On the Run With Actress Julianne Moore on THE FORGOTTEN

Thursday, 23 September 2004

Sep. 23, 2004 Reported by Joseph B. Mauceri Actress Julianne Moore plays Telly Paretta, a mother trying to coupe with the loss of her son and the dark secrets surrounding that tragic event, in director Joseph Rubenís THE FORGOTTEN. She recently starred opposite Pierce Brosnan in Peter Howitts ìThe Laws of Attractionî and will star with Matthew Broderick in the upcoming film ìMarie and Bruceî directed by Tom Cairns. Moore is also attached to star in Michael Winterbottoms ìFreedomlandî with Morgan Freeman. She has starred opposite Kevin Spacey, Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett in ìThe Shipping Newsî directed by Lasse Hallstrˆm, as well as with Billy Crudup in the Bart Freundlich-directed film ìWorld Traveler.î Additionally, she starred opposite Anthony Hopkins in the blockbuster hit ìHannibalî directed by Ridley Scott and director Ivan Reitmanís sci-fi comedy ìEvolutionî opposite David Duchovny. Among her numerous notable performances are those in director Neil Jordanís ìThe End of the Affairî opposite Ralph Fiennes and ìBoogie Nightsî directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, both of which earned Moore Academy AwardÆ nominations. She has been the recipient of many critics honors for her performances, including National Board of Review, Independent Spirit, Los Angeles Film Critics and Broadcast Film Critics among others, and received a Golden Globe nomination and a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Best Actress for ìThe Hoursî directed by Stephen Daldry and based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Michael Cunningham. The energy and level of tension she brings to THE FORGOTTEN is as noteworthy as any of her past performances. FEARS: Where did you pull your inspiration for the character? Julianne Moore: Telly wasnít hard because it wasnít so far off from every mother that I know in New York City. Sheís an urban mom, she has a job, and she is simply a regular person. Thatís one of the things I liked about the role. She doesnít have any super powers or anything like that. Thereís nothing different about her because she is just like every other mother. She is just enormously attached to this child that she lost. I thought that was an interesting premise. I felt like I knew her, that I was her, that I have friends like her. So everything she does felt organic to me. Sheís no more resourceful than anybody else would be in the same situation. She makes every effort to prove her son is real. And on this journey she tries to find others who can help her. There is also this premise at the start of the movie where you are questioning her veracity and her sanity, as the character is. It hooks you in emotionally right form the start and allows you to get involved in the thriller aspect of the film. FEARS: Did being a mother help you get into the character? Julianne Moore: Sure! As an actor you only have yourself to work with in a sense. I certainly have plenty of experience with my own kids. I think that people who arenít parents know that the worse loss you can imagine would be one of a child. That horrible terrorist attack is just beyondÖ itís unfathomable. Itís all certainly tied into what it means to love a child. FEARS: In this movie you character begins on a rather high emotional level and just goes way up from there. Was it draining to maintain that level and how do you keep that edge during takes? Julianne Moore: I talk and talk. I talk a lot. Itís kind of my way of relaxing. I like to talk about nothing, and I like to joke around. Then I just kind of do it. I actually find that the more I sit and struggle emotionally with something the less I get. If Iím relaxed then I can get somewhere with the scene and what Iím trying to do. This film wasnít so terribly arduous. The balance to something like this is that itís emotional and it has to be real, but at the same time itís a thriller and you have to keep moving. Itís like she can never afford to just sit down and fall apart because she has to get in the car. She has to keep going. Thatís an interesting concept to me. FEARS: There are several surprises, and we donít want to spoil it for the readers, but how did the script read? Did you read it and think, ìWow, this is really going to surprise people?î Julianne Moore: When I read it I got hooked right away. I remember sitting there wondering if she was crazy or wasnít she. I was really intrigued by it. There are so many thrillers that donít really involve you emotionally and you find yourself just counting off the plot elements like the FBI, the crash out the window, etc. You donít get hooked, and with this one I got hooked right away. This is a great story. I can always tell how I feel by how quickly I read a script. I raced through this, thinking all along what a classic, exciting psychological thriller it was. I like movies that are quick, entertaining, scary, and fun. In addition, this one had a moving human element. The main issue was how we truly feel about our children, our family, and our loved ones. Thatís what made it truly engaging.î FEARS: Did the big twist in the plot blow you away? Julianne Moore: Yeah! I was very excited by it. FEARS: There are a couple of great scares in the movie. When you finally watched the finished film did they still have the ability to scare you? Julianne Moore: No, but I was in a room with someone who broke their chair. She just took the arm right off the chair, and I think that speaks very highly of the film. FEARS: Given some of the other films youíve stared in, like the remake of ìPsycho,î would you consider yourself a fan of those types of films with a twist in them? Julianne Moore: I like surprises in movies. I love to be scared. Thatís my favorite thing. If you saw ì28 Day Later,î well thatís my idea of a good time. That was a good, good time for me. I like to be scared, but I also like mysteries because I enjoy trying to figure the mystery out. FEARS: The intensity of the film gave me the impression that it might not have been a lot of fun to do? Julianne Moore: It was so much fun and I loved the crew; and Dominic and Gary and Tony. I loved the script especially that it was set in New York and I live here. It was great. Iím never really sad when I finish a movie, but when we wrapped this one I was really broken up. FEARS: The film is shot in D.U.M.B.O. (Down Under the Manhattan Bride Overpass) in Brooklyn. Was that a conscious decision to show another part of the city? Julianne Moore: I thought it was cool that they did that. I donít know whose decision it was but I thought it was and interesting one. There is this community over there, particularly of families ñ Brooklyn Heights classically. I have a bunch of friends that just moved into DUMBO, people with young kids. I just liked it because it shows audiences how people live in New York. For those of us who live in New York we know that, but this is an interesting way to see it. Itís also interesting to see the duality of the city. You see all these little communities but you also get a sense of how big, and anonymous, it can be as well. FEARS: Given all the chase scenes, is this the most youíve ever run in a movie? Julianne Moore: Absolutely! Thatís me running. Sometimes it was good because it was cold and it kept me warm. Itís funny because I wear Frye Boots through the whole movie. When I first started running I kept pulling my quad. It was stupid because you canít start with the heel on your foot. So in the long shots I switched to black sneakers and that made it a lot easier. I like doing the action stuff. Itís fun. Itís fun to try and out run a dolly and to run behind a camera. Itís challenging and different. FEARS: Did you run in school? Julianne Moore: No. I didnít really start running until I started exercising. When youíre an actor, because you move around a lot, you end up running. Thatís because itís the kind of thing that you can take with you. However, my hips are starting to go and I kind of have to stop. I canít do it so much. Joe Ruben is a thoughtful and sweet director. Several times he came to me and asked, ìJulia, Iím worried about you. Slow down.î But I was fine. FEARS: Again, I know weíre being careful not to give away the secrets to the readers, but there are a couple of scenes they use in the trailer that kind of tips off the audience as to what THE FORGOTTEN is about. Are you one of the people who feel that trailers give away too much? Julianne Moore: I know what you mean. Iím not privy to these marketing things. They have all these ideas about what they should and shouldnít show. I do think that with the trailers for this movie that it really gives anything away. It does give you a sense that there is a lot of stuff happening in the story, but I donít know that you understand what is... I donít think it gives the secret of the movie away. FEARS: The core of this plot deals wit a Conspiracy Theory. Is that something you believe in or do you shrug them off? Julianne Moore: You know I love a good Conspiracy Theory. Itís always fun. I think that there are so many things that we donít understand. There are things like those two new planets they found. I recently read this story about how they drilled in the Antarctic and pulled up these tropical fossils. That was cool, especially because they didnít drill down that far. It makes you think that we donít know anything. Weíre constantly finding new things like water on another planet. I donít think we really understand half of whatís going on. There is this space museum in Cape Canaveral that you come out of and your head hurts because they have all this stuff on quasars and black holes. Again, there is just so little that we understand that I think there is a possibility for everything. I think thatís what weíre aware of, that whenever we think we understand something we discover that it isnít true and thereís something else. FEARS: Itís really interesting to see you in a film like this because you really go from one genre of film to the next. I know youíve been asked if you would ever do a hardcore sci-fi film or a violent film, and you said something like ìit didnít really interested you.î But the subject matter does interest you. So, would you ever strap on a gun and head-off into space? Julianne Moore: Itís hard to say out of context. I always respond to stories and situations, the scripts themselves. So I never think that I want to play the Queen of England on a camel with a gun. Itís never like that, and Iíve never been genre driven. Itís always story. Sometimes youíll end up with a story in a genre that will surprise you. I canít say that I would say no to anything outright without reading it first. FEARS: So youíre not really interested in shooting big guns? Julianne Moore: Violence bores me. I watched a movie not to long ago that was just one car crash after another. I literally just couldnít focus because it didnít interest me. I donít fundamentally understand the appeal of it. For me, there is no connection. However, for example there is ìKill Bill,î which I thought was spectacular. I loved it and it was so crazy, the violence and stuff, but it was so beautifully made. It was so clear what it was ñ a fantasy. It knew what it was all the time and that made it funny and interesting. FEARS: Do you have any interest in doing a character like the Bride from ìKill Bill?î Julianne Moore: I donít know if I could top Uma in something like that. She was really tremendous and itís a very difficult thing to do and bring to life that kind of character. FEARS: I s there a part or a character in a genre that you picture yourself in? Julianne Moore: I donít know. Itís always nice to do a comedy. Thereís a film Iím doing now, ìPrize Winner,î thatís nice because itís fun to do. FEARS: With all the movies you currently have to your credit, do you feel that there is any particular one that didnít get the notice it should have? Julianne Moore: ìThe End of the Affair.î I think it is simply a beautiful film and itís so well made. Itís heartbreaking. It got some really nice reviews but it didnít catch on fire at the box office. I just think itís spectacular and Neil Jordan is a genius. Itís nice that itís stuck around for a while and people still get a chance to see it. I know that because people come up to me and talk to me about it. With the way DVDs are being released these days itís great to see the life a film can have outside the theater. LINK THIS ARTICLE

 

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