'People have f***ing had it': Julianne Moore calls Boris Johnson a 'clown'

Actor discusses current political landscape, ageism and #MeToo

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Julianne Moore has referred to Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a ‘clown’, revealing she is ‘excited’ over the current political landscape in the US and UK.

The actor has appeared on the front cover for this week’s edition of ES Magazine, where she opened up about everything from ageism and gun violence and the #MeToo movement.

However, one of the topics Moore spoke the most passionately about was the upcoming American 2020 election.

“I’m very excited,” Moore said. “I think people have f***ing had it. Look what’s happening with Boris Johnson right now.

“In the UK, you’re like, ‘All right, this has gone far enough now. Theresa May was one thing, but this clown Boris Johnson is another’.

“People are not standing for it. And that is happening here now too.”

The actor also addressed the impact of the #MeToo and #Time’sUp movements, revealing she believes that things will not change unless people continue to make an effort.

‘[It has been] the biggest seismic change that we have ever had, just because it made people realise how much disparity there was in our business,” Moore explained.

“I don’t know if there’s really been a shift. There’s been a door that’s opened, but things don’t change unless you make the effort.

“If you’re somebody who thinks, ‘I’m going to go out of my way to hire 50 per cent women, then it’ll happen, but it doesn’t just happen accidentally.”

On the topic of Hollywood, Moore went on to criticise ageism in the film industry and the idea that women should have to conceal their age.

As one of Hollywood’s most successful actors, the 58-year-old has starred in a number of varied and challenging roles throughout her career, collecting a bevy of awards and accolades along the way.

But despite her success, Moore revealed that she still finds herself subject to misogyny and condemned the use of the phrase ‘of a certain age’ when describing women in their 50s.

“Don’t say ‘a certain age’. This is one of my pet peeves,” Moore said.

“It’s as if you are saying that her age is so terrible that you don’t want to mention it. You wouldn’t say ‘a man of a certain age’.”

The Still Alice star went on to criticise the notion that women should have to “skirt around” their real age and be made to feel ashamed of it.

“Obfuscating your age or skirting around it, or trying to be delicate about it, that’s what makes me crazy,” she continued.

“It’s not so horrible to be in your 50s — it’s not horrible at all. It’s simply part of life.”

Moore also discussed the ability of women to balance successful careers with family life, using her upcoming role in the movie After the Wedding as an example.

“I’ve seen women who have built big lives for themselves — they have big careers, and they have families too,” Moore said.

“But I don’t feel like that representation is out there. If you see a successful woman in a movie, she never has a family. Why do we continue to perpetrate that mythology that it’s not possible?

“That somehow if you’ve managed to become the boss you can’t have any kids too? Or you can’t have a marriage that’s valuable?”

Moore, who has been married to director Bart Freundlich since 2003, also spoke about her marriage, revealing she hasn’t found it difficult to maintain a long-term relationship in Hollywood.

“I think for anybody in any industry who travels a lot, there’s a danger — if you don’t spend time together, you’re going to be in trouble. Because we always had children, we stayed together a lot as a family,“ Moore said.

"But if you go away for a year to make a movie, your relationship’s not going to survive."