Julianne Moore is Mother Malkin in ‘Seventh Son’

By creammagazine, March 3, 2015

In ‘Seventh Son’, Julianne Moore plays a dark queen who dispatches an army of supernatural assassins out to get a prophesised hero who possesses incredible powers (said hero played by Jeff Bridges). Once again, Moore proves she can hold her own in sci-fi as good as she does in top-notch drama.

 

I love the science fiction and the supernatural stories in Seventh Son. Do you get a thrill as an actress when you portray a character like Mother Malkin and have to see through their eyes? How does it work?

I think it’s important to find the emotional reality with any character you play. Mother Malkin was underground for hundreds of years and the man she was in love with dug a hole and put her in there. So she’s furious, absolutely furious and much maligned. She’s ready to takes things back for herself and her people. To do it in a fantastical way, with great hair and makeup and crazy costumes and being able to turn into a dragon bird was sort of amazing.

 

Do you feel you have more freedom as an actress with science fiction or supernatural stories because the reality they create has no limits?

It’s true. It’s their own. It’s absolutely their own. That’s why we like them. You can literalise feelings in mythology and fantasy so the emotion becomes very strong. What if you are so angry that you can turn into a dragon? What would happen then? And then how do you change back from being a dragon? They’re really all metaphors for feelings.

 

Do you think that Mother Malkin is affected too much from her past and is unable to let go?

You think she should just let go, I know, I know. But she feels that it’s been too much. There’s been too much taken from her. There’s been too much taken from her people. She feels a responsibility to them. She wants to bring the world back to the way she remembered it, where she didn’t feel like an outcast.

 

What’s the biggest satisfaction you get from jumping from one reality on the big screen to another?

I like story. I love narrative. So I think whenever I’m allowed to participate in a story, I feel like I can almost get inside a book or something. It’s always been a very interesting experience for me.

 

How was your experience working with Jeff Bridges?

He’s amazing. An amazing actor, an amazing human being. I think he is a true creative. He’s a polymath. He can act, he can sing, he plays the guitar, he does pottery, he draws, he’s interested in people, he’s endlessly curious. He’s a really special person.

 

Do you ever think of your kids when you choose a role? Like this would be nice for my kids to see?

I do, although they have less of a relationship with my work than they do with me just being their mother. I think at the end of the day my kids just want me to show up for them. I’m curious of what they’ll think of this movie.

 

In the Seventh Son, Mother Malkin turns a beautiful woman into a beautiful dragon. It was beautiful to watch. Did you know what was going on when you were filming since this scene must have been completed in post-production?

We didn’t know what the final images would be. We’d see some of the imagery so we knew where we were supposed to go, and obviously some of it was echoed in the costume with the feathers and the darkness of it. What was interesting to me was performing scenes where I was supposed to be going in and out of shape-shifting. For example, when I’m being dragged along by the chains, and I go from the dragon, back to the woman, back to the dragon. Or there were times when I would walk up and they would say “you’re going to walk up on this ramp and on the fourth step, that’s when you’ll be transforming”, so you have to go a certain speed so they could do it correctly. That stuff was fascinating. It was a lot of fun to do.

 

You seem to choose very different kinds of stories. Where do your decisions come from?

It’s usually based on what I respond to when I read something. Sometimes I’ll read something and I won’t connect with it so I know it’s not for me. Other times I’ll read something and right away I’ll be like, “I like this.” In this instance, I understood the character’s dilemma. I liked the humour and I thought the character was funny. I liked the extremity of it. I love Sergei Bodrov (director) and I love Jeff Bridges. It all seemed to be a very intriguing package.

 

Was it interesting for you to play this super-cool woman who transforms into cruelty?

I feel like, from her vantage point, she feels like she is right. People have been so cruel to her and they have decimated her people. As far as she’s concerned, they are an oppressed minority. So, there’s that story too. What is good and what is evil? Who is right and who is wrong? It all depends on your point of view. It’s all completely subjective.

 

Do you think we can change the perception of reality through movies?

I hope so. I think we can bring awareness to it. One of the things that Jeff’s character, Master Gregory, says to Malkin at the end is that he has hope and belief in human kind. He’s the one that triumphs and Mother Malkin doesn’t believe in change anymore, she feels so defeated by it. To have a character, even in a fantasy like this, say that they believe in the power of goodness, human goodness, I think is a wonderful message to put out there.

 

How satisfied are you with the way your professional life is going?

I feel pretty good right now. I always feel best when I’m working on things that interest me, so it’s been nice that my experience in the last couple of years has been to have wonderful scripts with great actors and directors and to be able to feel creatively fulfilled. That’s been a wonderful thing.

 

Many actors say that it’s fun to play a villain.  Did you enjoy play Mother Malkin?

Oh, yeah. And I’m a villian who turns into a dragon and a bird! That was a lot of fun. I like the cruel nature of the witch – how she’s talk, talk, talk and then yell! All of that stuff is really entertaining.

 

Do you appreciate the fantasy genre?

This movie is based on a very well-known middle grade novel, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. So when we were doing this I went back and read that book. It’s really about growing up and the process of maturation. Who you’re going to be and what you choose. Do you choose good or evil? And I love Alicia Vikander’s character. She’s the little witch, who says, ‘We’re not all evil’. This story is basically about human nature – the complexity of it, the choices that you make and why we make those choices. They’re for us to explore our emotions and that’s where you find meaning.

 

What’s really interesting to me about your character is that you obviously sympathise with her. Do you think that there is a point where Mother Malkin would tell Master Gregory to come to the dark side to be with her? Would she ever or is it too late for her to go to the good side to be with him if he asked her?

I think she’s too angry. She feels betrayed. She’s furious and she’s not rational.  The beautiful thing about Gregory’s character is that he does believe that there is beauty in humanity. In the flaws, that’s where people are most alive. Mother Malkin is so dark and has been so destroyed that she’s like, “Screw him, screw human beings, they’re not worth it.” So it’s also an interesting study about people who have been abused or tortured or sidelined too, because all these witches have said, “we’ve been maligned for years and years and years and disregarded and tortured.” Certainly my character isn’t willing to forgive anymore.

 

How was it working with director Sergei Bodrov? Did you notice any difference in directing because of his Russian background?

I think he is such a wonderful person and so lovely to be around. He’s so incredibly imaginative. I always got the feeling that he knew exactly what he wanted and how he saw it. All those witches, all those fantastic witches, how we looked, how we behaved, all our crazy names, that was all Sergei.

 

‘Seventh Son’ is released in 3D on March 5. Click here to view the trailer.

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