Actor-filmmaker Jesse Eisenberg said he wrote the lead role in his musical comedy "The Debut" with Julianne Moore in mind, praising the Oscar-winning star as "the greatest actress in the world" as the film closed the London Film Festival on Sunday.
"I just thought, this is Julianne Moore, and I will write every scene with her in mind and what she likes to do and what she's great at," Eisenberg, who wrote the screenplay and directed the film, told Reuters on the red carpet.
Moore stars as Mona, a shy New Jersey housewife who is thrilled to land a role in a community theatre musical.
Drawn to the experience by a longing for something missing in her life, Mona finds purpose and community through the show.
"She's moving towards something, knowing that there's something that she needs in her life," Moore said. "Then that thing leads you towards yourself and towards community, which is really the most valuable thing of all."
The film, which marks Eisenberg's latest directing effort following his BAFTA-winning screenplay for "A Real Pain", features seven original songs written by the filmmaker. The numbers appear in the fictional stage production "Nosy Neighbours", a deliberately light-hearted, 1990s-inspired musical performed by a cast including "The Little Mermaid" star Halle Bailey.
"I love songwriting, I love musical theatre music and I wrote these songs in earnest," Eisenberg said.
Mona's early struggles on stage test the patience of director Jerry, played by "The Holdovers" star Paul Giamatti, prompting her to adopt an increasingly committed method acting approach.
Eisenberg said Moore's interpretation of Mona allowed him to make a "weird movie" that still felt grounded.
"She is so unusual, she's so strange," he said. "It allowed me to make a movie that wasn't realistic."
While Mona takes method acting to extremes, the "Now You See Me" star said all actors, including himself, draw on some version of the technique.
"I always wind up feeling whatever the character feels," he said. "So if my character is miserable, I spend the shoot just miserable. But I don't realise it's for the character. I just think, 'Oh God, I must be doing terribly in the movie'."
Eisenberg, who plays a minor role in "The Debut", said the story was inspired by his own childhood experiences in community theatre, where he discovered "a family and a home and a life" he liked.
Patrick Fabian, who plays Mona's husband in the film, said theatre offers something increasingly rare: a chance for people to connect in person with one another.
"It brings people together, and these days, it gets them out of their screens and into the dark together to watch whatever is going on," Fabian said. "I think that's a real bonding thing."
"The Debut" brought the curtain down on the 70th London Film Festival, where Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa's "Imperium" won Best Film in the Official Competition.