Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore star as Elizabeth and Gracie in May December. The film is currently playing in select theaters and will begin streaming December 1 on Netflix.

After their relationship ignited a tabloid saga two decades ago, Gracie (Julianne Moore) and Joe (Charles Melton) now lead a seemingly perfect suburban life. Their domestic bliss is disrupted when Elizabeth (Natalie Portman), a famous television actress, arrives in their tight-knit community to research her upcoming role as Gracie. As Elizabeth ingratiates herself into the everyday lives of Gracie and Joe, the uncomfortable facts of their scandal unfurl, causing long-dormant emotions to resurface.

“Oh, I love Natalie’s simplicity. I so admire her work and really got to know her as a person on this, and just enjoyed every minute of it,” Moore told me. “She would do this stuff where she was able to communicate to me that she was totally with me as a character. She’s totally kind of corroborating everything that Gracie is saying at the same time and the minute that I turned my head a fraction of an inch, she was doing something that was kind of amazing, I mean, like where she was mimicking Gracie entirely. The fact that she managed to do that and did it so kind of subtly, you know, just did it so I didn’t even notice it until I saw the film, I was absolutely blown away. Yeah, I love her precision and her simplicity.”

“I mean, I love everything. I love how Julianne is as a person. I mean, I’ve always known that she was a brilliant actress, but as a person, it was just incredible to get to experience her generosity, humanity, and fun, like, just ability to have a great time. And then in the scenes, it was so amazing to see the level of detail that she went into with every aspect of this character and the ability to just so delicately have this commanding character,” Portman expressed. “I was so surprised when I saw the scenes that we weren’t in, this incredible vulnerability that she shows when she’s behind closed doors away from Elizabeth, and that ability to hold both of those is just extraordinary.”

We talked about what they learned from working with each other on this project, where they found inspiration, and what they want the story to leave audiences with.

Watch my full interview here: