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MOORE’S LONG, TWOMONTH PREP FOR FILM
Academy-award winning artist Julianne Moore has revealed that she spent two months learning American Sign Language for her portrayal of a deaf woman in her upcoming movie Wonderstruck.
The actor played two characters, a silent movie star in 1927 and a deaf woman in 1977. For her scenes as Rose in 1977, Moore spent two months learning American Sign Language, and then got pointers from deaf actor Millicent Simmonds.
“She (Simmonds) was so nice about my signing, which is bad. It’s like talking to a baby. I’m not kidding! But Millicent was very encouraging. She’d always go, ‘You got it, keep going, keep practicing,” said Moore.
She also revealed that getting to play two roles was just “too hard to resist” for her. “That’s hard to resist, getting to play two parts. And the book is pretty extraordinary. It’s about these kids who are trying to find their parents, but what they end up finding is their culture and community. That’s something beautiful and very meaningful.”
Moore also shared that she was able to provide some pointers to her young co-stars about how to adapt their performances to a historical period.
“One thing Todd (director Todd Haynes) does beautifully is that he assembles research material for us. Obviously because I was playing a silent film actress, I looked at all of those. Then some wonderful iconic films from the ‘70s and a really great documentary on the blackout of 1977,” said Moore.
“The material gave us all a tremendous amount of context. And what I think Todd does better than any filmmaker alive is physical-ise and manifest emotions cinematically in cities. That’s why we are so inspired by big cities and places we’ve created, because they are monuments to humanity,”
One thing Todd (director Todd Haynes) does beautifully is that he assembles research material for us. I was playing a silent film actress, so I looked at all of those. Then some wonderful iconic films from the ‘70s and a really great documentary on the blackout of 1977. The material gave us all a tremendous amount of context JULIANNE MOORE ACTOR
she added.
Wonderstruck is the story of a young boy in the Midwest that’s told simultaneously with a tale about a young girl in New York from fifty years ago as they both seek the same mysterious connection. The flick also stars Simmonds and Cory Michael Smith in pivotal roles.