Todd Haynes
Todd Haynes is an American director born in Los Angeles, celebrated for stylistically ambitious films that interrogate identity, repression, and the aesthetics of earlier eras. Safe and Far from Heaven established his interest in women constrained by suburban conformity, the latter directly evoking the melodramas of Douglas Sirk, while Carol, adapting Patricia Highsmith's novel of a forbidden 1950s romance between two women, became one of the most acclaimed queer love stories in contemporary cinema. I'm Not There took the unconventional approach of casting six different actors, including Cate Blanchett, as facets of Bob Dylan, while Dark Waters showed his range into more grounded, issue-driven docudrama. Haynes's recurring fascination with the visual language of classic Hollywood melodrama, redeployed to examine gender, sexuality, and social constraint, has made him one of the most intellectually ambitious American directors of his generation.
Todd Haynes
14 Directed
2 Series
Todd Haynes is an American director born in Los Angeles, celebrated for stylistically ambitious films that interrogate identity, repression, and the aesthetics of earlier eras. Safe and Far from Heaven established his interest in women constrained by suburban conformity, the latter directly evoking the melodramas of Douglas Sirk, while Carol, adapting Patricia Highsmith's novel of a forbidden 1950s romance between two women, became one of the most acclaimed queer love stories in contemporary cinema. I'm Not There took the unconventional approach of casting six different actors, including Cate Blanchett, as facets of Bob Dylan, while Dark Waters showed his range into more grounded, issue-driven docudrama. Haynes's recurring fascination with the visual language of classic Hollywood melodrama, redeployed to examine gender, sexuality, and social constraint, has made him one of the most intellectually ambitious American directors of his generation.
Movies
Director
May December
2023
Director
Dark Waters
2019
Director
Carol
2015
Director
I'm Not There
2007
Director
Safe
1995
Director
Velvet Goldmine
1998
Director
Far from Heaven
2002
Director
Poison
1991
Director
Wonderstruck
2017
Director
Dottie Gets Spanked
1993
Director
Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story
1987
Director
The Suicide
1978
Latest Trailers
Watch Trailer
Art-House America: Austin Film Society
Full Filmography
May December
Director
2023
Film
Dark Waters
Director
2019
Film
Wonderstruck
Director
2017
Film
Carol
Director
2015
Film
Enlightened
Director · 1 episode
2011–
TV
Mildred Pierce
Director · 5 episodes
2011–
TV
I'm Not There
Director
2007
Film
Sonic Youth: Corporate Ghost (The Videos: 1990-2002)
Director
2004
Film
Far from Heaven
Director
2002
Film
Photos
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Todd Haynes and where are they from?
Todd Haynes is 65 years old, born on January 2, 1961 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
What are the most famous roles of Todd Haynes?
Todd Haynes is best known for directing Carol, Dark Waters, May December.
How many movies has Todd Haynes directed?
Over a 48-year career (since 1978), Todd Haynes has directed or written 14 films and worked on 2 TV shows.
What was Todd Haynes's first movie?
The career of Todd Haynes began with De Noche ().
What is Todd Haynes's most recent movie or series?
Todd Haynes's most recent release is May December, which premiered on November 16, 2023.
What TV shows has Todd Haynes created or directed?
On television, Todd Haynes has appeared in Mildred Pierce, Enlightened.
Todd Haynes
1961-01-02 · Los Angeles, California, USA
Todd Haynes (/heɪnz/; born January 2, 1961; Los Angeles) is an American filmmaker. His films span four decades with themes examining the personalities of well-known musicians, dysfunctional and dystopian societies, and blurred gender roles.
Haynes first gained public attention with his controversial short film Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987), which chronicles singer Karen Carpenter's life and death, using Barbie dolls as actors. Superstar became a cult classic. Haynes's feature directorial debut, Poison (1991), a provocative exploration of AIDS-era queer perceptions and subversions, established him as a figure of a new transgressive cinema. Poison won the Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize and is regarded as a seminal work of New Queer Cinema.
Haynes received further acclaim for his second feature film, Safe (1995), a symbolic portrait of a housewife who develops multiple chemical sensitivity. Safe was later voted the best film of the 1990s by The Village Voice Film Poll. His next feature, Velvet Goldmine (1998), is a tribute to the 1970s glam rock era. The film received the Special Jury Prize for Best Artistic Contribution at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.
Haynes gained acclaim and a measure of mainstream success with Far from Heaven (2002) earning his first Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. He continued to direct critically lauded films such as I'm Not There (2007), Carol (2015), Wonderstruck (2017) and Dark Waters (2019). He directed his first feature-length documentary, The Velvet Underground (2021). Haynes directed and co-wrote the HBO mini-series Mildred Pierce (2011) for which he was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards.