Julianne Moore is wrapping up her work playing former Alaska Governor and Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin in director Jay Roach‘s adaptation of the bestselling book Game Change for HBO. The movie tells half of the book’s story of the 2008 Presidential campaign, the half involving the troubled Republican Presidential campaign of Senator John McCain, who will be played by Ed Harris.
In an interview with the Chicago Tribune to promote her new romantic comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love, Julianne Moore took a few moments to talk about the challenge of playing someone as well known as Sarah Palin:
“It was really hard, really hard. She’s obviously a very real, idiosyncratic, very well-known woman. She’s also well-documented and right in the forefront of our minds. I think if you’re playing somebody who is deceased or has spent a lot of time out of the public eye, it might be a little bit easier, but because this was so present, it was challenging.”
When asked about Tina Fey‘s portrayal of Sarah Palin and whether she’d ask Fey for any tips, Julianne Moore deflected the question saying “I looked at a lot of YouTube videos and a lot of videotape. I looked at the actual footage.” Moore worked with Tina Fey on Fey’s NBC sitcom 30 Rock just prior to accepting the role of Sarah Palin in Game Change.
Game Change comes from the same Emmy nominated duo behind the HBO movie Recount, director Jay Roach and writer Danny Strong.
Ed Harris is playing Senator John McCain, while Woody Harrelson plays Steve Schmidt, a top McCain advisor who clashed with Sarah Palin. Ron Livingston, Peter MacNichol, Sarah Paulson and Jamey Sheridan round out the cast as McCain and Palin’s campaign teams.
HBO has yet to release an air date for Game Change.