Julianne Moore Breaks Down Her Career, from 'Children of Men' to 'May December' | Vanity Fair

I think every movie helps you grow as an actor. If you don't feel like you're learning something or getting a little bit better or kind of expanding, I feel disappointed in myself. I feel like there's something wrong. I have to find something. Hi, I'm Julianne Moore and this is the timeline of my career. I didn't realize that it was possible to be an actor. It was something that I did after school. Then we moved to Frankfurt, Germany and I joined the drama club and I met the drama club teacher and she was casting Molière's Tartuffe. I'd never even heard of Molière. It was kind of an amazing experience to do this play with her. She said at the end of it, you know, I think you're really good. You know, I think you could do this for a living. It had never occurred to me that I would do something like that. I'd never even seen a professional play. But she gave me a copy of Dramatics magazine with some different schools in it and I came home with, you know, different colleges where you could major in acting and I sat at the dinner table and said to my parents, I'm going to be an actor. I don't blame you for that. Please don't be kind to me. It only makes it worse. It's not wrong to love somebody, even when you know it can't. Why did it have to be Seth? I love playing twins and as a role turns. There was a writer who came onto the show named Douglas Marland and he was sort of a famous soap opera writer and he decided that he wanted to write a really intense storyline for me. So my character was named Franny Hughes and she was the daughter of the chief of staff of the hospital and she was sort of a heroine type. She was a damsel in distress. And he decided that he would give me an evil, you know, an evil twin. But in this case, she was my evil half-sister-cousin because we had the same dad but our moms were sisters. Ew. He helped us find you. There's a bond between you. You're both creative people. You have lots in common. That's why patients fall in love with their doctors sometimes, I guess. It was such a thrill to get the opportunity to do that, to have a writer write me something that was that complicated at the time, at the very beginning of my career. But the thing that I learned very quickly about performing twins is that it's really boring because you're always by yourself. When I won the Emmy for As a Role Turns, I had actually already completed my soap opera contract. I got a phone call just saying, Hey, you won the Emmy. And it was kind of amazing. I was thrilled, absolutely thrilled, but also weird. And I felt kind of disconnected to it because I had already sort of completed this three years on the soap opera. It was certainly an amazing validation and something that I never, never expected. It's a great memory of my time on that show. The most exciting thing about The Lost World was Steven Spielberg. Talk about a career-defining moment. I can remember being in his office and talking to him about working on the movie. And I was like, What am I doing here at Steven Spielberg? And so fascinating to work with him, too, because he works with, like, such alacrity. He works as if he's making an independent movie. I've never seen anything like it. He has all of his equipment at his disposal and all of these huge action sequences. And it's very complicated, but he gets it done. Let me get his head. Okay. I think the most memorable thing about it was carrying around that baby dinosaur, which, you know, these are the days of animatronics, so it was before CG. It was an actual, heavy, mechanical dinosaur. It weighed probably 70 pounds. And it had a motor in it. They would turn the motor on, and you could hear it go... And it would move like that, too, like... And my arms, and I have to run. I ran everywhere holding that dinosaur. I was like, This is heavy, guys. Let me put it down. And it was so fun to be in a series that's become so iconic to us. Have you seen Jack's house? No. You will. Boogie Nights. Wow. What a thrill that was. I was living in L.A. at the time. I lived in L.A. for a few years in the 90s, and I went to a party. A friend of mine said, I want you to meet somebody because he wants you to be in his movie. I met Paul, and Paul was terrific, and he was like, You're gonna be in my movie, man. And I was like, I haven't read it yet, but yes, I'm gonna read it. And I went home, and I read it, and I was like, Yes! It's one of the best screenplays that I've ever read, and the part was so original and so exciting. If it's not a hit, I'm gonna get kicked out of my apartment. My landlord's a real jerk. Really? Why don't you take your pants off? It's important I get an idea of your size. I had no reservations about Boogie Nights. I really didn't. It's funny because I think there were some people in my life who I was working with who represented me who felt, Was it the right decision to make a movie about the porn industry? But it was very clear to me that the movie was not exploitative and that it was original and that it was heartbreaking. I think there are some really, really wonderful actors who bring so much personality and energy and presence to movies that they can almost make something out of nothing. But I'm not one of them. I really need it to be there. And so when I think of the great opportunities I've had, they all start with a really great script. And Amber Waves was there. It was very, very clear to me who she was. And then when you look at the cast now, my God, all those incredible actors, and cool people, really, really cool people. It was such a wild experience. I mean, it's indelible for me, really. My art has been commended as being strongly vaginal, which bothers some men. The word itself makes some men uncomfortable. Vagina. That was an audition. Joel and Ethan Coen want you to come in and read for this. And their language is so fantastic and so precise. Maude Lebowski has lots and lots of really long speeches. I can remember working on the audition really hard, and I had this idea about this kind of voice that I wanted to do. I asked my father about his withdrawal of a million dollars from the Foundation account, and he told me about this abduction. But I tell you, it is preposterous. This compulsive fornicator has taken my father for the proverbial ride. And Jeff Bridges, who I basically couldn't look in the eye because he was so funny. I'd have to look at his mouth when he was acting, or like his chest or something, so I wouldn't crack up and ruin everything. I could go on and on about Jeff. He's just a genius. And also maybe one of the loveliest people I've ever worked with. He's just so, so lovely and so patient. There was one day when he was doing a speech, and at the same point in every take, a plane would circle. And it went on 14 times. 14 times he had to do that monologue, and he never got mad. I was like, there's something else. I love the Big Lebowski's Occult Classic, because what was funny about it, too, is that it opened, I saw the movie, and then it, like, tanked. People hated the movie. They were like, oh, what a failure. But then I noticed, as the years went by, I'd walk down the street, and people would be like, Big Lebowski, Big Lebowski. And it became evident that it was something that was being watched, like, all over the place, and suddenly became one of those movies that everybody watches, and people quote, and people dress up as the characters. So I'm so thrilled that in my life that I've achieved that, that I've managed to be in a movie that's one of those movies that maybe my grandkids will even know about just by its reputation and by its celebration. This is Special Agent Clarice Starling, 514-3690, deposing Mason R. Verger on March 20th, sworn and attested. Now I want to tell you about Simon Canther. Ridley, a masterful director, it was an honor working with him, and he's so savvy and so quick, and he sketches everything that he shoots. He's got it all figured out. I was living in New York, and they said, Ridley wants to meet you, and I had a little boy at the time. They said, could you fly to L.A. to meet him, but I had to go in and out, so I flew to Los Angeles on a really early flight, met him, had a meeting, barely spoke at the meeting because I didn't know what to say, and then left, and then flew back to New York. Ridley told me later, he said, I said to everybody, she's awfully quiet. I said, no, I'm not quiet, I just didn't know what to say. What are you supposed to say? Of course I felt pressure. Jodie Foster is absolutely iconic, and is one of my favorite performers ever. I think the most important thing was not to try to, I'm like, I'm not going to be Jodie, there's no way, and I'm not in that movie, I'm in this movie. I think that was something that Ridley made very clear. There are no comparisons. I think Ridley made me feel pretty secure, and you can only do what you can do. Anthony Hopkins is a brilliant actor, absolutely brilliant, who has a tremendous sense of play. I remember we were doing this scene, after the brain-eating scene happens, and we're in the kitchen, and he's kind of leaning over me, and he's like, he looks like he's going to stab me, and he's threatening me, and he leaned in, and he goes, isn't this fun? Baking the cake to show him that we love him. Otherwise he won't know we love him. That's right. I never think about how films compare to things that I've done prior. The most interesting thing about being a gig worker, which is what we are, is almost like the job, you've discarded the job behind you, because you're moving on to the next one. So you're just kind of thinking, what's ahead of me, what's ahead of me? This was a book that I greatly admired by Michael Cunningham, and I remember reading the book and thinking, God, I'd do anything to be in this. If they ever make a movie of this, I would do anything. Then, of course, the movie was announced, and I knew that I was being considered for it. And boy, did I want it. I mean, I really, really wanted it. It was all I could think about. And also the fact that that was the part that I identified with when I read the book. I think because at that point, I did have this little boy, and it was all between a mother and her small son. It was something that I kind of understood. It's one of those things where you really are trying very hard to get something, and you're really wishing that you'd get it, and then when it happened, it was just, it was incredible. What a lovely movie, such sensitivity, such beauty. I think it's one of the most successful adaptations of a novel that I've ever seen. The clarity to it, and emotion, and absolutely staggering. Why am I here, Joseph? I need your help. I need transit papers. Not for me, a girl. She's a Fuji. I need to get her to the coast to pass security checkpoints. I love the script. I loved Alfonso Cuaron. He was living in my neighborhood, actually, at the time he was in New York, and said that he wanted to talk to me about something. So he actually spoke to me about the project before I read it, and he was like, there's something that I want you to do, and it's, you know, it's very special, and it's not going to take a lot of time, and he kind of described it, and he's such an extraordinary filmmaker. I loved what he created with me and Clive. It's really a lesson in storytelling, and that amazing shot with the camera that moved around the car that got us all, where we all participated by kind of moving our bodies and ducking and turning. It was all one take. The camera starts outside, moves inside the car, kind of moves around all of us, and then suddenly goes outside again, and then, you know, and then there's like all this burning. I mean, it's a really famous shot, and I think what was special about it was that we were active participants in the mechanics of it. I'm so much older than I thought I'd be. There's a turn-off valve for the sprinklers over there. Last week, you know, when I told you that I had to work late, I really went to see the new Twilight movie by myself. I don't know why I did that. It was so bad. I'm always actively looking to do a comedy, frankly. I love comedies, and I love being in them, and this was a screenplay that was so fantastic and so, so incredibly, like, human and real and multigenerational, and starring the great Steve Carell, you know, who I absolutely adore, and Emma Stone, who was amazing, and Ryan Gosling, and Kevin Bacon. What a crazy cast, right? It was so much fun to do that I forgot how much I cried in it when I finally saw it, because all I remember doing is laughing, because we laughed really hard. I really enjoyed myself on it. Then when I saw the movie, I'm like, oh, I forgot I'm the one who's always crying because my marriage fell apart. I'm like, oh, God. Is this a bad time? Yeah. Oh! Jacob! You know how much pain and suffering you cause my friend, you dumb son of a... Stay the hell away from my daughter! You stay away from my daughter! I don't even know you! That fight scene was great because of the level of talent and the complication, I think, in the scene, the fact that we were all in it at the same time. You know, it was one of those things that's really elaborate in terms of the choreography, and the editing, I think, is wonderful because as people come in and things start to accelerate, you watch it go boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, and then there's that really, you know, nutty, nutty fight. My daughter loves it now because she's, of course, a young woman. She's 21. I'm blindfolded the whole time, and then when I take my blindfold off, the first thing I say, and it was an ad-lib, when I see Ryan Gosling to Emma Stone, is, oh, honey, he's so cute. And she just loves it because that's how I, you know, if she has a boyfriend or something, I'm always like, that's, he's a cute one. I love working with Rikara and Requa. I love working with all the actors. And it's one of those movies that people always reference. They're like, oh, I love that movie. I watch that every year, and it's just a, I think it's just a movie about loving people and making mistakes and finding your way back and things not being perfect and not being what you expected. I love that one. Did you get the numbers? The what? My approval rating in Alaska. They're not in yet. I am trying to trust you people, but you're making it really hard for me. I'm sorry, Governor. I'll call Steve right away about it. Not like that'll do anything. Game Change was maybe one of the more difficult undertakings of my entire career. Honestly, I spoke to Jay Roach about it and said yes before I really gave it enough thought, you know. And then when I got home and I really considered what it was going to take, I was like, this is going to be bad. I had two months to prepare, and this is the first time in my life that I stopped doing anything, anything at all except preparing. I did all the mom stuff, but I didn't meet friends. I didn't go to the movies. I didn't go to plays. I wiped my social calendar, and all I did was work with my dialect coach and watch footage of Sarah Palin. And I even took, I would pick up my kids from school in the car, and I took everything off my playlist except for Sarah Palin's voice. So that's all they heard when we drove from place to place with Sarah Palin talking like that for two solid months. They're like, you don't even have any music, Mom. You just have this lady's voice. Because I knew if I got it wrong, like the minute when you're playing someone who's that iconic, who's that present in popular, in public life, right? If you get the tone wrong, then they're like, I can't watch this, this isn't her. So it felt really, like, urgent that I get it right. Why won't you take me seriously? No, I know what I'm feeling. I know what it's feeling, and it feels like my brain is fucking dying, and everything I've worked for in my entire life is going. Walsh and Rich had sent me another script previously, came very close to doing it, and ultimately decided that I wasn't going to do it. And then really shortly after that, they were like, can we send you something else, though? They sent me the script, and I couldn't stop crying. I was really surprised by its immediacy. I didn't expect to be so compelled by this. I emailed them right away, yes, I'm going to do this, but, you know, you guys have a whole movie to make, so I doubt you're going to get to it. They said, no, we're going to get to it. We're definitely going to get to it next. When we finally did do it, the one prerequisite I had, I was working on The Hunger Games. It's like I had a whole year of The Hunger Games, and they were like, well, we have to squeeze it in before that. And I said, there's no way, because I don't have time to do the prep. They were like, well, no, you have a month in November. I said, I have no time to do the prep. We had to go to Hunger Games and say, like, is there any way we could make this work out? They gave me the month of February off. I went back to Walsh and Rich, and I said, we can do it if we shoot it in February, just those days, that's it. And then I could start my prep in November when I had a little bit of space. And so it was the same thing. Like, I just did this really kind of rigorous prep all the way up to it, did some stuff in Hunger Games, and then when it got to be February, I went straight into that. This project had to be deeply, deeply observed, because I knew nothing about this disease, and I knew no one with it. I'm really fortunate that I haven't had that in my family. I was really meticulous, and I said to them, too, I said, I don't want to do anything on screen that I haven't seen personally. I said, because behavior is really important, and it's important to the people who are dealing with this disease, with the families of people who are dealing with it. So I think it was another opportunity to really learn how much observation matters and how much information matters and immersion in a subject. And I also had some people, you know, who were advising me who were in early stages of Alzheimer's disease who were, they'd be there, and I'd ask them questions like, what do you feel like, what do you do? And it gave me so much, so much clarity. I heard you saw Tom. Yes, for coffee. How was he? He's handsome. Oh, yes, he's very handsome. I could see how being in a relationship with him, in a marriage, would be isolating. Precisely. Natalie's the best. I love Natalie. I knew her a little bit socially, just from, like, around, from around L.A., and once we were at a Stevie Wonder concert together, I wrote her an email after Black Swan just saying how impressed I was by that beautiful performance. But I didn't know her, and I didn't know how she worked. Of course, you have some trepidation when you're working very intimately with someone that you haven't met. And I met her, and I was like, she's amazing. She's so accessible. She's so available. She's really, really smart. She's very practical about her work. She's very similar to me, in that she's very, very committed to her work, but she doesn't carry it around with her. Like, once it's over, we could relax and talk and enjoy each other's company. Everything Natalie and I created, we created together, and we could push each other and just go a little bit further every time. The script was so beautiful and so loaded and so muscular. So the things that people say are deceptively simple, but they are weaponized, and I think that's what Natalie and I, I think because of our, um, the intimate nature of our scenes and our connection, we're really able to come together in a great way. Where were you? Show Elizabeth the neighborhood. Oh, Elizabeth. She's getting on my last nerve. The script initially, for May-December, went to Natalie, and Natalie was the person who sent it to Todd Haynes, who I've made many, many movies with, and Todd right away thought of me for Gracie and said, he wrote me an email saying, I'm going to slip you a script, because he didn't want to tell Natalie that I might be interested unless he knew that I was going to be interested in the script. And I was so excited to get an email like that from him. I was like, wow, yes, yes! I am in! I mean, first of all, to find a movie with two really complicated, compelling female characters who are in kind of a power struggle, or certainly a struggle for whose truth, whose story is going to win. And Gracie's story, she's concocted this narrative, you know, of true love. You know, she's someone who had a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old, and I think in order to kind of propel this narrative forward, she thinks it is a great love story. In that sense, he has to be the man, a 13, and she is the child. And she remains the child, sort of elevates him to manhood. But her view of life is that of someone who is hyper-feminine, very childlike, very naive, is fragile and dependent. And it's a very difficult narrative, I think, to give support to. And so she's always looking for affirmation from the outside. She looks for that for Elizabeth. And then you also see how emotionally volatile she is because of the space between what happened and the story that she's telling. Being like a kind of a gig system, you're always looking forward. You're always thinking, what's next? It's almost like eating candy. When you're eating candy, you're like, oh man, I love this candy. And then you're done with it and you don't think about the candy you ate. You're just like, when can I get some more candy?