After obtaining nominations at the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice, everything seemed to indicate that the Oscar winner for Always Alice in 2015 was going to participate again this year in the competition for the golden statuette (for which she aspired on 4 other occasions). However, Julianne Moore's absence from Secrets of a Scandal was one of the surprises when the nominations were announced on January 23.
The fifth collaboration with Todd Haynes, with whom she began working on 1995's Safe, when she was virtually unknown, was a big sensation when it was presented at Cannes last year and the US exhibition rights were quickly acquired by Netflix in 11 million dollars, an award to the team that agreed to film it independently in 23 days.
Gracie, Moore's character, is inspired by Mary Kay Letorneau, a Seattle teacher who in the 90s had a romantic relationship with one of her students, was sentenced to several years in prison and when she got out she married and had several children with him. In the film, based on the original script by Samy Burch, Natalie Portman plays an actress who is going to stay a few days with Gracie at her house while she prepares to play him in a movie.
Are you in constant contact with Todd Haynes, with whom you had already worked on four other films?
No, there were times when a couple of years went by without us speaking, until suddenly he came to New York, we met for dinner, and we talked about our lives and our jobs. But there have also been other times when he has written me an email telling me that he has something for me, and that something always excites me. In the case of Secrets of a Scandal it was something that arose overnight, he told me that he wanted to send me a script, and that he hoped I would like it. I read it and it was fantastic. And the fact that he shared the cast with Natalie Portman, who is someone I've always wanted to work with, made this an unmissable opportunity, so I'm very grateful that he thought of me.
And as? They share a very special collaboration
Working with Todd is one of the great honors of my life. I don't know how I've been so lucky. The other day I had to pass by the building where I did my audition for Safe in the '90s. I remember everything, the clothes I was wearing, what happened that day and the building where it was done. I had never had to participate in something like this and I had a very clear idea of how I had to play that character. And the fact that when I started the audition, I did it the way I imagined it, and that he had the same look, was a true miracle. Our collaboration has always been amazing because for some reason I have always managed to capture what he saw when he wrote the script, and that has made working with him always very easy. On each occasion it has been comforting, liberating and wonderful for me to collaborate with him because I have a great connection with the worlds he builds. When I read his scripts, I connect with them and can help shape them. The more we work together, the more that connection occurs. My character in Secrets of a Scandal was certainly a challenge, because she is a very unusual woman. But the context Todd created gave me all the information I needed to bring it to life. Every time I film with him I feel like I want to give him more, knowing that he will be able to shape the structure he has given me to work with. When I first spoke to Natalie, I told her that she was going to love the experience with Todd, because he is a director who does all the work for you, so everything is very easy afterwards.
What interested you about this character?
We all have a way of telling our lives, and in Grace's case, she tells it in front of the world as many times as necessary. But the gap between what she says and what really happened is very great. Todd often says that we feel more confident in ourselves when what we say and what we have really experienced come closer. And when there is a huge gap between the two, as in Gracie's case, it creates enormous tension between who she truly is and how she wants the world to see her. I found that really fascinating, because we all know people like that. In her case it is much more serious because she has committed a great transgression, and that is what causes there to be a certain discomfort in her house that is difficult to explain. It was something I was very interested in exploring on screen.
Do you approach characters differently today than at the beginning of your career?
I don't think my approach to acting has changed, but my interest has deepened, something I didn't expect. For some reason, I imagined that as the years went by, acting would interest me less and less, and that at some point I would want to dedicate myself to something else. But that has not happened. Playing each new character is something that is always a challenge for me, and that excites me, so acting gives me a lot of pleasure. That's why I try to explore stories like this where the nuances are subtle and the characters are as complicated as they are real.
What was it like working with Natalie in a relationship as complex as the one her character has with yours?
It was something I enjoyed a lot. Natalie was a great collaborator. It was amazing to see what she did, where she feels like there's a reflection of Gracie in her Elizabeth. Working with her was a great gift, because together we were able to build this relationship that is so complicated and complex, in which she gave me what I needed for my character and at the same time managed to develop hers. It is very rare to be able to show relationships between women on screen that are so intimate, and that are not mother and daughter nor a love story. In this story they are simply two women who have a very intimate connection and not always in a positive way. It's a very interesting symbiotic relationship, and a good part of his character is based on observations he makes about mine.
