Feminism is always the main course at Kering’s Women in Motion dinner, but no one was expecting Julianne Moore to unleash a battle cry of a speech during what is typically a glamorous but uneventful annual event at the Cannes Film Festival.
“This is something that makes me crazy: There’s a cultural assumption, particularly in the United States, that women’s stories are less interesting or smaller, or that if we’re at the center of a narrative we need to be stronger or accomplishing something great or doing something particularly male if we want men to watch us,” said Moore, accepting an award for her career and her advocacy for gender representation in film.
“And I think that’s untrue,” she continued, “because I think, ‘What about the female audience? What do they want to watch?'”
Moore was dressed in a high-necked white silk jumpsuit, and carrying a clutch the size of a briefcase also covered in white feathers, which had the effect of making her seem like a very luxe astronaut visiting this tent in a castle overlooking the French Riviera to dole out valuable advice on how to be an all-encompassing advocate for women artists.
“I f***ing love actresses,” said Moore, who was on a roll. “I love to look at them. I love to identify with them. I choose a lot of what I watch based on who I’m going to look at for two hours.” Then, she seemed to make eye contact with her fellow redhead in the room: “Looking at you, Isabel Huppert.”
