Julianne Moore takes on a role that her peers would avoid in 'Still Alice'

CULTURE / Film

Julianne Moore takes on a role that her peers would avoid in ‘Still Alice’

Still here: Julianne Moore and Kristen Stewart are mother and daughter in 'Still Alice.' | ? 2014 BSM STUDIO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

By George Hadley-Garcia
Special To The Japan Times

Jun 25, 2015

HOLLYWOOD – Julianne Moore says she was surprised to learn that people in some parts of the world have mistaken “Still Alice,” her film about Alzheimer’s disease, as “science fiction” and even “horror-comedy.”

“In many places, Alzheimer’s is an alien concept ... in places where few people live old enough to get Alzheimer’s,” she says, pointing out that there are places in the world people rarely live past 65.

The film is, of course, a drama, and centers on the character of Alice Howland, a 50-year-old university professor who falls prey to early-onset Alzheimer’s. Moore says audiences in some developing countries have responded with disbelief and sometimes awkward laughter during screenings, and the reaction in developed countries has also been discomfiting.