Top 10 Julianne Moore Performances
With over three decades in the acting biz, this actress delivered spellbinding performances in cult classics and box-office hits alike. In this video, MsMojo counts down our picks for the Top 10 Julianne Moore Performances.
For this list, we're taking a look at those performances that show off this actress at her finest and/or most memorable.
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#10: Maude Lebowski “The Big Lebowski” (1998)
As a privileged artist/feminist, Moore delivers one of the most memorable vagina monologues ever seen on film. In “The Big Lebowski,” she plays the daughter of the eponymous Big Lebowski, who convinces The Dude to sleep with her just so she can conceive a child and later disposes of him to continue on her path. With her perfect ‘90s bob and that green trench coat, Maude Lebowski is a straightforward femme fatale that has become one of Moore’s best cult characters – albeit an underrated one.
#9: Havana Segrand “Maps to the Stars” (2014)
In this dark satire about Hollywood and the obsession with fame, Moore plays Havana Segrand, a fading actress trying to get back into the spotlight with little success. A monstrous caricature, Havana is a mess of anxiety and fake glamor, that’s been called the best part of this Cronenberg picture. Making sure we don’t sympathize with bad, rich people, Moore gives life to this send-up of Hollywood vanity that is anything but desirable. Earning a Golden Globe nod and winning the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival, Moore ironically proves that – with enough talent – there are still great roles for actresses over 50 – as long as you’re fearless.
#8: Sarah Miles “The End of the Affair” (1999)
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Based on the 1951 novel by Graham Greene, this movie is a “diary of hate” by a man whose obsession with his former lover is rekindled when he runs into her husband one night. Moore plays Sarah Miles, the aforementioned mistress caught in a love-triangle between her husband and novelist Maurice Bendrix (morris). The film is a series of flashbacks explaining how the tryst between Sarah and Bendrix ended, telling the story from both Sarah and Maurice’s points of view. Moore in particular excels with a powerful performance that elevates the film and earned her a second Oscar nomination.
#7: Jules Allgood “The Kids Are All Right” (2010)
In this offbeat comedy about a lesbian couple whose kids want to learn more about their father, Julianne Moore plays Jules, a hippie mom who has become a housewife. However, she still has dreams to pursue and plans to start a business. Perhaps out of boredom or perhaps because she feels neglected by her wife Nic, Jules begins an affair with the biological father of their two children. The results are both hilarious and heartbreaking, with Moore and the doubt of her midlife crisis acting as the emotional core of the relationship and the film. With naked emotion, the veteran actress once again delivers a nuanced performance that was nominated for a Golden Globe.
#6: Laura Brown “The Hours” (2002)
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This film adaptation of Michael Cunningham’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel simultaneously follows three women living in different decades and their connection to Virginia Woolf’s novel “Mrs Dalloway.” Containing the second of two Oscar-nominated performances given by Moore in 2002, “The Hours” sees her play a pregnant and unhappy 1950s housewife who’s feels trapped and deeply dissatisfied with her life. As a result of her depression, she vows to take her own life after spending the afternoon reading Woolf’s novel. Moore is human, restrained and heartbreaking in the role, proving the cost of living a life devoid of love.
#5: Maggie [aka ‘Amber Waves’] “Boogie Nights” (1997)
If you still aren’t convinced of Moore’s talents, then perhaps you forgot her scene-stealing turn in this drama/satire of the porn industry in the 1970s. The actress plays the soft-spoken, coked-up Amber, who takes young Dirk under her wing and becomes a mother figure to him. She is simultaneously in a legal battle over her own young boy, so feel free to put your best psychoanalytical skills to work on this one. Moore’s raw and vulnerable yet poised performance stunned even the often-conservative Academy, who granted her her first Oscar nomination for this role.
#4: Alice Howland “Still Alice” (2014)
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After years of being a nominee but never a winner, Moore finally took home the Oscar she so achingly deserved for “Still Alice.” She plays Dr. Alice Howland, a linguistics professor struck by early onset Alzheimer’s, and her performance is heartbreaking as she gradually loses memories of her husband, her daughter, and even her own name. We see the fear in Alice’s eyes, as Moore uses body language more than anything to show us what she’s going through. We empathize with Alice every step of the way and Moore exquisitely and bravely captures the tragedy of a woman suffering from this devastating condition.
#3: Linda Partridge “Magnolia” (1999)
In her second collaboration with director Paul Thomas Anderson, Moore gives another unforgettable performance, written especially with her in mind. As Linda Partridge, she’s the gold-digging, drug-addicted wife of a sick millionaire. In her key scene, Linda admits to her husband’s lawyer that she has fallen in love with him, and that she doesn’t deserve all the money he’s left her in his will. Moore has stated this Linda was a particularly difficult role for her to play, with her irrational and emotional nature. A flawed, but sympathetic character, she is both to be despised and adored, and Moore hits just the right notes.
#2: Cathy Whitaker “Far from Heaven” (2002)
Julianne Moore once again plays an unhappy housewife whose seemingly perfect life is crumbling right before her eyes. Not only does she learn that her husband is gay, but when she turns to her African-American gardener for comfort and support, she finds herself attracted to him. All of a sudden, Cathy is divorced and on her own, but unable to be with Raymond because of the consequences of “mixing their two worlds.” Earning an Academy Award nomination for her work, Moore brilliantly plays a character that is constrained by her society while trying to break free, creating a very genuine woman as opposed to a cliché. Before we unveil our top pick, here are some honorable mentions: - Mrs. Laura Cheveley “An Ideal Husband” (1999) - Clarice Starling “Hannibal” (2001) - Marian Wyman “Short Cuts” (1993) - Charley “A Single Man” (2009) - Julian Taylor “Children of Men” (2006)
#1: Carol White “Safe” (1995)
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In this indie gem, Moore plays Carol White, a rich, shallow and in many ways weak housewife who seems to be allergic to the world around her. A mere nose-bleed turns into something far more serious when she begins to think she can’t handle city pollution or any of the other chemicals we encounter in our daily lives, and goes off to live in a retreat in the desert to escape it all. Even here, at the relative beginning of her career, Moore was already taking chances with her roles, setting the stage for a career full of nuanced, flawed and moving female characters. Do you agree with our list? What’s your favorite Julianne Moore performance? For more top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to MsMojo.
