A few years ago, Julianne Moore remembers hearing rumors that Pedro Almodóvar was considering making his first English-language film. She recalls her peers being excited about the prospect of finally being able to work with the legendary Spanish auteur. And then, nothing happened. Then, out of the blue, Moore got an E-mail from Almodóvar asking if she’d star in his next movie alongside Tilda Swinton. There was an unfortunate strike delay, but it finally happened. The trio’s collaboration, “The Room Next Door,” went before cameras almost a year ago and ended up winning the Golden Lion at the 2024 Venice Film Festival this past September.
READ MORE: “The Room Next Door” Review: Almodóvar’s English Language euthanasia melodrama
An adaptation of a portion of Sigrid Nunez‘s novel “What Are You Going Through?” the melodrama centers on two old friends, Ingrid (Moore) and Martha (Swinton), who reunited in New York City after not seeing each other in years. Despite that absence, Martha, who is suffering from cancer, asks Ingrid for an important favor to assist her with her plans for euthanasia. Martha reluctantly agrees because, as Almodóvar told Moore, the character is inherently a “good person.”
Moore lights up when recalling working with Almodóvar on set. There was one scene where she remembers his magic the most. Snow is supposed to be falling outside a hospital room window, but it was going to be added as a visual effect later. Almodóvar used that as an opportunity to give great context to the moment and also give himself a new narrative option.
“So he said, ‘I wonder if the snow will fall,’ So it’s possible that Martha could say, ‘Look, the snow is falling,’ and Ingrid could look, and there’s no snow,” Moore explains. “And so you’re just listening to your friend, and you’re realizing that she’s in a crisis, and not only is she in a health crisis and pretty despairing, but she’s also seeing snow, imaginary snow. So, he ended up choosing that the snow was actually falling. But I remember I really loved that note because it’s so complicated, and honestly, it doesn’t play differently either way. If you see the snow falling, it’s magical, and it’s beautiful, and it’s emotional If you turn and the snow is not falling, it’s magical and beautiful and emotional that your friend sees that. So, in a sense, Ingrid’s reaction is complicated either way.”
During our conversation early this month, Moore recalled her encounters with Almodóvar over the years, the freedom he provided her to find Martha, whether she thinks he’ll make another English-language feature, and much more.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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The Playlist: I’m guessing you must have known Pedro before this. You must have socialized in some way over the years.
Julianne Moore: I had met him socially. I mean, I remember there was a party that I went to years and years ago at Kim Hastreiter‘s house. She was the person who was the editor of Paper Magazine, and I was friends with somebody who worked at Paper, and so he brought me to this party, and I met Pedro for the first time there. And I think I might have met him earlier at like other…I feel like we might’ve run into one another at film festivals or something. Because I remember there was a rumor at that time that he was going to make a movie in English, and everyone was all excited. We were all a twitter in the United States cause we thought maybe we’d have a shot at working with Pedro and whatever. So, I feel like that might’ve been the first time I had a conversation with him, was at that party.
But then I would always see him. I’d see him in Europe at a film festival or something or once again at a party. He was always incredibly kind and really easy to be with and easy to talk to. We sat next to each other at a fashion show. I remember I sent him an email. I was in Cannes, and I saw “Pain and Glory” in the theater there, and it was just such a beautiful movie. And we got to the end where the camera pulls out, and it’s Penelope [Cruz], and the boy and I burst into tears, and I was just so moved. Anyway, I remember writing him an email and saying, “You’re a master, and this is incredible,” and whatever. But then I hadn’t seen him in a while, and so it was pretty much a surprise that out of the blue that, I got this email saying that he was making this English language feature with Tilda, and he wanted me to join them. So, there really hadn’t been any discussion, but I was always a fan. I was always happy to see him. We would always have conversations, but I didn’t think he was ever going to make a movie in English and that I would be in it.
He asks you to be in the movie or to consider it. What were your initial thoughts?
It was actually quite a while ago. They sent the script, and then the strike happened, and so it all ended up getting kind of delayed. We couldn’t touch it. Pedro really likes to rehearse, and he wanted to kind of get into it much earlier. We couldn’t do it. We couldn’t meet at all, and so we didn’t end up rehearsing it until around this time last year when the strike was over.
