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Julianne Moore Trivia

She's back! "Gloria" has earned rhapsodic reviews. So it's time to revisit what we all know and love about Julianne Moore.

*She did not think that she would win an Oscar for "Still Alice." She thought it would go to Marion Cotillard, for that movie about unemployment. The unemployment movie was definitely better than "Still Alice"--the script for "Alice" is sort of a mess--but how could anyone ever "vote down" Moore's performance? In a way, Moore's achievement in "Still Alice" is *especially* staggering--because she was working with not-great material.

*Moore does not like the "strong female character" cliche. "Strong?" she asks, over and over again. "We're all weak. We're all struggling. The act of living *with weakness and pain* -- persisting despite real baggage -- that's what is interesting." God Bless Moore for that! (I think she may have honed this observation while working on Chekhov early in her career. Moore did "Vanya on 42nd St." I can't imagine that Chekhov would have had much patience for the myth of the "strong female character." How nice it would be to see Moore in "The Seagull"--!)

*Moore has recently collaborated with Michelle Williams. In the story, Williams has to say something really shocking and intimate to Moore. And the thing she says is: "Lick my asshole." This was a brilliant moment, apparently, because "lick" is more startling than "kiss." And there's something wonderfully gross about "asshole"--something that the word "ass" can't quite replicate.

*Moore won for "Still Alice," but in that same year, she did "Maps to the Stars." And people feel that "Maps to the Stars" may be Moore's all-time best work.

*Moore will be doing "Woman in the Window." It's fashionable to hate the book on which this film is based, because the author is a disaster, but I'm very excited to see Moore squaring off against Amy Adams. And then Gary Oldman, shouting and breaking things, in the background. If you haven't read the novel, know that (1) it's not as awful as snobs are suggesting and (2) it gives you a helpful list of noir classics you might want to investigate. And that's all! So excited to "see" Julianne this weekend!
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