Even celebrities have a bad day at the office. Julianne Moore confessed that she was fired from the Oscar-nominated film Can You Ever Forgive Me? during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen on Thursday, March 7.
The Still Alice star, 58, responded to a caller who asked if she had left the movie and what she thought of its leading lady, Melissa McCarthy.
“I didn’t leave that movie, I was fired,” she said with a laugh.
“Were you?” host Andy Cohen asked incredulously, to which she replied, “Yeah, yeah, Nicole [Holofcener] fired me.”
The Oscar winner was candid about the reason she was let go from her leading role of Lee Israel: “I think she didn’t like what I was doing,” she said of screenwriter Holofcener, 58. “We’d just been kind of rehearsing and doing pre-productions and stuff, and I think that her idea of where the character was, was different than where my idea of where the character was. So, she fired me.”
For the Hours actress, who had only ever been canned was from a yogurt stand at 15, it was a crushing blow. “It felt, yeah, it felt bad,” she admitted.
According to IndieWire, the flick, which had been scheduled to begin production six days after Moore’s firing, was temporarily put on hold. Holofcener, who was set to direct the film, was also replaced by Marianne Heller. The author opened up about the experience to the outlet in October 2018. “I felt I had already made it,” she said at the time. “Every outfit, every location, every actor cast. It was a labor of love. It was traumatic. Terrible.”
As for the film’s star, McCarthy, Moore had nothing but love for her — even if she hasn’t yet watched her performance. “I haven’t [seen it] yet, ‘cause it’s sill kind of painful,” she said. “I love Melissa McCarthy, I worship her, I think she’s fantastic, so I’m sure she’s great.”
The Mike & Molly alum was nominated for an Oscar for her Best Actress for her part in the film, which was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.
