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Blindness
About the Cast
JULIANNE MOORE (The Doctor’s Wife)
an actress of exceptional range, has delivered outstanding work in both box office hits and independent features. Her current films include the independent feature Savage Grace, which premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival in the
Director’s Fortnight, about the Baekeland murders that took place in London in the 1970s, and I’m Not
There, the Todd Haynes film in which seven characters embody a different aspect of the life and
works of Bob Dylan. Moore’s recent credits include the action-thriller Next, in which she starred
opposite Nicolas Cage, Children of Men, directed by Alfonso Cuaron and starring Clive Owen, Trust
the Man, written and directed by Bart Freundlich, starring David Duchovny, Billy Crudup and Maggie
Gyllenhaal and Freedomland, opposite Samuel L. Jackson and directed by Joe Roth.
Moore is the ninth person in Academy history to receive two acting Oscar nominations in the same
year for her performances in Far From Heaven (Best Actress nomination) and The Hours (Best
Supporting Actress nomination). Far From Heaven, the critically acclaimed film from Focus Features
directed by Todd Haynes, co-stars Dennis Quaid and Dennis Haysbert. She was the recipient of many
critics' honors for her performance in this film including the National Board of Review, Los Angeles
Film Critics and Broadcast Film Critics, among others. She won the Independent Spirit Award for
Best Actress for her performance in the film and received Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild
Award nominations in the same category. The Hours (Paramount Pictures), directed by Stephen
Daldry, is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Michael Cunningham, and
also stars Nicole Kidman and Meryl Streep. Among numerous honors for her performance in this film,
and in addition to her Oscar nomination, she received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for
Outstanding Supporting Actress.
Moore’s additional film credits include: Joe Ruben’s The Forgotten, with Dominic West; the romantic
comedy, Laws of Attraction, co-starring Pierce Brosnan; Jane Anderson’s The Prizewinner of
Defiance, Ohio; Lasse Hallstrom’s The Shipping News, with Kevin Spacey, Cate Blanchett and Judi
Dench; Bart Freundlich’s World Traveler and The Myth of Fingerprints; Hannibal, in which she
starred as ‘Clarice Starling’ opposite Anthony Hopkins; Evolution with David Duchovny; Neil
Jordan’s The End of the Affair with Ralph Fiennes (Academy Award, Golden Globe and SAG Award
nominations for Best Actress); Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights (Academy Award, Golden
Globe and SAG Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress) and Magnolia (SAG Award
nomination for Best Supporting Actress); Robert Altman’s Cookie’s Fortune with Glenn Close and
Liv Tyler, and Short Cuts (Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Female); Gus
Van Sant’s re-make of Psycho with Vince Vaughn; An Ideal Husband (Golden Globe nomination for
Best Actress) with Rupert Everett; The Map of the World with Sigourney Weaver; Steven Spielberg’s
The Lost World; The Big Lebowski, starring Jeff Bridges and directed by the Coen Brothers; the Todd
Haynes film Safe (Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead); Louis Malle’s Vanya
on 42ND Street; James Ivory’s Surviving Picasso; The Hand That Rocks the Cradle; Benny & Joon;
The Fugitive; Nine Months; and Assassins.
Moore’s additional honors include the Excellence in Media Award at the 2004 GLAAD Media
Awards, the Actor Award at the 2002 Gotham Awards and the “Tribute to Independent Vision” at the
2001 Sundance Film Festival.
After earning her B.F.A. from Boston University for the Performing Arts, Moore starred in a number
of off-Broadway productions, including Caryl Churchill’s Serious Money and Ice Cream/Hot Fudge at
the Public Theater. She appeared in Minneapolis in the Guthrie Theater’s Hamlet, and participated in
workshop productions of Strindberg’s The Father with Al Pacino and Wendy Wasserstein’s An
American Daughter with Meryl Streep. Moore made her Broadway debut in 2006 in the Sam Mendes
production of The Vertical Hour, an original play written by David Hare.
MARK RUFFALO (The Doctor)
With an expansive list of diverse film credits, Mark
Ruffalo is one of Hollywood’s most sought after actors, easily moving between stage and screen with
working with directors including Ang Lee, Michael Mann, David Fincher, Michael Gondry, Kenneth
Lonnergan and Spike Jonze. Prior to Blindness, Ruffalo was in production on The Brothers Bloom,
directed by Rian Johnson (Brick). The cast includes Adrien Brody, Rachel Weisz and Rinko Kikuchi.
Ruffalo will portray the older brother in a conman team with Brody.
Ruffalo can also be seen in Focus Features’ film Reservation Road opposite Joaquin Phoenix. The
film is based on the best selling novel, which tells the story of two fathers on opposite sides of a hitand-
run car accident. Reservation Road was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and
had a platform release beginning October 19, 2007. Ruffalo recently wrapped Where the Wild Things
Are directed by Spike Jonze and the Kenneth Lonergan film Margaret with Anna Paquin and Matt
Damon.
In 2006, Ruffalo appeared in the Phoenix Pictures film Zodiac opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert
Downey Jr. Based on a true story, the film follows the men who tracked down the Zodiac serial killer
who terrorized San Francisco for 25 years. Ruffalo plays the San Francisco homicide inspector in
charge of the case. Phoenix Pictures has announced that they have purchased the rights to The Brass
Wall as a starring vehicle for Ruffalo. He will play an undercover cop who infiltrates the Lucchesi
crime family in New York to solve the murder of a city firefighter.
Last year Ruffalo made his Broadway debut in the Lincoln Center Theater’s revival of Clifford Odets’
Awake and Sing! Ruffalo received a Tony Award nomination for his performance in the category
“Best Featured Actor in a Play.” In the Depression-era drama, directed by Bartlett Sher (The Light in
the Piazza), Ruffalo played a World War I veteran who lost a leg during the war. The cast included
Ben Gazzara, Zoe Wanamaker and Lauren Ambrose.
In 2006 Ruffalo appeared in Columbia Pictures’ All the King’s Men with Sean Penn, Kate Winslet and
Jude Law. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. In 2005, Ruffalo starred as
the romantic lead opposite Reese Witherspoon in Dreamworks’ Just Like Heaven. Prior to this role,
he was seen in Dreamworks’ Collateral, released in 2004, opposite Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. In
Collateral, Ruffalo played the LAPD officer in pursuit of Tom Cruise’s hitman character. He also
appeared in Warner Independents’ We Don’t Live Here Anymore. The film received critical acclaim at
the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Ruffalo starred opposite Naomi Watts, Peter Krause and Laura
Dern and also served as an executive producer on this drama that examines the consequences of
infidelity that befall two marriages. In 2003, Ruffalo was seen opposite Meg Ryan in Jane Campion’s
film In The Cut. That same year, he appeared in the independent film My Life Without Me, written and
directed by Isabel Coixet and also starring Sarah Polley and Scott Speedman. In 2004, Ruffalo was
seen in Columbia/Tristar’s romantic comedy 13 Going on 30, in which he co-starred opposite Jennifer
Garner. In March of 2004, he was seen in Focus Features’ film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, opposite Jim Carrey, Kirsten Dunst, Kate Winslet, Elijah Wood and Tom Wilkinson and written by
Charlie Kaufman.
Ruffalo earned critical recognition in 2000 for his role in Kenneth Lonergan’s You Can Count on Me,
opposite Laura Linney and Matthew Broderick. For his performance, he won the Best Actor Award at
the 2000 Montreal Film Festival and the New Generation Award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. The Martin Scorceseproduced
film received recognition from critics nationwide and was especially well-received at the
2000 Sundance Film Festival, winning two of the festival’s top prizes: the coveted Grand Jury Prize
for best film in dramatic competition and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award.
About the Director
FERNANDO MEIRELLES (Director)
An Academy Award nominee for City of God, Fernando Meirelles graduated with a degree in architecture. While attending university in Brazil, he made his first experimental productions using U-Matic equipment and a crew composed of friends. The resulting films won several prizes at the country's earliest independent video festivals.
The same group of friends went on to found the innovative studio, Olhar Eletrônico (Electronic
Glance), bringing new life to Brazilian TV in the 1980s. For a decade, the group produced
programmes for a variety of TV stations. In 1989-1990, Meirelles created and directed the popular
children's series “Rá-Tim-Bum,” for Brazilian public television. The 190 episodes of “Rá-Tim-Bum”
received the Gold Medal from the New York Film and TV Festival in addition to numerous other
awards.
From television, Meirelles went on to direct commercials and promotional videos. His independent
studio, O2 Filmes, became the largest in Brazil and over a period of ten years, received the most
prestigious national and international prizes, including five Cannes Lions, several Clios, and nine
Professional of the Year awards. In 1997, Meirelles directed his first feature film, O Menino
Maluquinho (Wacky, Wacky Boy) with Fabrizia Pinto.
Meirelles participated in the television project "Brava Gente Brasileira" (2000) directing the episode
"Palace II" (Golden Gate) as a 'rehearsal' for City of God. Palace II was re-edited as a short and
received the Best Short Film prize in the Panorama Section of the 2002 Berlin Film Festival among
several other international awards. In 2000, Meirelles made his second feature film Domesticas
(Maids) with director Nando Olival which was selected for competition at the Rotterdam International
Film Festival. In 2002, he finished his third film, a feature-length adaptation of Paulo Lins' novel
Cidade de Deus (City of God). The film was co-produced by Walter Salles' Video Filmes (Central
Station). City of God won more than 52 awards around the world and received four 2004 Academy
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Since 2002, following on from the success of City of God, O2 Filmes together with Globo Television
has produced five episodes per year of the television series, "City of Men" (Cidade dos Homens).
Meirelles produces all episodes and has directed several of them.Fernando Meirelles is currently
involved in his next feature film project, Intolerance in addition to producing films from first-time
Brazilian directors.
Award nominations including: Best Director (Fernando Meirelles); Best Cinematography (Cesar
Charlone); Best Editing (Daniel Rezende) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Braulio Mantovani).
In 2004 Meirelles directed the feature film The Constant Gardener, based on the John Le Carré novel.
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