Contender Q&A: Julianne Moore on her role in ‘The Kids Are All Right’

This summer’s “The Kids Are All Right” (now out on DVD) is a warm look at a normal, moderately dysfunctional family of four that happens to be headed by two moms, played by Julianne Moore and Annette Bening. When the kids ( Josh Hutcherson and Mia Wasikowska) seek out their sperm donor, played by Mark Ruffalo, the family’s seams begin to fray. As they deal with the new person in their lives and what he means to each of them, Moore’s character, Jules, is at the center of the comedy and the drama that is unleashed.

This part was written for you, wasn’t it?

It kind of was. I met [director] Lisa Cholodenko at one of the Women in Film lunches seven or eight years ago, and told her that I loved her movies and would love to work with her. I actually said, ‘Why did I not see the script for “High Art”?’ which is a very actory thing to say. She laughed, and we kept in touch. About a year or two after that, she sent me the script for “The Kids Are All Right” and said, basically, you can choose whichever part you want.

Why did you pick Jules?

So often in films, a character’s narrative is spelled out. They understand what their issue is, they’re moving toward resolving it, they get somewhere, it has a beginning middle and end. That’s why narrative is so wonderful, we love it, it’s organized. But life’s not like that. Sometimes, when we’re in the midst of change, it’s pretty convoluted, and we’re not able to articulate what’s wrong. Jules’ kids are leaving home, she’s got to find a career, she feels somewhat disenfranchised from her partner, she doesn’t feel validated, but she can’t articulate any of it. So she’s just sort of held in the balance in this movie, and you feel like she could go in any direction. I love that. I very rarely see something like that. It’s very complicated to figure out, and that’s what I wanted to do as an actor.

Isn’t it incredibly difficult to play an inarticulate character?

But it’s wonderful, because who hasn’t felt that way? Anytime I’m in the middle of an emotional crisis, I’ve never been able to articulate what’s going on with me. It’s not until you have some hindsight that you can say, ‘Oh, that’s what was going on!’ It was so magnificently written that I was really drawn to her. And she’s a very soulful person who’s also deeply in love with her partner and her family.

It’s been discussed to death, but it’s so matter-of-fact that the parents in this family are lesbians.

Isn’t that a wonderful thing? Lisa wasn’t setting out to make a political film at all, but she set out to make an absolutely personal film. And that’s what this is. They always say the personal is political, that’s how it ends up...

I always say film does not influence popular culture as much as it reflects popular culture. You can’t make a movie and have it be seen if it’s not something that’s happening in our culture at large. And it is. Twenty years ago, we couldn’t have made this movie.

A number of your films play like a time travel lesson through shifting cultural mores. There’s almost a through line from “Far From Heaven,” through “A Single Man,” to “Kids.”

I think context is incredibly important. It’s one of the reasons I like time framing, I like style, I like genre. I like all that stuff better than just naturalism because there’s much more that can be communicated within a frame, and that’s exciting.

But this film is naturalistic.

Yeah, it is, and yet it definitely has a point of view, it has a reference that’s very culturally on point, it’s very particular to the place, it’s very much about L.A., so all of those things give it a really strong frame.

Have you ever thought of directing?

Sometimes I think about maybe going to film school. There’s an awful lot that I’ve learned, but there’s an awful lot that I would like to know in a more specific way. I think it’s hubris to say, ‘And now I’m going to direct.’ I’m not there yet. But it’s certainly something I’d like to examine. For me, the great part of acting is the filming part. I want to know where the frame is, I want to know what the shots are. I like to know the shape of things.

calendar@latimes.com