The Hours
Julianne Moore is an actress who has already enjoyed a career that has spanned thirty years, and she is one of the best actresses working in Hollywood.
During her illustrious career, she has tackled a wide range of roles from drama to comedy and biopic. This week she is back in Maps to the Stars, which sees her team up with director David Cronenberg.
Moore has already won the Best Actress gong at the Cannes Film Festival, and could well be in the mix when the Oscar nominations are announced at the beginning of 2015.
To celebrate the release of Maps to the Stars, we take a look at some of Moore's finest big screen performances.
- The Hours (2003)
The Hours was released back in 2002, and saw Moore team up with director Stephen Daldry.
The movie was based on the book of the same name by Michael Cunningham, and follows three women of different generations whose lives are connected by the book Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.
Moore took on the role of Laura Brown: a pregnant housewife in the 1950s who is in an unhappy marriage and a young son.
From start to finish, The Hours is a moving and engrossing film that takes us into the lives of these three very different women.
Moore is terrific as Laura; a woman who feels totally trapped an alone in her own life.
She captures a vulnerability to this character that is totally heartbreaking - Laura believes she may prefer death to the life that she is living.
There is a sadness that hangs over The Hours, and yet it is life affirming as well. It really does ram home the message that life is for living and you should live it without any regrets.
The Hours was nominated for nine Oscars, including Best Supporting Actress for Moore: she lost out of Catherin Zeta-Jones for Chicago.
- Far From Heaven (2003)
As well as being nominated for Best Supporting Actress that year, Moore was also recognised in the Best Actress category for her performance in Far From Heaven.
Directed by Todd Haynes, Far From Heaven saw Moore take on the role of a housewife in the fifties who seems to have the perfect life with her husband.
However, the life starts to fall apart when her husband reveals he is gay.
Far From Heaven really is a very beautiful movie, which is far more than just a relationship melodrama. Haynes has delivered a movie that is rich, multi-layered and complex that explores some interesting ideas and themes.
Moore's character is facing turmoil and heartbreak and yet the actress depicts this with grace that is touching and subtle.
This was the second Best actress nomination for Moore, and came three years after she was nominated for The End of the Affair. She lost out of her The Hours co-star Nicole Kidman.
- The Kids Are All Right (2010)
One of my favourite Julianne Moore movies came four years ago as The Kids Are All Right hit the big screen.
The Kids Are All Right saw Lisa Cholodenko in the director's chair, while Annette Bening, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, and Josh Hutcherson join Moore on the cast list.
What is so great about this movie is that it is a look into the disjointed modern family, the fact that it’s a same-sex relationship really is a bit of a footnote.
Cholodenko looks at the monotony of everyday life and how marriages become routine not to mention the run of the mill fallouts between children and their parents.
Moore is perfectly cast as the free and easy Jules, who is still trying to find her role in their relationship. She is still trying to find out who she is and what she wants from her life.
This is the real twist on the traditional family drama, which is touching, witty and incredibly funny.
Other great Julianne Moore performances include Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and A Single Man.
Maps to the Stars is released 26th September.
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