By AMY LETOURNEAU Special to the Daily Press
From porn-star mama to perfect housewife, Julianne Moore can always be counted on to deliver luminous rock-solid performances. At 43, the red-tressed beauty has come a long way since her soap opera days on “As The World Turns,” compiling an impressive list of movie successes that includes “Boogie Nights,” “The Big Lebowski,” “Magnolia,” “Hannibal,” and “Far From Heaven.” Next on Moore’s slate is the psychological thriller “The Forgotten,” in which she plays Telly Paretta, a mother tormented by the loss of her child. The film opens in theaters September 24.
QUESTION: Why should people go see “The Forgotten”?
JULIANNE MOORE: I think that it is one of those wonderful movies that grabs you on an emotional level, and then kind of adds all these great scares and thrills, and this idea that we don’t know everything, that there are things that are happening that are beyond our control. It’s one of those movies that kind of gives you a lot of chills and a lot of satisfaction.
Q: You’ve got two young children. How did being a mother inform your choices as Telly?
JM: I think that any number of us can identify with how much we love our children and how strongly attached we are to them, and how much we fear for their safety. And the worst thing that can happen to anybody, in my opinion, is to lose a child. So I don’t think that’s very difficult for any of us to relate to.
Q: What was it like working with the dashing Dominic West?
JM: Dominic West is just delightful. He is so handsome and funny and sexy and engaging and adult, and I just loved him. When he read, right away, I literally turned around (to director Joseph Ruben) and said, “I choose that guy. I choose that guy.”
Q: “The Forgotten” was shot right in your hometown of New York. Did you lobby for that location?
JM: It’s fantastic to shoot at home, and this is the great gift that they gave me — shooting in New York. Because, initially, this movie was set in Boston, and then there were some thoughts of shooting here, there and whatever. And whenever there was a conversation, I would say, ‘Well, you know, New York would be a good place to shoot it. And, you know, the crews are really great in New York. And, you know, I live in New York, so you wouldn’t have to pay for a hotel or anything.’ Then a few months before we started shooting, I got a phone call saying, ‘Congratulations, it’s in New York.’
Q: You obviously love New York, but do you think it was better for the film than, say, Boston, the city where the “The Forgotten” was originally intended to be set?
JM: I think the movie really benefits from it. New York is a character in the film. It’s a place where you have a strong sense of community and of anonymity at the same time. You can also feel lost and like a stranger here, but then you have these pockets and these villages where people raise children and have friends and family. So I think it really served it well.
Q: What is it that you want audiences to take with them from this film?
JM: I want them to have had a really kind of wonderful and exciting night at the movies. But it’s also about how attached we are to the people in our lives, to our children particularly, but also to your parents, to your husband, your wife. It’s really about how strong the human connection is.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 24, 2004. Read the original PDF.