Julie Anne Smith, known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is particularly known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent films, as well as for her roles in blockbusters. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two Emmy Awards.
After studying theatre at Boston University, Moore began her career with a series of television roles. From 1985 to 1988, she was a regular in the soap opera As the World Turns, earning a Daytime Emmy for her performance. She made her film debut in 1990, and continued to play supporting roles throughout the early 1990s. Moore made her breakthrough with Robert Altman's Short Cuts (1993), followed by critically acclaimed performances in Vanya on 42nd Street (1994) and Safe (1995). Starring roles in the blockbusters Nine Months (1995) and The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) established her as a Hollywood leading lady.
Moore went on the receive Oscar nominations for her roles in the period films Boogie Nights (1997), The End of the Affair (1999), Far from Heaven (2002) and The Hours (2002); in the first of these, she played a 1970s pornographic actress, while in the other three, she starred as a mid-twentieth century unhappy housewife. Other notable films include The Big Lebowski (1998), Magnolia (1999), Hannibal (2001), Children of Men (2006), A Single Man (2009), The Kids Are All Right (2010), Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011), and Maps to the Stars (2014). She won a Primetime Emmy Award for her portrayal of Sarah Palin in the HBO film Game Change (2012), and the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of an Alzheimer's patient in Still Alice (2014). Among her highest-grossing releases are the final two films in the The Hunger Games film series and the spy film Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017).
In addition to her acting work, Moore has written a series of children's books about a character named Freckleface Strawberry. In 2015, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and in 2020, The New York Times named her one of the greatest actors of the 21st century. She is married to director Bart Freundlich, with whom she has two children.
