Julianne Moore (born December 3, 1960, Fort Bragg,North Carolina, U.S.) is an American actress known for her exacting and sympathetic portrayals of women at odds with their surroundings, often in films that examined social issues. Moore receivedaccolades for her performances in such movies asBoogie Nights (1997),The Hours (2002), andStill Alice (2014), the latter of which earned her anAcademy Award.

Early life and career

Smith is the eldest of three children; her American father was a military lawyer and judge, and her Scottish immigrant mother was a homemaker who later in life became a psychiatric social worker. She earned abachelor’s degree inacting fromBoston University in 1983 and moved toNew York City soon thereafter. Smith assumed the stage name Julianne Moore, the latter portion of which was her father’s middle name, because all variations of her own name were already registered with the Actors’Equity Association.

She appeared in several plays and television programs before beginning a three-year arc on thesoap operaAs the World Turns in 1985. Her portrayals of a psychologist and, eventually, her half sister, earned her a DaytimeEmmy Award in 1988. Meanwhile, she had appeared inCaryl Churchill’sSerious Money at the New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater (1987) and trod the boards asOphelia in a production ofHamlet (1988) staged by the Guthrie Theater inMinneapolis,Minnesota. She returned to the Public Theater in two Churchill one-acts—staged asIce Cream with Hot Fudge—in 1990.

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A supporting role in the domestic thrillerfilmThe Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992) brought Moore to wider attention. Her bold turn as an artist in directorRobert Altman’s ensembledramaShort Cuts (1993) was particularly remarked upon. Altman had cast Moore after seeing her in a long-runningNew York workshop production ofAnton Chekhov’sUncle Vanya, which was filmed byLouis Malle asVanya on 42nd Street (1994). Her first starring role was inTodd Haynes’sSafe (1995), in which she played a womansuccumbing to an indeterminate malady.

Rise to stardom

Though Moore had bit roles in mainstream fare such asThe Fugitive (1993), her first marquee billing came with theJurassic Park sequelThe Lost World (1997), in which she played a paleontologist. She returned to her indie roots with the family dramaThe Myth of Fingerprints (1997), which was directed by future husband Bart Freundlich (they married in 2003). That performance, however, was eclipsed by her turn as kindly pornographic actress Amber Waves inPaul Thomas Anderson’sBoogie Nights (1997); her complex and sympathetic portrayal earned Moore her firstAcademy Award nomination, for best supporting actress. She then played a narcissistic artist in theCoen brothers’The Big Lebowski (1998) and the calculating Mrs. Cheveley in the filmadaptation (1999) ofOscar Wilde’sAn Ideal Husband.

In bothNeil Jordan’s adaptation (1999) ofGraham Greene’sThe End of the Affair and Anderson’sMagnolia (1999), Moore’s characters dealt with the ramifications of adultery. The former film earned her an Oscar nomination for best actress. In 2001 she assumed the role ofFBI agent Clarice Starling—originated byJodie Foster inThe Silence of the Lambs (1991)—in its sequel,Hannibal. Her renderings of women suffocated by the repressive social mores of the 1950s in Haynes’sFar from Heaven (2002) andStephen Daldry’sThe Hours (2002) led to best actress and best supporting actress Oscar nods, respectively.

Movies of the early 21st century

Moore followed several tepidly received relationship comedies withAlfonso Cuarón’s much-lauded futuristicdystopiaChildren of Men (2006) and later a vampy turn as the unstable Barbara Baekeland (who married the heir to theBakelite fortune and was murdered by her son) inSavage Grace (2007). She gave more-subdued performances as a woman in love with her gay best friend (played byColin Firth) in fashion designerTom Ford’s directorial debut,A Single Man (2009); a woman who cheats on her lesbian partner inThe Kids Are All Right (2010); and an unhappy woman married toSteve Carell’s character inCrazy, Stupid, Love. (2011).

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In 2012 Moore delivered an Emmy-winning performance as 2008Republican vice presidential candidateSarah Palin in theHBO filmGame Change before starring inWhat Maisie Knew, a modern-day adaptation of theHenry Jamesnovel. Her later films included the dramedyThe English Teacher (2013);Carrie (2013), ahorror film based onStephen King’s classic novel;Non-Stop (2014), an action thriller set on an airplane; andThe Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (2014) andThe Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (2015),adaptations of a young-adult novel from the series bySuzanne Collins.

Moore was particularly praised for the subtlety with which she depicted the struggles of alinguistics professor diagnosed with early-onsetAlzheimer disease inStill Alice (2014). For her performance, she earned an Oscar for best actress. Moore then gleefully stalked the screen as a vengeful witch in the fantasy adventureSeventh Son (2014) and as an unstable actress inDavid Cronenberg’s trenchant Hollywood satireMaps to the Stars (2014). She evoked the anguish of a dying woman who must fight to pass her pension benefits on to her domestic partner (played by Ellen Page) inFreeheld (2015), which was based on a true story.

In 2017 Moore reteamed withTodd Haynes forWonderstruck, portraying a glamorous film actress, and then played a wife and her twin sister in the dark comedySuburbicon. The following year she starred as a renownedopera singer caught in a hostage situation in the adaptation ofAnn Patchett’s novelBel Canto and as a divorced woman seeking love on her own terms inGloria Bell. Moore later portrayed a wealthy media mogul who makes a series of startling revelations when she considers donating a large sum to an orphanage inAfter the Wedding (2019). In the biopicThe Glorias (2020), she played feminist iconGloria Steinem.

In 2021 Moore appeared in the thrillerThe Woman in the Window and the musicalDear Evan Hansen. That year she also lent her voice to the animatedSpirit Untamed and starred as a grieving widow in the miniseriesLisey’s Story, adapted from aStephen King novel. Moore then reunited with Haynes forMay December (2023), a drama in which she played a teacher who had an affair with her student. In 2024 Moore starred withTilda Swinton inThe Room Next Door,Pedro Almodóvar’s adaptation ofSigrid Nunez’s novel about a dying woman who reconnects with an old friend.

Books

Moore wrote the children’s bookFreckleface Strawberry (2007), about her experiences with childhoodbullying because of her red hair and freckles. She penned several sequels, and in 2010 the first volume was adapted as a stage musical. Her other children’s books includedMy Mom Is a Foreigner, but Not to Me (2013).