A former war reporter, Martha is now fighting a losing battle with cancer.
JULIANNE MOORE:It was in the 80s.
It was just incredible.
Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore in ‘The Room Next Door'© Sony Pictures Classics / Everett Collection
DEADLINE: Hed been talking about doing an English-language film for a long time.
Did you ever think that you would be part of it?
Like, Oh, is it going to happen?
Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton in ‘The Room Next Door’© Sony Pictures Classics / Everett Collection
Hes going to do this; hes going to do that.
Maybe I could work with him.
I had given up hope.
DEADLINE: How did it come about?
What was the timeline?
MOORE:It was about … God, when was it?
We started rehearsing it around this time last year, actually, and then finished filming it in May.
I suppose he sent me the script for it about six months before.
It was out of the blue.
Then right after that, we started rehearsing.
DEADLINE: Youd never worked with Tilda before.
I find that quite amazing.
MOORE:I know, right?
DEADLINE: Were you always going to play Ingrid?
MOORE:It was always Ingrid.
I heard, subsequent to this, that when Pedro said, Who do you think should play Ingrid?
they both emailed each other with my name at the same time.
DEADLINE: Did you read the novel, or was that not necessary?
MOORE:I did, yeah.
There are lots of differences, actually.
DEADLINE: How did you prepare for a role like this?
Tildas part has a little bit of meat to it, in that shes a war reporter.
MOORE:I spoke to Sigrid.
Im not a writer, but I do think the creative process is often about observation and research.
DEADLINE: Did it scare you in any way?
Because within the fiction of the story, Ingrid is scared of death and yet shes dealing with death.
Did it strike a chord with you?
MOORE:Pedro talks about this.
Listen, I think its a rare person who has real equanimity about death.
We have a tendency to look away.
Its a hard thing to look at.
Of course, the older we get, the more experiences we have with it.
Thats just how life is, and so youre forced to deal with it.
I think thats probably whats inciting her fear.
Shes at a place where death is something thats real, and shes forcing herself to talk about it.
In a sense, its what we all have to do.
Were going to have to deal with it one way or another.
Do I want to sit by and watch someone [who is dying]?
I think Ingrids the best of us, in a sense.
DEADLINE: Where did you shoot the movie?
MOORE:We shot it in Madrid.
It was pretty much 100% Madrid.
DEADLINE: And how was that, given that the story is firmly set in New York?
MOORE:Well, its not New York.
Its Pedrosdreamof New York.
Everything in this film and all of his films is larger than life.
They have a fairytale quality.
They have a dreamy quality to them.
Hell say that too.
His language is elevated.
His language is poetic.
He doesnt even always listen to the words; he listens to the musicality of a phrase.
He listens to that.
Its like theres so much sensorially that goes into his writing and his production.
But the base is this really potent emotionality.
Thats what anchors it.
I think thats what makes this movie so beautiful.
MOORE:We definitely had time to rehearse.
Thats very, very important to Pedro.
We did it initially in his apartment in Madrid.
Wed be there for a couple of weeks.
Sometimes during those weeks, we not only rehearsed, but wed also start working on fittings.
It was a slow process.
He wants to feel certain, because, once we started shooting, we moved very, very quickly.
DEADLINE: Do you have any say in the costumes on an Almodovar movie?
MOORE:We do.
We worked very closely with Bina Daigeler, who was our really unbelievably talented costume designer.
In the fitting, thats what you do.
You try on the pants, you try on the top, you do this, you do that.
Then Pedro would come in too, and he would say, No, I like the other jacket.
Hes specific about the characters, about the shapes and the colors that they wear too.
But, of course, you should probably do that in conjunction.
DEADLINE: The same for makeup?
Pedro seems to be very specific about lipstick.
MOORE:He is.
We test that as well.
He does camera tests for makeup, and there were lots of iterations with my character.
I actually have some photos of that, because I was like, Whats going on?
What are we doing?
We basically landed where we landed.
Pedro cares about women being beautiful, and thats something I really appreciate too.
Also, bear in mind that these characters are dressing clearly for each other.
There are no men around them.
Theyre looking good for each other and for themselves.
DEADLINE: How does it compare with working withTodd Haynes?
MOORE:Theyre both extraordinary filmmakers.
People talk about how directors are different, and I say, For me, everybodys different.
Human beings are different, but what great directors have in common is a strong point of view.
Its about how they tell the story and through what lens they tell the story.
DEADLINE: Did Pedro give any hints as to whether he will return to English-language filmmaking?
MOORE:Im sure he will.
Im sure he will.
I think he loved it, and I think its been really fun for him.
I bet he will.
