Happy 51st Julianne Moore. What's Next?
Saturday, December 3, 2011 at 9:13PM In honor of Julianne Moore's birthday today, let's go all list-manic.
Julianne earlier this week in NYC
This morning, realizing it was her birthday, I flashed back to our interview in 2010 and her responses to my feverish fandom "I've seen all your movies"...
My god, you've seen some junk then!"
So after the jump in her holiness's honor, my rankings of ALL her performances I have seen... some of which I barely remember at this point but what can you do. Plus, the ones I haven't seen. Plus, what's next (2012 could be a big year for her!) Plus questions for you. Plus. Plus. Plus.
The only Julianne Moore performances I have not seen
Julianne in "Shelter". Will we ever get a chance to see it?
- A Child's Garden of Poetry (2011) voicework in a TV movie
- Elektra Luxx (2010) uncredited as "Virgin Mary"
- Shelter (2010) lead role as Clara Harding. never released in the US???
- The Ballad of GI Joe (2009) short comedy film as Scarlett
- The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009) small role as "Kat"
- Eagle Eye (2008) uncredited as the voice of ARIIA
- The Ladies Man (2000) small role as "Audrey"
- Roommates (1995) as Beth Holcszek
- her television work from 1984-1991
- her stage work 1987-1990
Julianne's best work is never, excuse the pun, safe. She excels at the edges and the dramatic extremesJulianne Moore's Performances Ranked
- Boogie Nights (1997) --should've won the Oscar with ease.
- Safe (1995) should've been in the hunt for that gold statue but what a best actress year 1995 was!
- Far From Heaven (2002) -should've won the Oscar.
the top three change places constantly but they're always the top three. - Magnolia (1999)
- Vanya on 42nd Street (1994)
- The End of the Affair (1999)
- Savage Grace (2007)
- The Big Lebowski (1998)
Tier 2 -Other Great Stuff Though Less Miraculous - The Kids Are All Right (2010)
- The Hours (2002)
- A Single Man (2009)
- World Traveler (2001)
- Short Cuts (1993)
- Not I (2000)
Tier 3 -Good job! - Crazy Stupid Love (2011)
- Benny & Joon (1993)
- The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992)
- A Map of the World (1999)
- An Ideal Husband (1999)
- The Myth of Fingerprints (1997)
- Chloe (2010)
- 30 Rock (recurring as "Nancy Donovan")
- Blindness (2008)
- Chicago Cab (1997)
- The Fugitive (1993)
- Psycho (1998)
- The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (2005)
- Children of Men (2006)
- The Forgotten (2004)
TIER "Hmmmm" - The Vertical Hour [2006, Broadway]
- Nine Months (1995)
- Cookie's Fortune (1999)
- I'm Not There (2007)
- Surviving Picasso (1996)
- The Shipping News (2001)
- The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag (1992)
- Assassins (1995)
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
- Marie and Bruce (2004)
Tier "UH-OH" - Body of Evidence (1993)
- Hannibal (2001)
- Trust the Man (2005)
- Evolution (2001)
- Laws of Attraction (2004)
- Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990)
- Freedomland (2006)
- Next (2007)
Favorite Recent Red Carpet Looks
Venice Premiere A Single Man
Berlin Premiere The Kids Are All Right
Toronto Premiere Chloe
Julianne on the set of "What Maisie Knew"Next Up For Julianne
Being Flynn -(supporting) This was previously known as Another Night in Suck City... Julianne plays Paul Dano's deceased mother in flashbacks. [Due in Spring 2012.]
Game Change - the TV film where she stars as Sarah Palin (previously discussed)
What Maisie Knew - (co-lead or supporting?) A drama about a young girl experiencing her parent's divorce. Julianne Moore plays the rock star mom. Rock star! This is from the directors of The Deep End (2001) so perhaps lightning will strike twice with brilliant redhead leading ladies? [Due sometime in 2012]
The English Teacher -(lead role) She's the title character in this film about a teacher and a star pupil who returns to town. This is from Craig Zisk who is best known for behind the scenes work on female centric television series like United States of Tara and The Big C. [Currently filming but possibly 2012]
The Seventh Son -(supporting) She reunites with her Big Lebowski co-star Jeff Bridges in this one as the malevolent witch Mother Malkin in a potential fantasy franchise from the Wardstone Chronicles / Last Apprentice books by Joseph Delaney. [Due in February 2013 but since it's a franchise hopeful, this could easily move to summer if the studio gets confident.]
And maybe that HBO pilot Dope (previously discussed though we haven't heard a peep about it since the summer)
The Being Flynn trailer
Questions for You
When did you first fall for Julianne?
What are your 5 favorite Julianne moments?
What is your 1 favorite thing about Julianne
Reader Comments (44)
Question 1.- The first time I fell for her was in The Hours
Question 2.- Her anecdote about her first meeting with Paul Thomas Anderson 'I'm going to be in your movie, man' - Laura Brown crying in the bathroom in The Hours - Amber Waves calling her son in Boogie Nights - Julian questioning Theo in Children of Men (Is not one of my favorite performance, but the yellow light of Emanuel Lubezki behind her is beautiful, is like a sunrise, and that image stuck with me) - She as the 100 years old model.
Question 3.- My favorite thing about her is not how talented or beautiful she is, but her off screen persona, she is so lovely in interviews.
I absolutely love Julianne Moore! I think the first movie I saw her in was the hours and that was the moment I fell for her and I have watched at least half of her movies even the crap ones like next, laws of attraction and the forgotten.
What I love about her is that she is so well spoken, she seems really intelligent.
I also love the roles she picks, of housewives in the 50's, maried to young and now living in a void. Or roles of people looking back on their life with dissappointment. She takes on very daring roles to, like in Savage Grace. She's also in my favorite movie ever (a single man) so that helps.
1) When I saw Far From Heaven around the age of 12 or 13. Still love it.
2) 1. Far From Heaven
2. Safe
3. Boogie Nights (good call on your top 3 *wink*)
4. A Single Man
5. Savage Grace
3) The way she laughs, or maybe the way she says the word 'cunt' with such ferocity.
Happy Birthday to Julianne!
You should definitely catch The Private Lives of Pippa Lee. Robin Wright is awesome in it and Moore is a lot of fun in her cameo, too.
I thought she was terrific in what little screen time she had in I'm Not There. Her Joan Baez- inspired creation was fantastic.
I think I first saw her in "The Lost World", which at the time i liked (well, except the end) because Jurassic Park was my favourite childhood movie. Of course, back then she wasn't the Julianne Moore that she is today. But the very first time that I was like, "wow, I'm in love with this woman" was in "The Hours". And pretty much I have loved her in everything else I've seen her in. Even in "Blindness", which I'm still trying to erase in my memory.
Glad to see you count her performance in Magnolia as one of her best. It really annoys me when people complain that it's over the top- that's the point!
I'm kinda crazy obsessed with Julianne Moore =) The first movie I recall seeing her was *gulp* The Forgotten, and even then I was like wow she's awesome! Then my freshman year of high school I saw The Hours, Far From Heaven, and Boogie Nights all within a month, so my life has never been the same!
I think the moment that I COMPLETELY FELL for her was in Far from Heaven where she can barely keep it together after Patty Clarkson notices the mark on her head the morning after the party.
So then for my 5 Favorite Julianne Moments (Note: I still haven't seen Vanya since it's a hard find. Probably the most glaring omission but Criterion is releasing it on DVD/Blu-ray next February so I'll catch up then!)
Honorable Mentions:
Putting on her eye make-up in A Single Man.
The aforementioned collapse in Far from Heaven.
Airport freakout in Savage Grace.
New Year's kiss in Boogie Nights.
Her speech in The Kids Are All Right
Her fit of hysterical laughing on the phone, in The Big Lebowski
Now the top 5!
5. Talking about disappearing before going to bed at the end of the day in The Hours.
4. Freaking out on her attorney in Magnolia. Telling him repeatedly to "Shut the fuck up!"
3. TIE
"Too many things! Too many things! Too many things!" and "That is a giant cock" From Boogie Nights
2. Her "I love you" speech in front of the mirror in Safe
1. Waving goodbye in Far from Heaven.
This was incredibly difficult. Ask me tomorrow and it could be a totally different list though I don't think I could ever dislodge the goodbye in Far from Heaven.
And as for my favorite thing about her. How her presence can oscillate between warm, neurotic, stable, funny, cold so easily without looking forceful in her greatest work. Of which there is a lot! Plus she is just a wonderful human being!
The most gorgeous talent unrated actress ever!!
Happy bday wishes for you is to win that gold.
yay -- thanks for playing. Love reading these lists. LISTS LISTS LISTS
Great post. But man I thought you really liked her few minutes in "I'm Not There"? Didn't you give her even a mention in the best actress in a limited role category that year? I thought she was great in her short screen time as the crazy cat lady aka Joan Baez.
To answer the questions:
1) I think when I was very young and watching "An Ideal Husband" with my family; I thought that the movie was quite boring but I was astonished by Ms. Moore. She was so deliciously, urgently evil and the one that kept my interest. Then, some years later, I totally fell for her with "Far From Heaven". I was amazed of her acting, I thought that was an incredibly brilliant performance... so subtle, layered, honest, transcendent, just breathtaking. Manhola Dargis found the right words about her performance: "What Moore does with her role is so beyond the parameters of what we call great acting that it nearly defies categorization."
2) Off my mind:
- In "The Big Lebowski" that hysteric laughing phone call and the line-reading of "the video arist" in the same scene. Just hilarious, superb. And sexy.
- In "Blindness" the moment when she flips the bird at the guard who thinks she is blind. Amazing: So eerily funny and bleak and heartbreaking at the same time. A crushingly undervalued, multi-layered and subtle performance in an underrated movie.
- The court scene in "Boogie Nights". Ugh. Heartbreaking - a true, real human being in front of you. The incredible thing Moore does is, she dims out all her intellectual abilities and smartness. She shows this person, Amber Waves, in complete devastation, lostness, due to her lack of diplomatic corps. There is no Moore any more, just Amber Waves; Moore completely transforms.
- In "Safe" her reaction to the guy who sings her happy birthday at the end of the movie. Just flabbergastingly real; simultaneously very funny and very sad.
- In "Vanya on 42nd Street" after the dialogue, Yelena alone crying and then, when Sonya returns, suddenly laughing.
3) There is no 1 favorite thing, but I guess just her absolute transformative brilliance in her greatest performances, her preciseness in creating a real human being. (And I hope there will never be such a rough slough like in 2004-2007. Terrible movies and performances, except Children of Men)
Looking (cautiously) forward to her 2012, there are some interesting projects!
My favorite will always be her role in Far From Heaven. That performance had as many layers as the film did. A marvel, really.
Please god give her an Emmy this year and (finally) a Golden Globe. It's about fucking time. I don't even want to think about her lack of Oscar. She's really just consistently astonishing.
I first saw her in Safe and the performance and the movie devastated me. I hope she works with Todd Haynes again.
1. The "Shut the Fuck up" scene in Magnolia
2. i. Courtroom in Boogie Nights
ii. The "Shut the Fuck up" scene in Magnolia
iii. Dancing with Colin Firth in A Single Man
iv. Scene with Streep in The Hours
v. Amber Waves's return in The Ladies Man
3. Whether it's a lead role or a cameo, she gives it her all.
PS: Saw Shelter earlier this year (released on home vid in Canada). Movie isn't great, but it's still worth seeing for her. (Maybe 'Hmmmm' tier?)
The blog is very interesting. I read the full blog and must say the subject of the blog is very fascinating. Keep up the good work. I would love to read more of your articles.
Question 1: "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" -- totally forgettable movie that Julianne stole, with only a few minutes screen time, from both Annabella Sciorra and Rebecca De Mornay, who were much bigger stars at the time. After that, I considered any movie she was in to be a movie worth checking out.
Question 2: Too many!
Question 3: She seems to have chemistry with every co-star, upping everyone's performance. Would "Boogie Nights" have worked as well as it did if she hadn't been a young Mark Wahlberg's co-star? Judging by most of his subsequent performances (sexy and strong, maybe, but rarely showing vulnerability), I don't think it would have.
All these I-first-saw-her-ins and no one says The Fugitive? Okay, maybe you didn't notice her then, but not Short Cuts? A little disappointing that that role's gone unmentioned in the comments so far.
NATHANIEL R,do you think there will be any oscar caliber roles for Ms Moore with the array of roles in 2012??
for my life i do not know why she hasn't won any awards (!!!!)..do you think there is any chance of her winning in 2012
I saw Julianne in a lot of her, shall we say, less good films first (The Lost World, Hannibal) before seeing Magnolia and then, what really made me seek out the back catalogue, Far From Heaven.
My favourite Julianne moments:
1) Crying outside the court room in Boogie Nights. As we know from that Youtube clip, she cries A LOT, but this is my favourite. It's the emotional centrepiece of that movie for me, which is really saying something considering how good the rest of the cast is.
2) Throwing the phone down in disgust when Mark Ruffalo calls and tells her that he loves her in The Kids Are All Right. That acknowledgement that their affair was nothing, that it was stupid, compared to her relationship with Annette Bening was wonderfully played out. Another film would have played it as a love triangle for more drama, but I liked the fact that it never really was.
3) The scene outside the store towards the end of Blindness. I agree with cinephile, that this is one of her most underrated performances. The film itself is weirdly literal and the decision to replace Saramago's wonderful prose with Danny Glover's voice-over ruins much of what could have been, but the cumulative misery for this character is gorgeously played, and she's well-matched by Ruffalo. I'd love to see an adaptation of the follow-up, Seeing, which is just as smart a story.
4) "Shut the fuck up" from Magnolia. Because whose list wouldn't have that on here.
5) "Do you ever think we really do?" It's Cathy's first moment of real self-awareness for the difficulties Raymond faces, that they're different from hers. It's the first sign that she knows she is going to have to let go of him, and it just breaks my heart.
My favourite thing about Julianne is that she's not afraid to try on different genres, or work with difficult stories. Savage Grace isn't something many people would have approached with that amount of ferocity and, similarly, I'm pleased that she seems to be becoming looser and more adept at her comic roles in The Kids Are All Right and Crazy, Stupid, Love.
I'm an amateur Julianne fan, not seen a lot, but she's a beaut.
I loved her in The Kids Are All Right. I rewatched it the other day for fourth or fifth time and for me she matches Annette in it! Their work co creates and celebrates eachothers. Totes get that last year was an exciting year for Actress', but I wanted Bening and Moore at the Oscars more than anything else!
- The moment, early in "Boogie Nights," when Amber tries to call her son late at night.
- "Come to bed, Laura Brown..."
- "Every day we go without food, one of your men will die! We collect from now on!"
- "Now you must really shut the fuck up - now, please, shut the fuck up."
- "Amber, Are you my Mom?" "Yes, sweetie."
- Cathy Whitaker waiting for Frank outside the doctor's office in "Far From Heaven;" watching the couple across the street.
- Easily: her face. I can watch it forever.
- She was so great being bitchy in The Hand that Rocks the Cradle and then so warm and sweet in Benny & Joon that it took me a while to realize she was the same actress. Remember: There was no IMDB back then!
-Ironing in Short Cuts, crying outside the courthouse in Boogie Nights, praying in The End of the Affair, baking a disastrous cake in The Hours and, well, her entire performance in Far From Heaven.
-I'm proud to say I share my birthday with her!!!
awwww. happy belated birthday Peggy Sue. I remember life without IMDb. A frightening time! I would watch for new actor names in the credits and wonder if i'd ever see them again!
So true!
PS Thanks dear :)
Oh, Nate, you MUST see The Private Lives of Pippa Lee. Yes, for more Moore, to be sure, but it's also one of those AD camp epics for all timez. It's brilliant in its savage awfulness.
I love your top 3 of Julianne but I think Vanya, for me, creeps into that top 3 quite often as well.
When I met her at a book signing I told her she should have won the Oscar in 2003, she was all blushy and humbled. When I worked with Nicole Kidman on Hemingway & Gellhorn (oh, I'm sorry, I seem to have dropped all these names...I'll get them later)......I did not say the same. I simply cannot tell lies like that.
I - When I saw The Hours!
II - 1. Far From Heaven
2. The Hours
3. Savage Grace
4. The End of the Affair
5. The Kids Are All Right
3) Hummm... I love her sexy freckles!
1 - Saw her first in the nhand that rocks the cradle she rocks that supp role for all it's worth in a v silly film.
2 - the pharmacy scene in magnolia
dinner with colin firth
the sex scene with mark wahlberg
dancing with dennis haysbery
the kids are all right monlogue
3- she even tries when she is in shit films!!!
LOVE JULIANNE. I'm so glad this blog exists.
I first saw Jules in...um... I think it might have been The Forgotten. Or Far From Heaven. I can't actually remember. But both films impressed me at the time! But the real moment when I fell in love was when I saw Safe on TV late at night. She completely blew my freaking socks off.
My favourite Julianne moments: Safe - "I've never made a speech in my life..." monologue, Far From Heaven - crying in the garden :(, A Single Man - "noooo.... I mean a real relationship....", Savage Grace - "something... very intellectual indeed!", The Big Lebowski - "some men don't even like the word. VAGINA", which brings me tooooo SHORT CUTS! Which is just a collection of great Julianne moments, and THAT monologue.
My one favourite thing about Julianne is that she isn't complacent. She doesn't just rest on her laurels, and she continues to seek edgy work even though its not very economically wise haha. Also she made Safe, my favourite film ever.
P.S. Vanya on Criterion collection?? :D It's already bought!
The first time I saw her was in The hand that rocks the cradle: she steals the scene from Sciorra and De Mornay and I thought "this girl rocks, who the hell she is?".
Then I was deeply moved by Amber Waves crying for her son and fucking Dirk Diggler. I wanted Boogie Nights to be more about her character than all the others.
But I fell in love with her during her incredibile run in 1999 and, in particular, for that iconic memorable pharmacy scene in Magnolia. Then I turned back in the past and I watched Safe and Vanya (which are now very high on my top ten Juli list). Then in 2002 she stealed my heart away with Cathy and Laura. From that moment I would not be the same again.
Favourite performances
1. Far From Heaven
2. Safe
3. Magnolia
4. The Hours
5. Boogie Nights
Favourite moments
1. "Shame on you!"
2. "I love you. I really love you" (on the mirror, in the final shot of Safe)
3. "Please, call me Cathy" and many more moments from Far From Heaven (oh.. that final scene at the station! Maybe I should put this at number 1!)
4. "Come to bed, Laura Brown"
5. that amazing monologue in voice over in Vanya, while the camera is still on her face.
6. "Maybe I never had that kind of love" and "The past in my future" and all that nine minutes dinner with Colin Firth.
7. The red dress at the airport scene in Savage Grace. "Very intellectual indeed". And all her tragic laughs.
8. "At some point we all have to pay for what we do. You have to pay now", haunting Mrs Cheveley.
Oh my god, I can go on for ever.
Things about her I loved the most?
Her face. Her fearlessness: when she goes deep, she goes really deep. Her involvement in many movies with LGBT thematics. Her idea of acting: "people go to movies to see themselves". So we love her because she reflects us. She is magic like no one else when she is messy, empty, miserable and lost.
freelance writer
Nathaniel, you don't like her so much in An Ideal Husband and Cookie's Fortune... I think she is great in both. They are much more higher on my list.
By the way I really hope 2012 could be her year.
51?! She so does not look it. For an actress of that age, she's still doing very well.
Nathaniel, I must say I think Julianne's work in 'Short Cuts' should have been rated higher. I'm a fan- that monologue she delivers full frontal is pretty killer acting.
I think I probably first fell fully in love with Julianne in 'Magnolia,' as a result it's still my favorite of her's.
1. Magnolia
2. Boogie Nights (she should really work with PTA again!!!)
3. Safe
4. Far From Heaven (...and Todd Haynes. Personal relationships with directors really seem to work for her.)
5. Vanya on 42nd Street
6. Short Cuts
7. Savage Grace
8. A Single Man
9. The Hours
10. The End of the Affair
I can't believe they're gonna make a contemporary vesion of What Maisie Knew! It is a brilliant, devastating book. Julianne's role is definitely supporting. This Maisie was inspired by the same Henry James' relative that later originated Millie in The Wings of The Dove. It is a fantastic role, the poor abused James heroine as a child.
I love Julianne in Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Savage Grace and a lot of movies. The only amjor performances of hers that I don't love is The End of the Affair, that could never overcome Deborah Kerr's take in the role.
I really want her to work with PTA again.
My earliest theatrical encounter with her was THE LOST WORLD. Then her variations on depressed 50’s housewives won my heart in 2002.
1.) losing custody of her kid in BOOGIE NIGHTS
2.) train station in FAR FROM HEAVEN
3.) “I sucked cock!”/ “Shut-the-fuck-up!” in MAGNOLIA
4.) dinner with George/ “fresh breath joke” in A SINGLE MAN
5.) drowning-dream in THE HOURS
Guilty Pleasure: Bitch-slapping Madonna in BODY OF EVIDENCE
The five moments that came to mind first:
- "I love you. I really love you. I love you."
- "The story is ludicrous." in The Big Lebowski
- "I chose life" monologue in The Hours
- The airport scene in Savage Grace: "very intellectual indeed", "I am SPEAKING of a C*NT", her attempts at Spanish, etc
- The marriage monologue in The Kids Are All Right
Our shared Julianne infatuation was probably the first reason that brought me to this blog. lol. It's like a whole community here!
You asked...
As a teen, I was first mad at (?) Julianne Moore when Hannibal was released because she replaced Jodie Foster. I hardly knew her though, but I remember how a friend once wanted us to watch Nine Months and I had absolutely no desire to do so, I wanted to watch some Sandra Bullock film instead. Around my 17th birthday (oh the fond memories) I first saw The Shipping News, on tv. And it was like ' Hey. She's actually pretty awesome. Pale island beauty! ' I was lured.
A few weeks later The Hours happened to be on tv, and I watched it rather spontaneously. (I bought my first Virginia Woolf book after it. *blush*) I was smitten. I was like ' Oscar!!! ' The next film with this new interesting actress was...... Far from Heaven. No further explanation needed. That's it
How could I ever choose my favourite moments? Like, if I had to move to an island and am only allowed to take 5 Julianne Moore movies with me? Hmm.
1. The Hours Kissing her neighbour Kitty (I'm biased.)
2. Far from Heaven Dancing with Raymond (I'm a romantic.)
3. Boogie Nights Looking absolutely adorable in the scene when Dirk is first introduced to her, sitting at the table with Burt Reynolds
4. Magnolia Hmm. Tough choice. Her sitting in the car and singing her few lines of 'Wise Up'. Gives me goosebumps. And no. 5? Ah, what the heck:
5. Far from Heaven Saying Goodbye. I cry.
Isn't it nice to think so much about her? Sigh.
Far From Heaven is my favorite film of the past decade. I think it is an incredibly beautiful motion picture. I also very much enjoyed her performances in The End of The Affair, The Hours, A Single Man and Boogie Nights. In my opinion Julianne Moore is the greatest actress of her generation.
Definitely check out The Private Lives of Pippa Lee. Ms Moore's not in it much, but it's a great actressexual movie and was underrated at the time. Robin Wright is great, and Maria Bello and Winona Ryder are also in it!
I've loved her since her days on As the World Turns, where she played identical twin half-sisters/half-cousins who were separated at birth -- one American, one British. No, really. And she brought a phenomenal layer of reality even to that, and even as a still new actress. She left after three years, and I started following her career closely, one of the very first actresses I ever did that with.
Far From Heaven, Boogie Nights, Magnolia all rank at the top for me. But to me, the coolest thing imaginable about her is that she doesn't shy away from talking about her soap career, nor does she talk down about it. In fact, she came back during ATWT's last few months to film a cameo in her old role. That speaks volumes.
Chip -- i know. i thought that was so cool of her. even though i haven't seen any of her soap work.
I first noticed her in Benny and Joon-- it was such a small part, and she did so much with it. Same story in The Fugitive.
Fell in love with her in The Myth of Fingerprints. She plays a selfish, neurotic bitch, yet her performance makes you understand why she's a bitch, and truly empathize with her. (This is the film where she met her husband; he was the director.)
Favorite moment is Far from Heaven, beginning to end. I couldn't pick just one.
I love her in interviews. I remember when she was on Inside the Actor's Studio, when Jame Liption was going on and on about how amazing her work is, she responded by rolling her eyes and said, "It's just pretending."