LOS ANGELES, Dec. 19 (UPI) — Julianne Moore said Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s movies inspired her craft as a young actor. Moore, 64, stars in Almodovar’s latest film, The Room Next Door, in theaters Friday.
Moore said she was in her 20s, watching Almodovar’s classics like Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Carmen Maura’s performance taught Moore she could convey contradictory emotions.
“She would cry and cry and cry, but it was so hysterically funny at the same time,” Moore told UPI in a recent Zoom interview. “It never occurred to me as a young actor that I could hold those two things at once.”
The Room Next Door is Almodovar’s first English-language film. It stars Moore and Tilda Swinton as friends who cross paths later in life.
Martha (Swinton) asks Ingrid (Moore) to stay with her at a vacation house until Ingrid ends her life. Ingrid wants to enjoy as much time as she can and plans to take a chemical compound when her illness becomes too painful to bear.
Since Almodovar had only worked in Spanish before, Moore said she never expected to have the chance to work with him. He cast Swinton first, who later shared with Moore how they agreed to cast her.
“They both wrote emails at the same time with a name on it and the emails crossed,” Moore said. “They’d both written my name, which was so lovely.”
Working with Almodovar, Moore said she was impressed by the specificity of his direction –. that he could convey his intentions with the colors he chose or where he placed the actors in the frame.
“The way the women look, their faces and their clothes, the way people move, the way he sees the word, there’s nothing accidental about it,” Moore said. “His rhythms are also in his head.”
The tale of The Room Next Door contains the contradictions that so appealed to Moore. Ingrid is conflicted about assisted suicide, but wants to be there for her friend.
Martha projects conviction about her decision, but sometimes reveals uncertainty in vulnerable moments. Moore found that dynamic realistic to close friendships.
“There’s friction in relationships, particularly in intimate relationships,” Moore said. “When you’re very connected and you’re in one another’s lives, there are going to be clashing points of view and even things behaviorally that can get on your nerves.”
Moore said she also believes movies about difficult subjects can help viewers talk about them. She saw performances like hers and Swinton’s as representing experiences people may be having in real life.
“When we see ourselves reflected, we feel validated and we feel seen,” Moore said. “There are ways for you to see yourself, project yourself and have an actual, authentic emotional experience.”
The set of The Room Next Door was open to having such conversations, Moore said. However, Moore said it was equally conducive to normal workplace banter among the crew.
“People do talk about things that have happened to them that are personal and emotional, and they do talk about what they’re going to have for lunch,” Moore said. “Both things occur.”
Last year, Moore appeared in another film about a controversial subject, May December. She played a teacher married to her former student.
May December also sparked discussions about real-life cases like Mary Kay Letourneau, who was convicted of rape of her 13-year-old student, whom she married.
However, Moore said she also was pleased that audiences embraced her delivery of the line, “I don’t think we have enough hot dogs.” Fans on social media highlighted Moore’s intense delivery of the line as her fictional character prepared for a barbecue, with a musical sting to match the intensity of her concern.
“I love that line,” Moore said. “I love that movie, and it’s always really gratifying when something resonates with people and goes viral.”
She said she was not surprised, however, that the hot dog line stood out to viewers.
“It’s a pretty great line,” Moore said.
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