Julianne Moore (born Julie Anne Smith; December 3, 1960) is an American actress and author. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is particularly known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in both independent and blockbuster films, and has received many accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award and two Golden Globes. Time magazine named Moore one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2015.
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 Award for her performance. Her film debut was in Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990), and she continued to play small roles for the next four years, including in the thriller The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992). Moore first received critical attention with Robert Altman's Short Cuts (1993), and successive performances in Vanya on 42nd Street (1994) and Safe (1995) continued this acclaim. Starring roles in the blockbusters Nine Months (1995) and The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) established her as a leading lady in Hollywood.