>> from our studios in new york city, this is "charlie rose". >> julian moore has always disappeared into her roles.

she plays a linguistics professor in her newest film confronted by early onset alzheimer's. she guides us through the tragic arc of disappearing from one's own eyes. here is the trailer for "still alice." >> i hope to convince you that, by observing these baby steps into -- into -- oh. >> alice, where were you? >> i hope you enjoy that because you blew our dinner plans. >> i need to talk to you. i have something wrong with me. >> what is going on? >> are we going to break up, or? >> i have alzheimer's disease. early-onset.

i can see the words hanging in front of me, and i cannot reach them abide do not know who i am. millennium, hedgehog. i would like to see you go to college. >> you cannot use your situation to get me to do anything you -- >> why can't i? >> it's not fair. >> it doesn't have to be fair. i am your mother. >> we have to keep the important things in our lives going. we have to try or we are going to go crazy. >> i have lost myself. >> please don't say that. >> i am not suffering. i am struggling. struggling to be a part of things, stay connected to who i once was. to live in the moment, i tell

myself, is really all i can do. live in the moment. >> i spoke with julianne moore in new york. there is a lot of buzz about this film. you went to toronto with the film. there was no distributor. there were is now a distributor. there was a sense that this was a very special role, and it was the right actress at the right time. >> when you go in without a distributor, you don't know what is going to happen. we had a screening on a monday, which is not particularly auspicious for screening times and you hope people will see the movie and respond to it. we walked out afterwards and we were so delighted. >> we had a chance. >> we felt we had a chance.

>> tell me about the film and your character. >> her name is alice howland. she is a professor of linguistics. she has been married since she was quite young and has adult children. she starts noticing little slips in her memory. she does not mention it to anyone. she begins to realize something serious is going on. she is diagnosed with early onset alzheimer's. >> that means what? >> it means, when you are diagnosed with alzheimer's under 65, it is considered early-onset. it is a different, more potent form and it is sometimes faster acting. she is completely compromised at

that point in her life. she ends up having to quit her job, spend time with her husband, deal with her children. she ends up being in decline rapidly. >> an interesting character arc? >> who she is what are essential self is, who are we when we lose how we define ourselves as someone who is primarily defined by her intellect. she is questioning who she is. >> what do i do when i cannot do the things i do? >> how do she coped? how do she present herself, how does she fight the decline and preserve her relationships? when i was a little girl, my teacher told me butterflies don't live a very long time. they live, like, a month. i was so upset. she said, yeah, you know. they have a nice life.

a really beautiful life. >> how to do prepare? >> it was extensive. i was struck by the generosity of everyone i spoke to. the national alzheimer's association put me in touch with some women, who talked about their experience. one was a woman who is diagnosed at 45 and looked like me. she was redheaded her name is sandy olson. she was noticing difficulties learning computer programs. >> diagnosed at 45? >> 45. i spoke to them and i went to mount sinai and talked to researchers. i took the memory test they give to people when they come in wondering what is going on. my results were normal thankfully. i went to the new york alzheimer's association and talk to people in support groups women who were so helpful. i asked them, what do they want to cede did? -- see depicted?

>> what did they say? >> they talked a lot about the house -- isolation. no one understands what is happening. the feeling of people not knowing who they were. people who do not know them when they are normally functioning they did not understand how to communicate. one in particular said she had always been so defined by her intellect, it was difficult for her to speak to people when they did not treat her as someone who possessed that intellect. what i came away with, was how hard people work to communicate and to maintain where they were. not that sense of fading away -- people don't fade away. they move forward. >> there are terrible moments when someone living with

alzheimer's can't recognize even their child. some have said is the worst moment of their life. >> it is really awful. i don't know if there is anything that people fear more. what is interesting is, it is not just about memory loss. there is a different kind of neurological reaction, people have spatial issues they may not understand the way doorknob turns, many symptoms we don't know about. >> it requires a sense of empathy? your husband said you have empathy. >> he did? that's what's great about acting, it forces you to put your self in someone else's shoes. what do i understand that this other person understands? how do i enter into that life

and try to understand it? i went to a long-term care facility and i was sitting with a singing circle and the window was open. the woman in front of me said you had better get out of the draft. i said, no, i am ok. i ran into her daughter, and she said, that is my mom. she is always worrying about people. what was interesting was, seeing how much that woman was still herself. she still worried about people getting out of the draft. >> you watch this film and you understand what it is like to live with alzheimer's. at the same time, one of the executive producers, maria shriver she had relatives live and die with all summers. >> she made it a mission to educate people about it and to raise awareness and hopefully, money to fight the disease.

>> who is playing your husband -- >> alec baldwin. it was my idea. i love alec. we worked together on 30 rock, and i adored him. i would get offered these comedies, and he would politely decline. finally, he said, don't you have a drama for me? i said, well, i do, but i am worried that the part is too small. he said, send it. he said yes immediately. >> did he say why? >> he didn't say a word. he was just like, i will do it. he is such -- he has such a huge passion for life, so much vitality and masculinity. to see someone like that in a relationship where people depend on each other, try to hold onto that and deal with that loss, it

is beautiful. really beautiful. >> the interesting thing about you is, you have chosen roles well. you are getting to star in the new hunger games. >> mockingjay, parts one and two. >> you have chosen films like this throughout your career. it is almost as though you said this is a role i want to play this is something i can add value to. >> i never know what i want to play until i see it on the page. sometimes people will ask, in your ideal world, who would you play? i don't know. when i read something, i go that is what i want to do next. >> what did you see your? >> it was the first time i had seen a disease depicted from the

inside, from the perspective of the person suffering. so often, we see it from the point of view of the caretaker. >> its impact on the caretaker. >> this it -- is about, what it means to experience this loss. >> someone once said to me that you are a literalist. people who look -- original interpretations. you are a literalist in a sense that you like the script is written. >> i do. yes. unless it can be better. i have worked with some magnificent writers, some great writers. then, you don't want to -- you are like, i am not touching this. sometimes, the script is not fully formed. then, you work out the language. every word you use mean something. there is power, shape, and

meaning. i want to give the language of that authority. it is important to me, the words people choose to express themselves. >> have you been aggressive about your career, or have you let it come to you? >> there is not a lot we can do in terms of control. the only control and actor has is saying yes or no. you cannot make someone offers some thing to you. they offer it to you, or they don't. it is ok, i think, to say you want to play something. i have done it several times. >> tell me the story -- because of your children, you ended up in hunger games? >> might -- my son had read hunger games. he read those books when they came out, i bought him the third one.

i was like, look honey, there is the third book. a few years later, my daughter read them. we were on vacation, i had nothing to read. i picked up my daughter's book and i tore through it. i downloaded it on my ipad. they are phenomenal political allegory. i finished it, and there was only -- i called my manager, and i was like, who is playing coin? i want to do it. >> you have been nominated for an had a four times. -- an academy award four times. would you test for a role if they asked you? >> i would. they gave me this part. >> this is not a big budget

film. >> francis is great, so prepared and articulate. i said, this is how i see her and this is how i would like her to develop. on the page, she is a bit of a cipher. i wanted to see a real political evolution with the character. he agreed, and i got the job. i loved it. my kids were so happy. >> she won't be able to handle it. the game has destroyed her. >> we need to unite the people up there. she is the face of the rebellion. >> your character -- >> we are ancillary characters. >> to some young stars? >> young, wonderful actors. i love the fact -- when i read the books, it was political allegory with alan -- adolescent overtones.

with all these utopian stories, it comes down to whether or not you have free will. in the world, do we -- >> which is about what teenagers are about. >> yes, it is about and miami -- mia in control? these are all the questions in mockingjay. it is interesting to be in that situation and know that you are representing the adult world, in a sense. that was really fun and compelling. >> you performed with philip seymour hoffman three or four times. >> yes. in "magnolia." >> it is hard to take the loss of someone who has that much talent. we can't understand their pain, but you can understand the loss

of an enormous talent. >> we all felt -- we were all devastated. everyone was completely devastated by his passing. he was so tremendously talented and so empathetic and special, and in retrospect, clearly in pain. we all felt that we wished there was something that could've been done, we wish we could've made a difference at that moment. >> when you look at your life, why did you become an actress? >> i like to read. i love to read. >> the curiosity coming from books led you to acting? >> i love reading because i like stories about people. i like the feeling of being inside the book. i like that transformative thing literature does. when i started acting, when it is working and is the best it

can be, you feel that you are inside the story. you are telling stories about who we are as human beings, and what we can accomplish how we can help and damage one another. i think behavior is fascinating. >> something about you -- my parents had a country store. i had to work in the country store. i was an only child. it was a world of adults. you had to understand our world and ask smart questions. you had to care about politics and sports and gossip and people in the community. >> yes, it is like, you tell me what is important. >> your dad was in the military? >> my mueller -- mother was a psychiatric social worker. >> you had to adjust to

different circumstances? >> different people and cultures. you are always thinking, who are you? you learn that that behavior is not character. >> you observe with a keen eye. once you decided, was it instant love once you went on stage and hear your voice and react to another character and say words and hear applause? >> it was pretty much -- i could not do sports. i did not play an instrument. there were not any clubs i was in. all i did -- i read. i ended up trying out for the school play. i did that, and it was something i could do. i was like, oh, other than school it seemed to be the one thing i could do. people tend to be drawn to the

things that come easily. it came easily to me. it is just like reading. i can do this. it was one step after another. suddenly i was like, i want to be an actor. >> what is the best advice you ever got about acting? >> i am trying to think. be persistent. it is not like, what i heard, it is what i saw. >> in terms of learning more getting the right roles? x just working. work, work, work. take opportunities. move forward. actors i admired were always working in different genres and different places nothing seemed to bother them. they just worked. >> meryl streep? who else? >> merrill number one. she was on the cover of time magazine when i was a teenager. i held it up at my father and i

said, i want to be this. she is an actress, on the cover of time magazine. my gosh merrill --meryl, and vanessa redgrave. >> they are both still doing it. >> that's what i mean. they have worked from the time they were very young and continue to work. and lots of different venues. oh my gosh, it is a great thing. >> do you consider yourself a late bloomer? either in terms of not so much the skill, but being appreciated because most people will say, as when director said about you she brings intelligence, gravitas, and an inner self. they say the same things about amemeryl.

you seem to have a wider range and a banker canvas. >> my career has always been really incremental. i was talking to another actor about, when did you do your first movie? 29. that is pretty old. i was on a soap opera i did off broadway, lots of television, movies of the weekend pilot. i did not get my first roll in movies until i was 29 years old. >> i still hate the stupid chrysanthemums. >> everything was incremental. it was never a big surge. >> in some ways, it is better. >> i only say, i was like a mouse chewing through a wall. eventually, you have eaten the whole wall. >> it not only builds experience, it builds talent because you continue to learn and be exposed to new ideas and

people. that becomes part of who you are. >> there is nowhere to go. i always say that, it is interesting about life and to we are in such a hurry let's get to this part. if you hurry through it all, you don't want to get to the very end. i think it is like, everything you do must be something you enjoy at the time. >> you look at this as something you will do for the rest of your life. there is no end point. there is a sense that it is fulfilling for you continue to do it. hunger games maps of the stars? >> i can't take it anymore, jacob. so pathetic. >> cronenberg a lovely person. highly intelligent, very family-oriented.

amazingly prepared, and just incredibly precise about everything he does. he is soft spoken. just one or two takes. >> one of the great things that being a director, is seeing what an actor adds to a character. they add to whatever the script says with their interpretation. >> my husband said the other day, what is interesting is when an actor surprises you and you have written something and they start doing it and they -- you start thinking you are holding dynamite. >> i heard mike nichols say i want the actors to surprise me like i want my architect to surprise me. >> that is great. that shock of creativity. i have it when i worked with

another actor. maybe you don't know them, they walk in and say something and you go, oh. oh my gosh. watching what they do. >> you have been nominated for an oscar for times. >> i feel great. i feel really gratified that people are so moved by it. that has what that is what is wonderful. we want people to feel the humanity and connect and feel insight into this. >> let me do a round robin with you. self-image. >> good. >> obsessions. >> furniture. >> what are the earliest moments you remember? >> the first thing i remember

is, my mother told me i was not supposed to take up my shoes and go down a hill. i took off my shoes and i ran down the hill and i got a big sticker, like a big thorn in it. iran backup and asked her to take it out of my foot. >> what has been your biggest achievement? >> my family. beyond that, career. my family -- i am so lucky i have this wonderful group of people around be, my husband and my children. i think my stars for that every day. >> career because it is something you created yourself? >> going from eating a kid you liked to read and tried out for the school play and was lucky to get parts, to someone who is still doing this at my age, still getting to work with so many really amazing and creative people. i have a lot of gratitude and amazement. >> just this appointment?

-- biggest disappointment? >> losing my mother. >> you were close to her? >> yes. >> you do a film like this, and you get an appreciation for how close you get. >> working with kristen stewart was extraordinary, she is a wonderful actress. that idea, that mother-daughter bond, how we miss communicate and how we are trying to communicate, both of them are well-intentioned and you are watching them miss each other. it is not about their combative relationship it is about them not seeing things in the same way. it is not from a lack of love. you watch these two people who are like this, managed to meet

at the end of the movie. >> if you were not acting, what would you do? can you imagine what profession might serve the same kind of -- >> that's the thing. being an act or, there is so much we get to experience. sometimes i think, what if i were a librarian? would that be awesome? you have access to all these stories. i love furniture and interior design. what i have liked that? i always wanted to be a doctor. i like trying to figure things out. also with people. you see so many people, talk to so many people. you are always -- >> and you go to interesting places. you don't like to cook? >> no. bart does the cooking. i clean. >> you do the cleaning?

>> and the organizing. >> the family schedules? >> the doctors appointment, this that and the other. >> suppose someone came up to you and they were a young actor. what would you say about act inc., what is it about the profession that is interesting? proceed with caution? you have to love it to do it? >> iowa state people, if you do not like doing it, don't do it. if you don't like the process of sitting down and being on the set and doing the scenes are being on stage, if you don't like the doing, don't do it. >> don't tell me you want to be a writer, tell me you want to write. >> that's right. you can get so wrapped up in making stuff that you don't even know -- we want people to watch, but you like the actual doing.

i used to love acting class, and rehearsal. i like going to a film set in the morning and seeing everybody and saying hello. having everybody come together and bring their expertise to something and figure it out and shooting the scene. i like all of it. sometimes, i don't even want to see it. >> how many what -- times to you what your best performances? >> twice, at most. >> if it is on netflix, you don't go and watch -- >> sometimes my family will see it and be like look look! and i will be like, turn it off. i went to see a documentary about andre gregory and they had clips of me and wally shaw.

i was like, who is that? that was a long time ago. seeing how physically changed i was. >> thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. it was fun to talk to you. thank you. ♪

>> robert battle is here, he is the artistic director of the alvin ailey american dance theater. >> alvin ailey was born during the depression in small-town texas. he founded a dance company in new york city. it became a place where artists of all races could come together. he choreographed a blend of modern, ballet, jazz, and blues. african-american history was told in a way that it never had before through him. virtuoso dance performances the transfixed audiences. >> the u.s. congress declared

him congress shall ambassador -- artistic ambassador of the world. here is a look at some of those performances. >> i sometimes think dancers are the world's most gifted athletes. >> i would agree. >> there was once a wide receiver who'd started taking dance lessons to make his agility on the field that you are. >> yes.

i heard of that. and basketball players and the like act errors. movement is such a primal expression. it helps when you can tap into that. that physicality. >> when did you fall in love with dance? >> when i was little. >> music was your first love? >> it was. i have to go back to things i don't remember. i was born completely blow-lighted. -- bow-legged. i had to have braces on my legs to make them straight so i could eventually walk normally, if you will. i think that is the reason i became a dancer. there was something in those restrictions. able or driven to certain things -- if they are shy, they become a great public speaker.

movement started for me as something urgent and necessary. i have to say it was through singing soprano when i was little, believe it or not, then my mother played piano for the church. that is where i learned to speak in front of people. we had to do poems on easter. my first poem was a lie. i was this tiny, so tiny. i had to stand up and say, my name is robert battle, and i stands six feet tall. i came to say, have a happy easter day. there was something in that with what were four feet tall. >> that's right. i studied martial arts i needed to learn to defend myself, and that gave me a physicality and a

confidence. i found dance through imitating michael jackson. my mother would watch fred astaire and ginger rogers movies. i wanted to please my mother, and the dancing came out of that. and it found its way to my heart after i saw the alvin ailey american dance theater. >> was this after julliard? >> before. i was still in miami going to high school. we were bust -- bused there. young people were bust bsed to see performances. i saw alvin a lee's alvin ailey's

performances. >> did you instantly set yourself on that course? >> i think it was partly by instinct. i was already taking dance classes. it made me take it more seriously if when i saw people like me who were on stage. dance that had to do with history of my people. my mother had a group called the afro-americans. they did dance relating to the black experience. when i saw "revelations, co-like my life on the know now, it was realized in dance. that drove me. i had dish and for julliard i got a full scholarship and i went on to julliard. the alvin ailey company, at that

time, was really -- rehearsing and i went to study there in the summer programs. i was getting closer to this vision i had and it continued to grow that way. i ended up dancing with a smaller company after that called the parsons dance company. i choreographed for the second company and they brought me back again and again and eventually ask me to take the company. >> what year? yet >> this was 1990. >> alvin ailey had been dead for about a year? i just missed him. >> you got to know not only the

work, but more about the man. what was it about him this is sensational the finer? >> he personified the notion of what we think of as the good of humanity. he was a humanitarian. he was completely open to different languages, different sounds, different music, poetry. he was open to the poetry in each individual. he was all about giving one an opportunity to express themselves, and there was something valid and freeing in that. when he started this company, he made it a repertory company. nowadays, you see a lot of those, meaning it -- it is not just choreography. he was always about opportunity. when we think about arts and education, but -- before it

became a buzzword, it was a mission for alvin ailey he wanted to connect with all people, that it was not a highbrow art form. he believed in that. that spirit, the next director continued. >> there have only been three directors? judith, and you? >> this is judith jamison talking about alvin ailey. >> experience is the modern dance tradition of this country. that is exactly what it is. he was so specific about what we were supposed to be about that it came universal. when you see a work like "revelations," you realize it is

about all of us, not just about the african-american experience it is about all of us. trials and tribulations of life, death, hope joy. all of that. alvin ailey thought dance should be more than just performance it should be inclusive. we include you. we should be responsive to the people we serve, the communities we serve. >> tell us about "revelations." and why it is such a huge piece of work. >> so much and great art is this notion of trying to express a personal experience that, through this masterpiece, turned out to be a universal expression that has to do with hope. it was very significant that he used spirituals -- it was called

"negro spirituals." those songs were more than just songs. i think they were political, they were of course social. they spoke of triumph over despair. also, i think there was something important in that. before the civil rights movement, to identify with these songs, some of the people who committed some of the atrocities of oppression would call themselves christian. i think there was something about the spirituals, and seeing these people who were african-american identify with their own christianity or spirituality, that had to do with recognizing that, i am human, too. >> it is interesting that the presidential medal of freedom was awarded to alvin ailey and

the three civil rights workers who had been killed brutally in mississippi. >> and how significant was that? for me, that moment -- i think about "revelations," i had my own revelation receiving that award on mr. ailey's behalf looking at the first black president, i thought of the man who raised me, my great uncle born in 1904. i think about some of the segregation in things he experienced. when i looked at it judith jamison, who has meant so much to little black girls who wanted to dance, there was something so significant about that moment, it was overwhelming. >> this is "revelations," you

don't need to say anything, you feel it all. here it is. >> ♪ run to the lord, lord 12 hide me? run to the lord lloydord won't

you hide me? ♪ >> you say that seeing "revelations" are as essential as knowing who martin luther king is. >> when i think about martin luther king, i think of his "i have a dream" speech. i think about what he was really doing in that speech and what he was trying to do, is hold up a mirror to our society so people could see a beautiful they are. i think there is something in "revelations" that does that. when i officially became artistic director, we were on to her in russia. i had never been to russia, certainly not with the alvin ailey american dance theater. there we were, and one of these wonderful the editors. you feel so far away from home.

the curtain goes up on "revelations," and by the time we hit "rock-a my soul in the bosom of abraham," and you see these russian folks swaying to and fro. something about that lets me know that we are more like then him alike. >> you have said that it is about everything the human being and doors. >> absolutely. it starts with, i have been rebuked and i have been scorned. who hasn't felt that? we have something called the "revelations" curriculum where we use "revelations" as a way to look at english and social studies and humanities. sometimes, we have -- using i

have been rebuked, i have been scorned. you have a young person who is never studied dance, and they come up with their own words. they could say something like, i have been dissed. no matter your religion, your collar, across the street or across the ocean, people come -- connect to the humanity in that work. >> friday told me to watch and pray ♪ saturday told me what to say ♪ i will let my little light shine ♪ i am going to let it shine ♪ this little light of mine ♪

>> you took over three years ago. is the mission different? doesn't build on the tradition that has been created? >> it builds on the tradition of discovering new voices celebrating our history, the history of modern dance. giving opportunity to these marvelous dancers to do their stuff, if you will. mr. ailey laid it out in the beginning, and it still works. in that way, for judith jamison and myself, she always said, we are standing on shoulders. it feels that way. >> how is she? >> great. she is divine. rehearsal for -- we do "revelations" to live, and

having it sung live for a few of the performances, she was at city center rehearsing with the musicians and singers. >> you have said i am interested in new conversations how we view dancers and their abilities, looking at people who come to the theater -- >> absolutely. i try that with certain choices that i make for the repertory. for instance, this season, which starts tomorrow this season, bringing in european corridor -- choreographer his work will be new to the company. it will shed a different light on what these dancers are capable of. i love things that are outside the box, on except -- unexpected. that has been fun for me. these dancers can do almost anything.

i watch them in the studio, i watch them when the audience doesn't see the amount of rigor it takes to do with they do. im driven by these magnificent dancers i have. >> take a look at this. you choreographer this yourself. >>

>> where did that come from, in your head? >> it came from a lack of space, not in my head, but i made it in a living room in queens many years ago. that is wise -- that is why most of the dance does not travel. now it travels all over the world because of the alvin ailey american dance theater. gosh, if somebody handed me this music, a cassette tape of this music by sheila shondra i thought it was so incredible. i have always admired indian dance. it is so complex and communicative. that is what it reminded me out.

it also reminded me of a la its gerald. -- ella fitzgerald. i could hear words in these syllables that seemed to not say anything. i could hear it. i was trying to interpret that. in this dance i see all those things i talked about. i see martial arts, i see the influence of michael jackson. i see the influence of singing. sometimes, the mouth or eyes are moving. that was the inspiration. >> much success to you. >> thank you. >> we have had much association with alvin ailey the alvin ailey american dance theater. it is sad that alvin ailey didn't see his medal of honor.

thanks for joining us. ♪

>> i am just green. >> i'm john heilemann. with all respect to john harbaugh, everyday we work is just like being back in college. >> it is our year in review part one. we will be running through our list. today is our six to his political stories of the year. obama and the good economy. the establishment party the po-po, and the world of flame.