Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman in “May December”.Photo:Francois Duhamel / Courtesy of NetflixNatalie Portmanwon’t soon forget her experience starring oppositeJulianne Moore.In an interview withNetflix Queue(conducted prior to the actors' strike), Portman, 42, said working with Moore, 62, onMay Decemberwas “absolutely a highlight of my life.““I’ve admired Julie for so long, and particularly her work with [director] Todd [Haynes],” Portman said.“Their collaborations have stayed in my mind as some of the highlights of films that I love,” she continued. “So to get to be working with them together is absolutely a highlight of my life.”The film is about an actress named Elizabeth Berry (Portman) who travels to Georgia to meet and study the life of the woman she is preparing to portray in her next role: Gracie Atherton-Yoo (Moore).Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman in “May December”.Francois Duhamel / Courtesy of NetflixGracie and the much younger Joe Yoo (Charles Melton) engaged in a controversial romance that landed her in prison due to their age difference. After her release, the two married and had a family together.According to Netflix Queue, Portman brought the script to Haynes in 2020 and serves as a producer of the movie. Moore said the story immediately drew her in.“I loved this script when I first read it,” she recalled. “It’s interesting. It felt slight at first. But the minute you get into it, it’s unbelievably sturdy. It holds a tremendous amount of feeling and humanity and complexity.”Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Natalie Portman (left) and Julianne Moore star in ‘May December.'.Francois Duhamel / Courtesy of NetflixMoore also opened up about the nuances of her character and what lies under the surface.“For Gracie, there’s been a tremendous amount of judgment about her,” she explained. “She wants to say, ‘See me. Know who I am. Know why I’ve made these choices.’ She wants to be known. I think that there’s something really interesting about that, about letting somebody into your very, very private life to explore, to see who you are.““But, of course, Gracie’s also presenting a version of herself that she wants to be known,” Moore added. “I think Elizabeth becomes more dangerous as Gracie realizes that she can’t control her own narrative.”Natalie Portman, Charles Melton and Julianne Moore at the Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2023.Lionel Hahn/GettyHaynes told Netflix Queue that Moore is a master at portraying complex female characters. The duo worked together on previous films likeSafe(1995),Far from Heaven(2002) andWonderstruck(2017).“Julianne loves to enter into these places of inscrutability in her depictions of women, and in stories in general,” he said. “She does not want to put the viewer at ease. How you ignite a viewer’s thinking and questioning — that is opening up something incredibly potent and special, and a lot of movies sort of shut that down.”May Decemberis in select theaters Nov. 17 then on Netflix Dec. 1.
Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman in “May December”.Photo:Francois Duhamel / Courtesy of Netflix
Francois Duhamel / Courtesy of Netflix
Natalie Portmanwon’t soon forget her experience starring oppositeJulianne Moore.In an interview withNetflix Queue(conducted prior to the actors’ strike), Portman, 42, said working with Moore, 62, onMay Decemberwas “absolutely a highlight of my life.““I’ve admired Julie for so long, and particularly her work with [director] Todd [Haynes],” Portman said.“Their collaborations have stayed in my mind as some of the highlights of films that I love,” she continued. “So to get to be working with them together is absolutely a highlight of my life.”The film is about an actress named Elizabeth Berry (Portman) who travels to Georgia to meet and study the life of the woman she is preparing to portray in her next role: Gracie Atherton-Yoo (Moore).Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman in “May December”.Francois Duhamel / Courtesy of NetflixGracie and the much younger Joe Yoo (Charles Melton) engaged in a controversial romance that landed her in prison due to their age difference. After her release, the two married and had a family together.According to Netflix Queue, Portman brought the script to Haynes in 2020 and serves as a producer of the movie. Moore said the story immediately drew her in.“I loved this script when I first read it,” she recalled. “It’s interesting. It felt slight at first. But the minute you get into it, it’s unbelievably sturdy. It holds a tremendous amount of feeling and humanity and complexity.”Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Natalie Portman (left) and Julianne Moore star in ‘May December.'.Francois Duhamel / Courtesy of NetflixMoore also opened up about the nuances of her character and what lies under the surface.“For Gracie, there’s been a tremendous amount of judgment about her,” she explained. “She wants to say, ‘See me. Know who I am. Know why I’ve made these choices.’ She wants to be known. I think that there’s something really interesting about that, about letting somebody into your very, very private life to explore, to see who you are.““But, of course, Gracie’s also presenting a version of herself that she wants to be known,” Moore added. “I think Elizabeth becomes more dangerous as Gracie realizes that she can’t control her own narrative.”Natalie Portman, Charles Melton and Julianne Moore at the Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2023.Lionel Hahn/GettyHaynes told Netflix Queue that Moore is a master at portraying complex female characters. The duo worked together on previous films likeSafe(1995),Far from Heaven(2002) andWonderstruck(2017).“Julianne loves to enter into these places of inscrutability in her depictions of women, and in stories in general,” he said. “She does not want to put the viewer at ease. How you ignite a viewer’s thinking and questioning — that is opening up something incredibly potent and special, and a lot of movies sort of shut that down.”May Decemberis in select theaters Nov. 17 then on Netflix Dec. 1.
Natalie Portmanwon’t soon forget her experience starring oppositeJulianne Moore.
In an interview withNetflix Queue(conducted prior to the actors’ strike), Portman, 42, said working with Moore, 62, onMay Decemberwas “absolutely a highlight of my life.”
“I’ve admired Julie for so long, and particularly her work with [director] Todd [Haynes],” Portman said.
“Their collaborations have stayed in my mind as some of the highlights of films that I love,” she continued. “So to get to be working with them together is absolutely a highlight of my life.”
The film is about an actress named Elizabeth Berry (Portman) who travels to Georgia to meet and study the life of the woman she is preparing to portray in her next role: Gracie Atherton-Yoo (Moore).
Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman in “May December”.Francois Duhamel / Courtesy of Netflix
Gracie and the much younger Joe Yoo (Charles Melton) engaged in a controversial romance that landed her in prison due to their age difference. After her release, the two married and had a family together.
According to Netflix Queue, Portman brought the script to Haynes in 2020 and serves as a producer of the movie. Moore said the story immediately drew her in.
“I loved this script when I first read it,” she recalled. “It’s interesting. It felt slight at first. But the minute you get into it, it’s unbelievably sturdy. It holds a tremendous amount of feeling and humanity and complexity.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Natalie Portman (left) and Julianne Moore star in ‘May December.'.Francois Duhamel / Courtesy of Netflix
Moore also opened up about the nuances of her character and what lies under the surface.
“For Gracie, there’s been a tremendous amount of judgment about her,” she explained. “She wants to say, ‘See me. Know who I am. Know why I’ve made these choices.’ She wants to be known. I think that there’s something really interesting about that, about letting somebody into your very, very private life to explore, to see who you are.”
“But, of course, Gracie’s also presenting a version of herself that she wants to be known,” Moore added. “I think Elizabeth becomes more dangerous as Gracie realizes that she can’t control her own narrative.”
Natalie Portman, Charles Melton and Julianne Moore at the Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2023.Lionel Hahn/Getty
Haynes told Netflix Queue that Moore is a master at portraying complex female characters. The duo worked together on previous films likeSafe(1995),Far from Heaven(2002) andWonderstruck(2017).
“Julianne loves to enter into these places of inscrutability in her depictions of women, and in stories in general,” he said. “She does not want to put the viewer at ease. How you ignite a viewer’s thinking and questioning — that is opening up something incredibly potent and special, and a lot of movies sort of shut that down.”
May Decemberis in select theaters Nov. 17 then on Netflix Dec. 1.
source: people.com
