'Hypocrite' Julianne Moore Torched by Critics After Claiming She Doesn't Want to Act in Movies With 'Murder, Guns and Explosions'
Julianne Moore shared her current feelings about tragedy and violence in film.
May 17 2026, Published 2:15 p.m. ET
Julianne Moore faced backlash on social media after she admitted that she no longer wanted to work in movies filled with "tragedy" and "guns and explosions," RadarOnline.com can reveal.
During a recent sit-down with Variety, the Academy Award-winning actress, 65, said her current views on film have been largely shaped by the present state of the world.
'I Don't Want to Watch It'
Julianne Moore said she doesn't 'like easy stakes' in storylines.
"Particularly now at a time when things are really rough globally, it’s very difficult for me to invest in a story that I think is pretend, where I feel like the depth of the emotion, the measure of it, doesn’t measure up to what’s happening in the world," she explained. "I don't feel like I want to engage in it."
Summing up her feelings on what are turn-offs when she reads scripts, she added, "I don't like easy stakes."
"I don’t like someone being murdered. I don’t like explosions and guns. I don’t like histrionics. I don’t like things that raise the stakes without real feeling underneath," the Ask Alice actress continued. "I mean, that actually bothers me because that’s like noise. I don’t know how to play it. I don’t want to watch it."
Julianne Moore Accused of Having 'Selective Amnesia'
Julianne Moore was called a 'hypocrite' by critics who pointed out her past action-packed roles.
As clips from her interview circulated on social media, some users accused her of having "selective amnesia" about her own work and called her a "hypocrite."
Moore has been in a number of action-packed – and violence-filled – movies over the course of her career, from playing Sarah Harding in The Lost World and Clarice Starling in Hannibal to helming the role of President Coin in both installments of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay.
One critic on X wrote, "I’ve lost count how many movies she’s done with guns," and another person chimed in, "A man had his skull removed in Hannibal, and brain eaten."
A third user replied, "Funny how artists forget their own catalog until it’s time to virtue signal," and a fourth pointed out, "Much as I love her and respect her style, someone's got to do the action and gory stuff cos (sic) we love those too."
Other Fans Jump to Julianne Moore's Defense
Some fans came to Julianne Moore's defense and said they respected her decision.
However, some fans argued that Moore's opinion clearly changed over the decades for the better.
"Julianne Moore is touching a real nerve: entertainment shapes the soul more than people admit," one X user noted, as another fan shared, "I like films with guns and action…. It’s also entirely okay that she isn’t interested in that at this stage of her career for whatever her reasons. It’s her right."
A third person said, "Julianne Moore choosing emotion over chaos is exactly why she’s respected worldwide."
Julianne Moore Reveals Key Actress She Admires
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Julianne Moore described Meryl Streep as 'modern,' 'wonderful and brave.'
Later in the interview, Moore also shared how other actresses like Meryl Streep helped shaped her views of women in entertainment.
"I sort of grew up watching television and movies and seeing movie stars, and she was the first woman that I saw who appeared to be touchable and untouchable at the same time," she told the outlet. "Here was this actress who was like the next big thing, and she was so precise in what she did and so modern and so accessible and yet glamorous and wonderful and brave all at the same time."
"So I feel like she kind of lit a fire under everybody in terms of how we wanted to be, in terms of what we felt we could achieve in our work."
