How Julianne Moore Made Her May December Character Her Own

Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes have proven to be one of Hollywood’s most fruitful actor-director pairings. Their 1995 drama, Safe, elevated Moore’s career and has become a cult favorite, while 2002’s Far From Heaven earned Moore both an Oscar nomination and the Venice Film Festival’s prestigious Volpi Cup. May December, their latest collaboration, has already notched Moore her 11th Golden Globe nod. Ironically, it also presented Moore with the challenge of playing a woman who is being watched by an actress (Natalie Portman) hoping to win awards of her own. In the film, Moore plays Gracie, a character loosely based on Mary Kay Letourneau, whose home life is upended when Portman’s Elizabeth comes to visit as she prepares to turn Gracie’s notorious life story into a movie. Moore prepared for the role knowing that every choice she made would eventually affect Portman’s performance as well. Here, the 63-year-old star talks creating Gracie’s distinctive vocal tics, her early work with Haynes, and the one note she had for the Barbie movie.

This is your fifth film with the director Todd Haynes. Your first collaboration, Safe, has become a classic.

Making Safe was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my film career. We shot a lot in Todd’s family’s homes in L.A., like his uncle’s house at the beach and his grandparents’ house in Studio City. I wore a lot of his mom’s clothes. The Northridge earthquake happened in the middle of the movie. There were takes where you can see that there’s an aftershock during one of my speeches. When the movie came out, it kind of tanked. Everyone thought it was weird. It wasn’t until much later that people realized that it was a really good movie. So, you never know.

In May December, you play Gracie, a woman who seduced a 13-year-old boy when she was 36. As the film opens, they have been together for two decades and have three children. An actor, played by Natalie Portman, is starring in a movie about the notorious couple and has been allowed access to their lives. You made a particular choice for Gracie: She has a pronounced lisp.

That vocal choice was not in the script. I made the decision based on two things: I wanted to give Natalie’s character some things she could copy. I hit upon this idea of Gracie’s lisp, which is something we attribute to children. That’s the second reason: Gracie is childlike.

Gracie is also an expert cake maker. Is that your secret skill?

I studied with a home baker so Natalie could come and watch and learn how to be a home baker like Gracie. It was kind of a meta experience. Actually, my secret skill—my superpower—is cleaning. I will occasionally go into a bathroom in a restaurant and pick things up. I’m always like, Who are these pigs who were in here?

May December is your first film with Natalie Portman? Were you a fan?

I wrote her an email after I saw Black Swan because I just love that performance. I've told her this before. It's hard to believe that someone has been in the business from childhood and has remained such a well-rounded person, a great artist, and is intact after having worked from such a young age.

Do you ever get starstruck?

The first time I met Robert Redford at Sundance, I was totally starstruck. There’s actually a photo of me standing right behind him with my mouth hanging open.

What was your favorite thing you ever did for your birthday?

There was a year when a doll named PJ came out. PJ had red hair, she was English, and she talked. I got PJ for my 10th birthday. I opened her up before I went to school, and I still can remember what she looked like and her red side ponytail. I was really upset that PJ wasn't featured in the Barbie movie.

Do you remember your first red carpet outfit?

I really don't know what my first red carpet outfit was. I do know that back in the day we didn't have stylists, and people didn't lend us clothes. So I remember that for the premiere of The Lost World: Jurassic Park movie, I went to Barneys and spent $2,000.

Senior Style Editor: Allia Alliata di Montereale. Senior Fashion Market Editor and Menswear Director: Jenna Wojciechowski. Hair by Mark Townsend at Forward Artists; makeup by Kate Lee for Chanel Beauty; manicure by Tom Bachik for Essie at A-Frame Agency. Set design by Peter Klein at Frank Reps. Special thanks to Ms. Bebe at Outfitters Wig Shop in Hollywood.

Produced by Connect the Dots; Executive Producer: Wes Olson; Producer: Zack Higginbottom; Production manager: Nicole Morra; Production coordinator: David Cahill; First photography assistant: Trevor Pikhart; Second photography assistant: Jeremy Eric Sinclair; Digital Technician: Brendan Pattengale; Postproduction by Lucas Rios Palazesi at Quickfix; Fashion assistants: Tori López, Tyler VanVranken, Molly Cody, India Reed, John Celaya, Kaamilah Thomas, Emily Cancelosi, Allie Kessler, Juliana Bassi, Karla Garcia, Jacqueline Chen, Cosima Croquet; Production assistants: Mateo Calvo, Aspen Miller, Nico Robledo, Griffin Koerner, Danielle Rouleau, Nicolo Battaglini, Juanes Montoya, Juan Calvo, Lily Cordingley, Nathan Gallie, Cameron Hoge, Jack Fahey, Cole Ewing, Karlie Ofstedahl; Hair assistants: Takao Hayashi, Andres Copeland; Makeup assistants: Amelia Berger, Willie Huang; Manicure assistants: Rachel Messick, Marissa Asprer; Set assistants: Christopher Crash Richard, Winston Willingham; Tailors: Irina Tshartaryan, Elma Click, Gayane Mnatsakanyan at Susie’s Custom Designs, Inc.