“A deep and complicated dilemma”: Julianne Moore breaks down the layers of her Echo Valley character alongside Sydney Sweeney

In Echo Valley, Julianne Moore plays Kate, a mother in crisis, who will go to any lengths to help her daughter Claire. The script shows her surviving through a string of tragic events that put her life in jeopardy.

It all begins when Claire suddenly shows up at her doorstep, seeking help. Her blood-stained clothes are enough to put anyone in panic, and Kate is no exception. She slowly realizes the root of Claire's troubles, which leads her on a journey filled with delirious twists and turns with potentially irreversible damage.

There's more than what meets the eye in Kate's journey, and Echo Valley reveals many layers of her personality, burdened by the weight of her overbearing guilt, betrayal, and trauma. Much of the story hinges on Kate and Claire's complicated relationship. Yet, the final moments leave us with an uncomfortable silence instead of a conventional judgment. It doesn't offer any specific conclusions about Kate and Claire's relationship.

Will they stay distant for the rest of their lives, or will they make amends to find comfort in each other's presence? The Echo Valley ending leaves it open to interpretation, and Moore admires the same about the script. In her recent interview with Vogue, she reveals the reason.

"It’s a deep and complicated dilemma: how do you help a child and when have you helped too much? One of the things I found so admirable about the script is that it didn’t seem to levy any kind of moral judgment, one way or another. That’s atribute to our director Michael Pearce and our writer Brad Ingelsby. You see how flawed these characters are, and how challenged they are by life and experience, but they’re also drawn together by this intense bond and love. I like that it’snot all spelled out; I like that they seem really human."

Julianne Moore plays a strong and supportive mother to Sydney Sweeney's Claire in Echo Valley

Echo Valley star Julianne Moore admires how Ingelsby and Pearce handle Kate's emotional turmoil as a mother without any moral judgment. She praises how they find a delicate balance in exploring their central mother-daughter relationship without losing its profoundly humanistic core. However, she also adds many layers to Kate's dilemma.

As a mother with unconditional love for her child, Moore portrays Kate's emotional strength while overcoming the loss of her late wife. During the interview, Moore details where Kate finds that strength despite all the troubles in her life.

"I think she’s always had it. When you encounter her at the beginning, she’s someone who is struggling quite a bit, with grief, economic pressure, and a daughter who’s a drug addict. Even though her choices are morally complicated, you realize she’s incredibly smart, tenacious, and very protective. That’s what I like so much about the character: you think you know what she’s capable of but you don’t," Moore says.

Despite her long and illustrious career, Moore doesn't believe in hierarchy when it comes to working with younger actors like Sydney Sweeney. She notes how she treats every actor with grace and respect as her scene partner. In the interview, she details how she and Sweeney built their intricate mother-daughter relationship despite the short preparation time before filming Echo Valley.

"It was lucky because we’ve both experienced mother-daughter relationships; we’re familiar with the intensity of that bond and also the elasticity of it. It’s such a fundamental relationship, the one between a mother and a child, that it can bear a lot—and it does bear a lot. So we talked about how far these women are able to push it with each other. It’s exciting to work on something that you understand as a person and that you’re interested in exploring as an actor."

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Echo Valley is streaming on Apple TV+.

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