Spotlight On: Julianne Moore

With the help of the 1993 hit, ‘The Fugitive,’ Julianne Moore has enjoyed an extremely prolific and diverse career. With Moore heading into awards season with her work in the tearjerker 'Still Alice,' let’s look back at some of her best and most interesting films.

Before ‘The Fugitive,’ Moore had an early role in this psychological thriller about a crazy nanny (Rebecca De Mornay) who plots to steal a woman's family. Moore's character was (spoiler!) unfortunate collateral damage along the way.

This film remains one of Moore' best-reviewed efforts. She appears as part of a large ensemble cast who are all united by conflicts involving death, infidelity, and random chance – and her vulnerable performance stands out from the crowd. 

Hugh Grant was king of the romantic comedy during the '90s, and Moore had her chance to co-star with him in this tale of a man terrified at the prospect of starting a family. This film marked her biggest role to date at the time, and despite ‘Month’s’ less-than-stellar reviews, Moore emerged relatively unscathed by the critics. 

‘Nights’ marks Moore’s first time working with filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, as well as signaling her trend of taking on more dynamic and unusual roles. This film cast her as an aging, drug-addicted porn star named Amber Waves, who formed an unlikely bond with Mark Wahlberg's Dirk Diggler.

This hotly-anticipated sequel to ‘Jurassic Park’ didn't quite recapture the old magic, but Moore was a welcome addition to the dino-mayhem, playing a romantic interest and intellectual foil to Jeff Goldblum's Ian Malcolm. 

In what is easily one of Moore's most colorful performances, she plays Maude Lebowski, a quirky, avant-garde artist who aids Jeff Bridges' Dude on his bizarre journey through this cult-favorite, Coen Brothers film. 

Once described by writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson as “the best film I'll ever make,” the Robert Altman-esque ‘Magnolia’ saw Moore once again act alongside a large ensemble cast united by interconnected storylines and, yes, raining frogs. 

At the time, taking over the role of FBI Agent Clarice Starling from Jodie Foster was her highest-profile gig. And like ‘The Lost World,’ this was another sequel that didn't quite live up to the original -- but few complained about Moore's portrayal of the intrepid heroine.

Moore earned an Academy Award nomination for her role in this drama, where she plays a 1950s suburban housewife whose world comes undone, thanks to her husband's homosexual affair and her own attraction to a black man. Hey -- back then, that stuff was taboo.

This film, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, explores three different 24-hour periods during the years of 1923, 1951 and 2001. Moore earned another Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of the unhappy housewife, Laura Brown. But it was her costar, Nicole Kidman, who would take home the Oscar for her impressive turn as troubled author, Virginia Woolf. 

Though not well received by critics, this psychological sci-fi thriller was considerably elevated by Moore's performance. She plays a mother struggling to prove that her son -- whose death she spent 14 months grieving -- had actually existed. 

This dystopian sci-fi film, based on the P.D. James novel, envisioned a dark world where no new children were born in two decades. In a glorified cameo, Moore plays a revolutionary determined to ensure the survival of the world's only pregnant woman.

This well-received comedy/drama paired Moore with Annette Bening as a lesbian couple whose two children seek out their sperm donor father (Mark Ruffalo). The result was a fun, smart examination of the 21st Century family unit.

This film updated the classic Henry James novel to take place in modern-day New York. Moore and Steve Coogan play a wildly irresponsible couple, who split up and leave their daughter to deal with the fallout of a broken family.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt wrote, directed and starred in this film about a ‘Jersey Shore’-inspired ladies man with a destructive pornography addiction. Moore plays an older woman who opens up Jon to more meaningful romantic relationships, and their chemistry is quite compelling. 

Moore had her chance to tackle one of Stephen King's more iconic villains in this franchise reboot. She plays Margaret White, a religious fanatic who drives her teenage daughter (Chloe Grace Moretz) into a telekinetic killing spree. Typical moms, amirites?!

Not every actress can hold their own against a butt-kicking Liam Neeson, but that's exactly what Moore did when she co-starred in this action film as a plane passenger helping Neeson's air marshal stop a terrorist plot.

The newest member of the 'Hunger Games' cast, Moore more than held her own opposite Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss in the role of President Coin. The steely leader of the resistance plays a key part in the conclusion to the YA hit, and fans can't wait to see how it all plays out on the big screen. 

Oscar's red carpet seems to be in Moore's future, thanks to her compelling and haunting performance in this little-seen 2014 inde -- which recently garnered Moore a Best Actress nomination. As Dr. Alice Howland, Moore arguably delivers career-best work as a lively college professor slowly being chipped away by Alzheimer's.