Julianne Moore on Sarah Palin Role: 'She Wasn't a Qualified Candidate'
Julianne Moore, who has been cast as Sarah Palin in HBO's new movie "Game Change," has revealed that politics and Hollywood aren't so different. The actress also commented on the political aspects of her role, suggesting that not only was Palin unqualified to be America's next Vice President, she had a lack of interest in governing altogether.
"Game Change" will premiere on HBO March 10 and with it is likely to come renewed controversy over Sarah Palin. The film will focus on John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign in which Palin was select as prospective Vice President. Julianne Moore, who played Palin, recently spoke of her role to Capitol File magazine.
Moore explained that it was important for her to accurately depict Palin.
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"I basically had two months to prepare, so I cleared my schedule of everything, literally," she told Capitol File. "I cleared everything that didn't involve my family -- I just let go of it and spent all of my time doing the research."
Although Moore described Palin as a charismatic character, she also relayed that it was perhaps Palin's charisma that disguised her actual ability to handle the position for which she was selected.
"We expect [candidates] to lead, and we expect them to be like movie stars, and that's a pretty tall order," Moore said. "We continue to respond to people who are the most charismatic. And it seems to me, when you have a candidate like [Palin] who has a natural ability to reach people, that sometimes shoves every other quality out the door."
Moore talked more about what appeared to make Palin likeable.
"Here's a woman who's a parent, who's an actual working mother, who worked her way up from local government, who was definitely middle working class, married to a commercial fisherman. She was incredibly relatable, she was attractive, she was young; she was speaking to a wider portion of the population that didn't feel that they'd been noticed or seen or heard," Moore commented.
However, according to Moore, that didn't make her qualified.
"She wasn't a qualified candidate. I think that became quite evident during the campaign. It was so shocking to me when she resigned the governorship of Alaska when the presidential election was over. I was stunned. I just think that shows such an unbelievable lack of interest in the actual governing," said Moore.
Moore also expressed surprise at how familiar the life of a politician seemed.
"I had no idea what really goes into making a candidate. I was actually shocked by how close it was to the way Hollywood markets an actor or film or any idea. It's about a very careful kind of exposure, and putting candidates on with one anchor and another anchor, and limiting appearances and using everything very strategically," she said.
Palin's aides don't seem the least bit excited about the upcoming movie.
"I haven't seen HBO's latest effort at manipulating history," Tim Crawford, a top aide to Palin, told The Washington Post on Feb. 17. "However, based upon the description and reports from people who have viewed the film 'Game Change,' HBO has distorted, twisted and invented facts to create a false narrative and attract viewers. They call it a docu-drama; there is little 'docu' in it. HBO must add a disclaimer that this movie is fiction."
