Julianne Moore Explains What She Needs in a Film Director
Dec 31, 2024
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Julianne Moore, an acclaimed film actress known for her versatile roles and collaborations with legendary directors, shares insights into her craft. She discusses her attraction to stories of ordinary lives and the importance of collaboration with filmmakers. Moore reflects on how a director's style can profoundly influence her performances and expresses the emotional depth she seeks in characters. Through her experiences, she reveals the balance between spontaneity and preparation that shapes her creative process.
Julianne Moore highlights the importance of a director's unique vision, which shapes both narrative and character preparation during filming.
She emphasizes the necessity of creating a safe space for vulnerability and exploration in collaboration between actors and directors.
Deep dives
The Journey to Film Stardom
Julianne Moore's film career took off later in life, starting after she turned 30. Initially, she pursued opportunities predominantly in television and theater, facing numerous rejections in her early years. Her breakthrough came with independent films in the early 1990s, particularly through collaborations with acclaimed directors like Robert Altman and Todd Haynes. This unexpected confluence of opportunities allowed her to work with a diverse range of talented directors, significantly shaping her career trajectory.
The Importance of Director's Vision
Moore emphasizes the critical role a director's unique point of view plays in shaping a film's narrative. She notes that each director brings a distinct style and storytelling technique, which she considers when preparing for a role. For her, understanding the director's vision is essential, especially for first-time directors, as it informs how she approaches her character and performance. This process involves not just rehearsing lines but also engaging with the story and visual framing to align her performance with the director's intentions.
Exploring Vulnerability in Performance
Moore believes that being an actor involves creating a safe space for exploration and vulnerability. She distinguishes between watching dailies and playback, preferring the latter during the shooting process as a tool for refinement. By analyzing her performance in real-time, she can adjust her portrayal to better fit the director’s vision and the film’s overall context. Moore argues that a successful collaboration hinges on preparation and structure, where the actor feels liberated to delve into the complexities of their character while ensuring clarity in their narrative role.
Introducing Julianne Moore at the New Yorker Festival, in October, the staff writer Michael Schulman recited “only a partial list” of the directors Moore has worked with, including Robert Altman, Louis Malle, Todd Haynes, Paul Thomas Anderson, Lisa Cholodenko, Steven Spielberg, the Coen brothers, and many more legends. It seems almost obvious that Moore co-stars (alongside Tilda Swinton) in Pedro Almodóvar’s first feature in English, “The Room Next Door,” which comes out in December. Moore has a particular knack with unremarkable characters. “I don't know that I seek out things in the domestic space, but I do think I’m really drawn to ordinary lives,” she tells Schulman. “I’ve never been, like, I’m going to play an astronaut next. . . . A lot of these stories [are] domestic stories—well, that’s the biggest story of our lives, right? How do we live? Who do we love? . . . Those are the things that we all know about.”
New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Follow the show wherever you get your podcasts.
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