'The Room Next Door' - Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore

(L to R) Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore star in ‘The Room Next Door’.

Opening in theaters in wide release on January 17th is the new drama from acclaimed director Pedro Almodóvar (‘Pain and Glory’) entitled ‘The Room Next Door’. The movie stars Oscar winners Tilda Swinton (‘Michael Clayton’) and Julianne Moore (‘May December’), as well as John Turturro (‘The Batman’) and Alessandro Nivola (‘Kraven the Hunter’).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore about their work on ‘The Room Next Door’, their first reactions to the screenplay, working together to form their characters’ friendship, and collaborating on set with director Pedro Almodóvar.

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Julianne Moore in ‘The Room Next Door’. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Moviefone: To begin with, Julianne, can you talk about your first reaction to the screenplay and what were some of the aspects of this character that you were excited to explore on screen?

Julianne Moore: Well, I think one of the things that was really thrilling about reading Pedro’s screenplay was that it was centered around this female friendship, and so that is something that I was anxious to bring to the screen. So often, women in films, when you see two women on screen, they’re a relationship that’s like a familiar relationship, their mother and daughter, or it’s a love story, or they’re antagonists, and those things have not been my experience. In my life, my female friendships have been incredibly important to me, and I think it’s such a profound honor to be able to witness another human being as they move through their life. So, the fact that that was what this screenplay was about was incredibly moving to me.

Tilda Swinton in ‘The Room Next Door’. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.

MF: Tilda, what was your first reaction to the screenplay and why did you want to play this character?

Tilda Swinton: I was so grateful to Pedro for sending me this script. I mean, I was so grateful to him to know that he wanted to make a film about this subject, it’s a subject that’s extremely personal to me, and that he asked me to make it with him, it was a very happy day. I would say that he wanted me to play Martha because I’ve had the privilege, I would say in my life, to be in what I call the Ingrid position many times, the position of being in support to loved ones who are facing the end of their lives. So, to have the opportunity to download and step into the impulses of someone in the Martha position, I’ve learned so much from the Martha’s in my life, was an amazing gift, a highly personal gift. So, I was beyond thrilled, and its pure happiness for me. The film is all about happiness, and about life and the living of it.

(L to R) Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore in ‘The Room Next Door’. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.

MF: Julianne, can you talk about the process of creating this friendship on screen with Tilda?

JM: We didn’t know each other, really, before we started this. She’s someone whose work I’d always admired tremendously, and I loved how she was in the world. We’d always say hi to each other when we were at a film festival, or a press event, or somewhere, or if I saw her in a restaurant, and I’d always wanted to work with her. Then, suddenly, we had this wonderful opportunity, and what was great for us is that is I think our friendship developed in real time. As we spent time together on the set, and talked about our lives, and talked about our work, and talked about our kids and our relationships, I think what you saw on screen was happening. We became real friends.

(L to R) Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore in ‘The Room Next Door’. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.

MF: Tilda, Martha makes a big request of her friend Ingrid, can you talk about that and working with Julianne?

TS: Well, their friendship is a very old one. They’ve known each other since they were very young, they were both writers, and they both still are writers. But originally, they were journalists working together at a magazine, in their 20s we assume. Then they drifted apart, mainly because Martha became a war correspondent, and Ingrid became a novelist. They haven’t seen each other in probably 20 maybe even longer years. They haven’t seen each other at all. I mean, they’re aware of what they’ve been doing because they’re both very celebrated and they have a kind of public profile, but they haven’t seen each other. So, this thing of coming back together, knowing someone so well for so long, not seeing them for maybe 20 years, coming back together in this very particular moment, a moment where truth draws on that ancient bond. I know this myself; I’ve had the experience of seeing people again that I hadn’t seen for years, and it’s such a wonderful thing because you just don’t sweat the small stuff. You sort of gloss over the details of the last couple of decades, and then you get down to having a good time again like you are in your 20s. Julianne and I, the great miracle is, we didn’t know each other at all. We’d met each other and we knew of each other, and we both liked the look of each other, but we became old friends within an afternoon, and we are now very old friends who’ve known each other for one year, we’ve been making up for lost time ever since. It was a huge blessing that she came on the film and that we really have that bond. So, there was no acting required, we were truly happy to be in each other’s presence.

Julianne Moore in ‘The Room Next Door’. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.

MF: Julianne, can you talk about Ingrid’s reaction to Martha’s request, and how do you think you would react to something like that in your own life?

JM: One of the wonderful ways that this is introduced, I think, is that initially, when Ingrid hears that Martha is sick, the first thing she does is rush to the hospital to see how she’s doing, and she’s the kind of person who shows up. She shows up day after day after day just to keep her company, to talk to her, to make her feel better. Certainly, Ingrid was not expecting this situation, but I think one of the reasons that Martha ends up relying on her is that she sees that Ingrid is reliable, that no matter what, she’s going to try to be there as a real friend and do what her friend needs. It’s painful. I think Ingrid is very honest about it and says that this is not something that she’s comfortable with, but she also realizes that Martha is in need, that this is what she needs at that moment, and she feels like that’s the right thing to do. So, yes, I’d like to think that I would be like Ingrid because I think that’s the kind of friend, we all want to be, and we all want to have.

(L to R) Director Pedro Almodóvar, Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton in ‘The Room Next Door’. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.

MF: Finally, Julianne, what was it like working with director Pedro Almodóvar and was it everything that you expected?

JM: He’s a true artist. Everything that you see in his films is in him. The colors, and the composition, and the music, and the point of view. You walk into his apartment in Madrid, and you realize, “Oh my gosh, I’ve seen everything in this apartment on screen in his films.” That’s what’s so wonderful is that it’s intensely personal to him. It’s very meaningful. The books that he’s read and the films that he’s seen, the art that he’s loved, all of it is present there, the people that he’s cared about. After, I met a lot of the members of his crew, and I realized I had seen them in several of his movies before. I was like, “Oh my gosh, she played that part.” So, I love that about him. I love that his films are him. They’re him turned inside out on the screen.

PG-131 hr 47 minJan 17th, 2025

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Ingrid and Martha were close friends in their youth, when they worked together at the same magazine. Ingrid went on to become an autofiction novelist while Martha… Read the Plot

What is the plot of ‘The Room Next Door’?

Ingrid (Julianne Moore) and Martha (Tilda Swinton) were close friends in their youth, when they worked together at the same magazine. Ingrid went on to become an autofiction novelist while Martha became a war reporter, and they were separated by the circumstances of life. After years of being out of touch, they meet again in an extreme but strangely sweet situation.