Boasting talent, versatility, and one of the most distinctive heads of hair in Hollywood, Julianne Moore has proven herself equally adept in both mainstream blockbusters and smaller, more intelligent films. The daughter of a military judge and a Scottish social worker, Moore was born in Fayetteville, NC, on December 3, 1961. After attending Boston University, she began her acting career via the taxing world of soap opera. From 1985 until 1988, she was best-known for her role as Franny Hughes on As the World Turns. The part, which on occasion required her to play twins, won Moore a 1988 Daytime Emmy Award.
The actress made her entrance into the big-screen arena with a 1990 debut in the schlocktastic Tales From the Darkside: The Movie (which also featured Steve Buscemi). Two years later, after making various TV movies, Moore reappeared in feature films with supporting parts in Curtis Hanson's tale of a babysitter gone bad, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, and the comedy The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag. The following year, her exposure increased further thanks to roles in four different films that ranged from the half-baked thriller Body of Evidence to the sweetly quirky Benny and Joon to the big-budget smash The Fugitive to Robert Altman's epic Short Cuts. The last film gave Moore literal exposure in addition to the more figurative kind: she was required to play one scene naked from the waist down, something that predictably won the attention of critics and filmgoers.
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