Julianne of the Spirits
In “A Single Man,” you play Charlotte, a wealthy, aging English glamour girl who is attached to, and may be in love with, her gay best friend, George. Their complicated relationship is one of the centerpieces of Tom Ford’s movie, which chronicles a day in the life of a grieving professor in ’60s Los Angeles. Your character is reminiscent of Ann-Margret in “Carnal Knowledge” — did that influence you?
No, I wasn’t thinking about Ann-Margret. A lot of the character began with a particular vocal choice: she’s someone who is very wealthy, very educated and kind of a party girl. There’s this way of speaking among these women where you don’t know whether they’re posh or hammered all the time. So, that’s where I started. Then I listened to very early Julie Christie, to get the early-’60s kind of sound, and then I listened to some very modern British party girls. That’s how I came up with Charly’s sloppy sound.
How did you meet Tom Ford?
I met him in 1998, right after my son was born. [Moore has two children and is married to the director Bart Freundlich.] Tom made a dress for me for the Oscars, the first time I was nominated, for “Boogie Nights.” In that movie, I played Amber Waves, a p*rno actress.
Tom was unbelievably charming and handsome and normal, not scary, which surprised me because he was one of the first designers I’d ever met. He made me a really beautiful black chiffon dress that kind of had an empire waist. Because I’d just had a baby, my boobs were really big. I didn’t feel confident enough to wear it.
But Tom was incredibly gracious. He said, “I don’t care — wear it, don’t wear it — it’s just a dress,’ ” And that was the beginning of my friendship with Tom.
What was Ford like as a director? Were you surprised that he co-wrote the script, which was based on a Christopher Isherwood novel?Not really — from our friendship, I knew he was interested in content. The script is primarily about love and loss and human connection, and although Tom reveals himself very slowly, what he reveals is very genuine.
Did you find yourself thinking a lot about clothes when you considered the character?
I always find that aspect of a character important. But, you can’t say, “Ooh — I like that Balenciaga dress and I’m going to wear it.” You have to wear something that the character has access to. People tell stories about themselves with their clothing, their hair, with the way they move and the way they present themselves. I learned that when I was young. I was always on the lookout for clues. And there are a lot of clues in how people dress.
You were an army brat — your family moved around a lot.
Yes, and that life teaches you that behavior is not concrete. A lot of people think that how you behave is a given or that behavior is character. When you move around a lot, you learn that behavior is mutable. I would change, depending on where I was. I would go to one school and everyone would dance one way and, then, at a new school, you’d notice that no one picked up their feet when they danced. You’re like, O.K. — I’ll shuffle my feet like them. You learn that there’s no one way to dance or be. For some reason, a lot of actors come from these peripatetic backgrounds — army kids, missionary kids, kids of salesmen. It teaches you to watch, to reinvent, that character can change.
There’s a freedom in that knowledge. And a loss of identity. Did you decide that you wanted to act at an early age?
I thought I was going to be a stage actress. One of the pathetic, secret parts of my personality is I love musical theater. I did that in high school but not very well. Even now, I love musicals: “Hairspray” is genius.
But I think people think of me as a bore, you know. A tragic bore. Dark is not something I am, but from the beginning people assumed my métier was tragedy. When I started out, I was cast on a soap opera, “As the World Turns,” as a quintessential good girl. I did that for a while and then they created the role of my evil, selfish half-sister/cousin. I played that too. They immediately thought of me as dark.
Maybe it’s your hair color. At the beginning of your career, did anyone suggest you dye your natural red hair blond, as, say, Nicole Kidman did?
No. [Laughs.] Although my very first director told me that if you have red hair, somebody is casting you for a reason. He said, “There will be parts that you don’t get because, especially onstage, people can see you.” I’ve been wigged plenty of times, but the funny thing is that even when I have a different hair color, people tend to still remember me as having red hair.
Early on, and throughout your career, you’ve always been comfortable with nudity. Did your feeling about being naked in the movies change when you had children?
No. My children don’t watch my movies. First of all, they’re not interested and, secondly, my movies are not for children. As an actor, you’re trying to portray the human condition and sometimes we don’t wear clothes. I made a movie called “Chloe” and there’s a great deal of sexual material in it. The director, Atom Egoyan, said: “You know, people do this. And when they do it, they’re usually nude.”