Her Second-Best Year

Julianne Moore is up for two Golden Globe awards this weekend: as best actress in a comedy for An Ideal Husband and as best actress in a drama for The End of the Affair.

In addition to those two films, the other movies she made in 1999 (Cookie's Fortune, Map of the World, and Magnolia) are all generating Oscar buzz, reports Early Show Entertainment Reporter Mark McEwen.

"Through her love for this man (played by Ralph Fiennes), she's transformed," explains the actress. "So I think, for me, it's about how love transforms you."

In that context, she defines love as "an extreme connection to another human being, something that means more to her than her own well being."

On the other hand, the character she played in An Ideal Husband "wants a relationship, but she's not really able to go down that path, because material stuff is more important to her."

These are the roles that brought her recognition from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which awards the Golden Globes. But Moore says the best part of being nominated is "You get to go!"

"People have been asking me, 'Are you nervous?' No. I'm looking forward to it. It's a fun party," she says.

In Magnolia, she plays a part that was written just for her.

"I'm so lucky that Paul Thomas Anderson considers me one of his stable of actors," Moore says.

"He's a tremendously talented director and writer, and he writes these beautiful, beautiful, wonderful exciting parts. And it was an interesting and challenging part and something in life I'd never done before," she adds.

With so much movie success, one might think that 1999 was the best year of Moore's life. But, actually, it was 1997. "My son was born that year," she explains. But she admits that 1999 runs a pretty close second.

Having a child has made her feel happier and more fulfilled, she says. "Children just bring you everything. And (parenthood) has broadened my sense of myself as a person."

Moore herself grew up as a military brat. Because she was always moving to new places, she read a great deal and learned to adapt to new groups of people. Both are skills that have proved useful in her career.

She also worked for a time as a waitress. "I was a really good waitress," she recalls. "I was fast, and I was pleasant, and I had a good memory."

Initial recognition as an actress came in 1988 with an Emmy Award for her dual role as twins Franny and Sabrina Hughes in the daytime drama As the World Turns. In 1990, she made her big-screen debut in Tales From the Darkside: The Movie. Two years later, she appeared in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and the comedy The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag. Thi paved the way for more parts in big-budget films.

"I feel really lucky," she says. "I think, when you're starting out, you don't know how hard it's going to be.You're young and pretty naive about it. I don't know that I understood what the odds were. So I feel that I have surpassed what I was supposed to get. I really feel very fortunate."

Here is a list of some of Moore's best-known pictures, according to Hollywood.com: