The Room Next Door co-stars Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton took a moment to honor their real-life bond while speaking onstage at ELLE Women in Hollywood last night. The duo was introduced by their director, Pedro Almodóvar, at the event, which was held in partnership with Ralph Lauren, Harry Winston, and TikTok.
Moore said of Swinton, “I hoped that our lives would intersect in a more meaningful way, but I didn’t think it would happen.” She added jokingly, “And I would like to work with her but I doubted there’ll be a project that would put two old red heads together.”
Moore pointed out that when women are often cast as friends opposite each other onscreen, usually “one of us is in the lead, and the other is the sidekick. I don’t know about you, but nobody in my friendships is a sidekick.” But that wasn’t the case with The Room Next Door. “Imagine my surprise when I found myself in a film that mirrored my own experience of female friendship,” she said.
“And then the most wonderful thing happened,” Moore continued. “In the process of making the film, of playing friends in the film, Tilda and I formed a friendship in real life. Because between takes, we talked about our jobs, and men, and children, and told each other, ‘No, you’re not crazy.’”
Swinton, who put her arm around Moore’s waist at the podium, described her Women in Hollywood honor as “a pleasure on a pleasure on a fucking fiesta.” It was even more special to be acknowledged alongside Moore, or as Swinton described it, “to be standing beside my beloved, newest old, old, old, friend, Julie.” She said of their newfound friendship, “We made up for lost time. We’ve been very old friends for one year.”
Looking out at their peers in the audience, Swinton noted that there’s an unexpected “warmth” in Hollywood. “It comes from the women,” she said, “and it’s absolutely infecting the men. So let’s keep it rolling.”
In a Q&A for our December 2024/January 2025 issue, the pair spoke about what their career goals look like now, after years of working in the industry.
“I just try to follow my interests, and in doing that I’ve been able to carve out the kind of career that I have,” Moore said. “Goals are impossible to keep! I can’t control all of it.”
Added Swinton, “I’ve always intended that each film would be my final one. It was not wanting to jinx anything because I have had such fun from start to finish. I always thought, ‘Well, that’s a good one to go out on. Let’s just quit while we’re ahead.’ And I feel it today. I feel The Room Next Door is the last film I make. Let’s see if anything else happens.”
Read Moore and Swinton’s full interview here.
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Erica Gonzales is the Senior Culture Editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage on TV, movies, music, books, and more. She was previously an editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com. There is a 75 percent chance she’s listening to Lorde right now.