Julianne Moore On Her New Netflix Film and Having A Work-Life Balance

She is arguably one of the most versatile actors of our generation. From early breakout roles in such films as Boogie Nights and The Big Lebowski to her Emmy-winning performance portraying Sarah Palin in Game Change and her Oscar-winning performance as a renowned professor struggling with early-onset Alzheimer's disease in Still Alice, Julianne Moore has built an extraordinary career for herself in Hollywood.

In her latest film May December, Moore plays Gracie Atherton-Yoo, a woman who at 36, had an affair with a 13-year-old boy, goes to prison but ends up having three children together. Inspired by the real-life story ripped from the headlines surrounding Mary Kay Letourneau and her 1990s rape case with her 12-year-old student, May December takes place twenty years after the much-publicized controversy, with Gracie now married to a grown Joe Yoo (played by Charles Melton). Things get even more complicated when popular television star Elizabeth Berry (played by Oscar winner Natalie Portman) is invited to visit the infamous couple, as she prepares to play Gracie in a film.

Directed by Todd Haynes with a screenplay by Samy Burch, I first wondered how Moore chose to craft and present her on-screen portrayal of Gracie in May December, which is currently playing in select theaters, with its widespread release arriving December 1 on Netflix (U.S. and Canada).

Moore said, “I think I always start with the script. The wonderful thing about Samy Burch’s script is it’s deceptively simple, right? When you take a look at it, initially, you just feel like, oh okay, here’s a story about this family and someone coming to observe them to make a movie, and it seems pretty straightforward. Then, you look at the actions of these characters and the actions of my character Gracie, in particular, and you realize, What is the story that Gracie is desperate to tell? - that she is so determined for Elizabeth to see? The narrative that she is suggesting or that she is promoting is not necessarily a true narrative. I think this is a movie that’s very much about storytelling - about stories that we tell ourselves and our refusal to look at our own lives, sometimes.”

She went on to say that her character Gracie is somebody who is very much performing the story that she thinks needs to be told, thinking of herself as someone who was ultimately rescued by love. “That’s not a love affair - that’s a huge transgression. That’s a horrible boundary crossing, but for [Gracie] to maintain this narrative of her life, she makes herself the child and has kind of elevated this young boy to a man.”

Earlier this week, Moore, Portman, Haynes and Burch were beside their May December collaborator Melton when he won Outstanding Supporting Performance at The Gotham Awards.

“We were so thrilled - all of us,” Moore said. “It was wonderful that we could all be there that night and at the same table and kind of celebrate this win with him. I can’t think of anybody better for this part than Charles - I can’t imagine anybody else doing it. The minute he came in, I felt that he embodied something that was so compelling about Joe. He had an ability to absorb or take an adult role when he was so very young. It’s wonderful to watch it all unfold and he was terrific to act with on-screen. I’m so happy that the world is acknowledging his wonderful work.”

In May December, Portman and Moore create a Masterclass of acting on-screen together, as Portman’s character Elizabeth goes to great lengths to better understand and rather obsessively mimic the mannerisms of Gracie. Being two of the most in-demand actors in Hollywood today, I wondered what was it like for Moore to get to act alongside Portman.

“I love her so much. I always admired her and wanted to work with her, so my expectations were high in how she’d be, but she superseded them. She’s just a wonderful actor - a really committed partner. We had so much fun together. I think we were really able to be collaborators on this. We were a team. I was just blown away when I saw her on-screen, and I loved every minute of working with her.”

Remaining such a central figure within entertainment, I wondered if Moore would say that she has noticed her approach within the business of her industry changing at all, as years go by and as she continues to take on new projects.

Moore said, “I mean, I love my work. I think the thing that’s been most surprising to me is that a lot of people say like, Oh, maybe acting won’t interest you after awhile, and I’ve found that it interests me more and more. I’m absolutely fascinated by behavior and storytelling, and I receive a lot of joy in my work - real, sheer pleasure constructing stories with these other wonderful people that I get to work with. I think the thing that I have noticed is the commitment to my work is just deeper. The business stuff is just business!”

As Moore prepares to celebrate her birthday on December 3, I was curious with her being a working professional, as well as a mother to her two young adult children, Caleb and Liv, alongside her husband Bart Freundlich, what she would say are the greatest joys and priorities in her life today.

“I think probably the fact that I’ve been able to combine them,” Moore said. “That was my intention when I was starting out. I very, very much wanted to have a career [in] acting. I didn’t know that it was going to be possible because it’s kind of a longshot, right? It’s hard to have a creative career, but I also knew that I wasn’t willing to sacrifice having a family for that. Really, when I look back, I’m like, ‘Gosh, I was lucky enough that it did.’ I have these two beautiful children - [my daughter is] 21 and my son will be 26 the day after my birthday. That thing that we all hope for - being able to combine work and family, I’m managing to achieve it, so I really value all of it.”

When taking a moment to reflect on her illustrious career so far, Moore recalls her many collaborations with May December director Haynes as some of the projects she continues to hold closest to her heart. Moore remembers the two of them being in their thirties when they made their first film together, Safe, in 1995. Since then, the filmmaking duo have created another four projects: Far From Heaven, I’m Not There, Wonderstruck and May December, with Moore adding about Haynes, “I think that he has trusted me to be his collaborator for this amount of time. He has returned to me again and again is a tremendous honor.”

Looking to the future, after all of the various characters she has brought to the screen over the years, I asked Moore if there was a type of character or story she has yet to take on and hopes to do so in the near future. She said that she has never played a physical monster or a type of creature before, which is something that would interest her.

One project that Moore already has slated for a 2024 release is the much-anticipated Sky series Mary & George, a provocative historical drama based on the nonfiction book The King's Assassin by Benjamin Woolley. Co-starring Red, White & Royal Blue actor Nicholas Galitzine, Moore has nothing but praise for her young Hollywood co-stars lately.

Moore said, “I would say the thing that’s interesting about both Nick and Charles - they’re both such lovely, gracious people. Really, really kind - very available, very hardworking. They care very much about their work. I was incredibly impressed with both of them, with their manners and their kindness. Here are these two young men who are absolutely gorgeous and their careers are kind of blossoming - all these doors are opening for them, but they just continue to be really wonderful, lovely team-oriented people.”

As for the recent end to the SAG-AFTRA strike, Moore said that she is excited about the future of her acting community and the Hollywood industry as a whole. “We worked so hard to get this deal. I think that there were a lot of advances that we made, and I think we also proved our strength and our unity as a union. This was something where we wanted to speak to all members of our union, not just people at the top, but also people who were working as background artists and day players. We want to make sure that everybody gets a fair shake.”

With her many memorable performances spanning over several decades, Moore has undoubtedly witnessed the changes occurring within the traditional way of releasing a film in theaters to now the ever-growing popularity of certain blockbuster films premiering on video streaming. So, being a working professional and a longtime movie star in her own right, I wondered what Moore’s thoughts are on the evolving ways of our society’s moviegoing experience.

Moore said, “I think everything evolves, you know? And certainly entertainment always has - it just keeps happening. It just keeps changing - everything changes. Certainly in the way that tech has changed a great deal of our world - the way we consume culture and the way we operate in our lives - the movie business kind of evolves along with that. I think that sometimes, the way we operate in the world and the way we consume culture might change physically, but the fact that we want culture and we continue to want stories, I think that’s a constant.”