When the paparazzi snap photos of Julianne Moore and her family, she’s often pictured escorting her kids—Caleb, 12, and Liv, 8—around the city, looking cheerful, casual, relaxed. Often in a uniform of sneakers and lived-in jeans, the luminous, 50-year-old actress, who is married to director Bart Freundlich, is the picture of an everyday—albeit gorgeous—city mom.

But of course, she’s also Julianne Moore, the prolific actress who this year alone portrayed a ‘60s British housewife living in L.A. in “A Single Man,” Alec Baldwin’s Boston-bred love interest on “30 Rock,” and Jules, half of the lesbian couple that garnered critics’ praise in “The Kids Are All Right”—a role that just might earn the actress her fifth Oscar nomination. In recent years, Moore has also written two popular autobiographical children’s books, “Freckleface Strawberry” and “Freckleface Strawberry and the Dodgeball Bully,” the original being the inspiration for the hit Off-Broadway musical of the same name that debuted last month at the New World Stages.

Meeting her in person, it’s hard not to be a little in awe of Moore, who juggles a demanding Hollywood career and rich family life with what seems to be an inexhaustible supply of poise, humility and humor. A long-term ambassador for “Save The Children,” Moore is especially passionate about kids, and truly gets them—whether it’s her own two children, the kids all over the country who have bonded with her books, or of course, her seven-year-old self, who served as the prototype for Freckleface Strawberry, the spunky protagonist who, in her own way, is as inspiring as her creator.

What was your inspiration in writing the book? Did you approach the material as a former kid or as a mother or as both?

As a kid! At the time that I wrote the book my son was 7 and my daughter was 3, and I had been reading a lot of picture books to my kids. The books that I enjoyed were the ones that had a sense of humor and were written from a child’s perspective, and those were the ones that the kids liked too. I think those sort of, “once upon a time…” stories, where it’s very much about a story being kind of told to a kid, can be less engaging than something that is kid-driven. So that’s what I was going for, something kid-driven, something active and something funny.

What age ranges have you found respond most passionately to the book?

It’s interesting because the children who really understand the story are 6 or 7 years old. It’s a book that can be read to littler kids, and I think they enjoy it—they like the freckles and the disappearing and all the other funny things. But at around age 7, children suddenly become acutely self-aware. That’s when they get their big teeth; that’s when they become aware of how they’re different from who’s next to them. And they become self-conscious for the first time. So when I read the book to kids, we talk about that stuff.

Did you have any creative input with the musical adaptation?

Rose Caiola, who is the producer and co-writer of the musical’s book, optioned the production a couple of years ago as something to do with her dance school [see sidebar below] for the kids to perform. And as it came together, it was clear that the songs were very strong, and they had something bigger on their hands. Rose has been great all along—inviting me to rehearsals and listening to my notes. They’ve been very careful about trying to preserve the message and the tone of the book. It’s been great; they’ve been very inclusive.

When you share the book with your daughter, Liv, does she have a special relationship with the title character?

She likes it, because she knows that it was a childhood nickname of mine that I didn’t like. Actually, the character, as drawn, really reminds me of my daughter. She looks much more like my daughter— and more my daughter when she was younger, she’s 8 now—than me, in a sense. And [the illustrator, LeUyen Pham] had never met my daughter, but she somehow managed to draw her!

Tell me about your children. What do you love about them at the age they are now?

I love everything about them at every age, and I think the great thing about parenthood is that there’s no downside, there’s no stage that you’re not going to enjoy. You know, just when you think, “this is the best ever,” they move into something else that is equally wonderful. My son Caleb is 12 and a half, and he’s getting to the point where we can travel together alone. Last weekend we went out to dinner together and went to the theater, and talked about the show and about the book he was reading. We also have TV shows he likes to watch with me, and we have a different relationship based on him being older and more interested in the adult world. And my daughter is really right in the middle of being a kid. She’s 8 years old. She’s moved out of the little kid stage entirely and is moving into the big kid stage. Just watching her interest in school and in books and in becoming who she is has been very, very exciting.

In your experience, is there anything about being an actress that has made you a better parent?

Well it’s interesting; somebody recently asked me what have I learned through acting and what I have learned in films, and I said, it’s really what you learn in your life that adds to what you do in your work. You know, I think everything you do, including being a parent, all the life experiences you accumulate, all the relationships you have—that makes you a better and deeper actor.

You’re often cited as being a normal city celebrity mom, and often photographed in jeans and sneakers walking your children to school. Is that sense of normalcy something that you actively cultivate or does it just come naturally?

I think it’s just who we are. I mean we’re a pretty regular New York City family, lucky enough to live in a great neighborhood. We spend a lot of time together doing usual stuff around school, stuff around our life, and it just happens to be somewhat in the public eye. But we are really just a pretty pedestrian, regular New York family.

With your own upbringing all over the country and the world, how did you pick NYC as the place to raise your children?

I moved here right after college to start my career and really loved it. Having lived kind of everywhere in the world I was really excited by New York, and felt like it had an awful lot to offer. And then I met my husband, who was born and raised here, so for him there was literally no question of being anywhere else. But when we first met, we were living in California, and our son was born in California, so we had to make the decision when he was very young to move back here. So at that point it was weird because all of my friends had moved to L.A. and I was like, “all right, I’m going to go back to New York!” But it was just about being in a place that we thought was going to be a good place for our kids.

How have your experiences been thus far raising your children here?

They’ve been really great. The city demands a lot—I mean sometimes you feel kind of overwhelmed by its vastness, you can get sucked in; there is chaos here. But there are also ways to carve out quiet. There are great parks, there are great facilities for kids, there’s a way to have the quiet life, and I’ve really enjoyed it so far.

Tell me about Barilla’s new “Celebrity Pasta Lovers’ Cookbook” and the “Share The Table” initiative. What motivated you to get involved in this project?

Simply that every time you download that cookbook online they give a dollar to Meals On Wheels, which is a tremendous way to donate money to a charity. It was very nice to be a part of it; it was all about celebrating the family dinner hour and how people can spend more time together, and then raising money for a charity as well.

I read that there is a no-phone, no-television, a general no-technology rule in your household at dinner time. Why is dinner time such a sacred time in your home?

That’s the way I grew up. You’re not allowed to answer the phone. And now you can’t text or watch television, because people are distracted and they don’t focus on each other. At dinnertime, you talk about your day, your highs and your lows, you tell stories. It’s a time when your kids can really feel part of the family and connect with you.

What is one of your favorite meals to cook for or with your family?

To be honest with you, I really love to cook when we’re at the beach! We have a little house at the beach, and that’s when I probably do the most cooking because we grill and we have a lot of fresh vegetables. There’s always corn and tomatoes and it’s a very easy and fast way to cook. I love it so much so that I’m thinking, “How can I get a grill in New York City?”

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, can you share one holiday or Thanksgiving tradition that’s important to your family?

There’s a cornbread that I make, it’s from the Martha Stewart cookbook, and I’ve made it every single holiday for the last 15 years. I make it at Thanksgiving and I usually make it a few times between then and Christmas time, and then I make it at Christmas, and we have a cornbread stuffing, too. And then at that point everybody’s saturated with the cornbread and it’s over!

What do you consider to be some of your biggest challenges as a parent?

I think it’s a challenge every day to try to figure out if you’re doing the right things for your kids, if they feel secure. It’s interesting with my daughter— I’ve noticed with her that if she’s not fed every couple of hours she falls apart. And we talked about that, I said, “You have to eat lunch at school, you have to concentrate on that.” And so you realize, she’s only 8, she doesn’t have it all together. It’s about how do you make sure they’re well cared for in every aspect of their life.

Who are your favorite children’s authors?

I love Mo Willems, and Kevin Henkes is also someone that I really admire—those are two great picture book authors. In terms of older children, my son has really loved Rick Riordan’s “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” books. He’s reading “The Hunger Games” [by Suzanne Collins] now, he really loves it. My daughter is reading “Ramona” right now. I of course, like all the moms my age, love the “Little House on the Prairie” books and “Little Women.” But I’m finding that a lot of girls think they’re too slow. I’m still dying for my daughter to get into those.

Are your kids showing any early passions for acting, or anything else for that matter?

My son really loves basketball and he plays the guitar, too. And my daughter, she’ll say she wants to be an actress now, and I think it’s a real possibility. I’m curious what she’ll do, but she’s really interested in singing and performing. She loves it and she loves stories. I think that’s really where I come from as an actress too—I like stories.

Photos:
Moore with child: photo by Andrew Schwartz.

Moore and Hayley Podschun, who plays Freckleface Strawberry in the musical; Moore with her family at the musical’s premiere on October 1st, both by Bruce Glikas. 

From Page To Stage

What drew you to the book “Freckleface Strawberry”?

I’m a mother myself, and I’m always looking for good books to read to my kids. “Freckleface Strawberry” is so much fun, but the message is wonderful, too—it’s about celebrating being different, as well as friendship and growing up. And because most of the MMAC’s outreach projects have a literary component, I thought the book would be a great opportunity to create a live music theater piece that kids of different ethnicities, colors, shapes and sizes could relate to. When I produced it the first time, I did it as a kids’ workshop at MMAC—we had 24 children and we basically built the show around them, and it was a great, enriching experience for the kids. When we performed the workshop, we had different industry people in the audience who really loved the show, which inspired me to take it to the next level.

Do your own children relate to the story of Freckleface Strawberry?

Absolutely. They love the book. They love “Freckleface Strawberry,” they love “Freckleface Strawberry and the Dodgeball Bully”—especially that one. I have two boys!

And [in adapting the book for the stage] they were very helpful too because my older son just turned 7, and Strawberry is 7 as well. So I had him as a guide, and could ask him, “Would your friends say something like this? Is this something you think a 7-year-old would do?” So it was helpful just having him in my life.

Is the production geared towards children of all ages?

Absolutely! The message is universal, and the production value of this show is something that will appeal to all ages— adults included—because we have Class A live music, we have Broadway actors, we have award winning set and lighting designers. It’s an hour and 15 minutes chock full of music, dancing and singing, so it’s an enjoyable experience for all.

What do you want parents to take away from the production?

I hope they take away that this type of cultural experience is still important for families to enjoy together. What’s better than having live entertainment that allows you to open up a dialogue with your children about an important message? Maybe you have a child that has red hair and freckles, or a child that’s a little bit shorter than the other kids in the class or he’s going through some kind of struggle, and you see how the kids in the play cope with that and celebrate [their differences] in the end.
—DN

Photo by Bruce Glikas.