, they are aware that can all be hurt or ruined. My daughter is very outspoken about things that she cares about. She identifies as gay, so thinks about those rights.

Do you ever think they are taking after you too much?
Yes, maybe too much.

Sounds like you have raised your children well.
They struggle, like all kids today. I think it's really tough to be a kid right now. And my wife has been beautiful with them and so strong with them and has really had to pick up when I am away and carry it all on her own. And I know it's hard on my family that I go out and do this [activist] stuff and they miss me. There have been moments where the kids are like, 'Well, are you going away to work or you going away to fight fracking?' And I am like, 'I'm going to fight fracking,' and they say, 'Okay, that's okay.' People can be outrageous to them, some of the ugliness that we are seeing in the political sphere is touching them. And that's really hard and heartbreaking for me. And yeah, it's a constant dialogue between us, but my wife is my rock at home. I owe her so much and I couldn't do any of this without her. It's hard and I know it hurts her sometimes too.

Martin Scorsese has been vocal about his criticism for Marvel movies, saying they lack artistry and emotion. You've done superhero films as well as "important" movies like Dark Waters. How do you feel about what he said?
Well, we love heroes and we love them now especially because we know that we need them so that's why they're popular. But it's also mythology, they are really God and monster stories and mankind is hard-wired for mythology. I love Marty and he can do wrong as far as I'm concerned but I hope he gets to see some of the [Marvel] movies because, as far as emotionality goes, I have rarely seen so many people be moved to cry or to laugh. It does touch people. It is real emotions, there is loss, there is risk.

I've heard some people, mainly Trump supporters, say that environment issues are "fake news". What should we say to them?
You tell them stories. One of the reasons why I like this film is because when you see a story, you know it transcends the politics, it short circuits your political bent. And it's a way of getting a message out there because as soon as it comes from a scientist, it's a lot, but you see a farmer talking about it and you see a farmer dealing with it, then people relate to him. We are in a time where the truth is under assault. I mean, you're a journalist and they are killing journalists. So, we are in 1984, it's George Orwell. But I think we will win, I hope we will win.

Do you feel responsible as an actor to have a moral conscious and to act on that?
We see it throughout history that artists have had a profound effect on the culture and then in turn politics because culture leads politics, I believe. So, I do think for some people it's just pure entertainment and that's fine, there's nothing wrong with that, and then other people feel a greater need to be involved in a bigger discussion. I like to do both.

We've seen you in romantic movies, action movies, every kind of genre. How do you choose your projects?
After 2016 when my contract was up [with Marvel], I saw how divisive things had become and how divisive even activism is for people. If you are an activist, you lose some people just by calling yourself an activist. I wanted to use my film-making to get my messages out as an activist but do it without dividing people, [instead] bringing people together. The only way I saw you could do that was with film-making. And then this came along and I was like, "I can tell this story about water, something that we all need." I don't know anyone anywhere in the world that wants to drink poisoned water. They go way out of their way to get their water in a bottle because they think somehow it's not going to poison them and we are all weary of the tap water. And so I felt like that was a great way to tell the story. Even on Trump's side, those people are sick of it too. I hope that these kinds of movies can start a bigger dialogue about these issues.

You moved from LA to New York – how is that going?
I miss my friends in LA but, I can tell you, I don't miss the car. I miss having the ocean there and the mountains and the desert all within a few hours away at the most. But I love New York and I love our place in upstate New York. I have a love/hate relationship with LA. I learned so much, it gave me so much, but I also lost a lot here and there was also a lot of struggle and hardship here too. So it's very complicated.

Dark Waters is in cinemas now