The pair premiered Jesse Eisenberg’s new movie “The Debut” — about an actor’s wild creative process — to uproarious applause at TIFF.

Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti admit past costars have ‘gone nuts’ and ‘off the deep end’ on movie sets

The pair premiered Jesse Eisenberg’s new movie “The Debut” — about an actor’s wild creative process — to uproarious applause at TIFF.

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September 14, 2026 10:24 a.m. ET

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Jesse Eisenberg, Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti at TIFF. Credit:

Robin Marchant/Getty

- Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti revealed wild real-life actor processes at the TIFF premiere of *The Debut.*

- Giamatti said he’s worked with actors who’ve “gone off the deep end” on set.

- The film, directed by Jesse Eisenberg, follows Moore as a suburban woman who throws herself deep into preparation for a small role in a local musical.

Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti, and Jesse Eisenberg explore the rawest form of the creative process in their new movie *The Debut* — but the stars admitted that the film’s portrayal of an actor’s mad descent into a role is rooted in a reality they’ve experienced on past sets.

“Yes, actually, people have gone nuts like that,” Oscar nominee Giamatti, 59, said in response to an audience question about real-life actor behavior following the film’s Sunday night premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Giamatti said he’s “worked with people that have gone off the deep end like” the film’s central character, Mona (Moore), a suburban housewife who throws her entire life force into preparing for a small supporting role in a community theater musical.

“It’s different on a film. I don’t think I’ve ever done something on theater doing that, but in film I’ve had some people,” Giamatti admitted, while Moore, 65, agreed, telling him, “They sure do” as the pair stood next to 42-year-old Eisenberg, who wrote and directed *The Debut*.

Moore clarified that “every actor has a different process, a different way to get to the place” they need to be for any given character.

“You have to respect it as long as they’re not stepping on anybody else’s toes. There are times when people do what they need to do and I’m like, *okay*,” she recalled. “That’s part of this creative thing that we do.”

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The film follows Mona as she evolves from a meek woman who lucks into her role in the musical and into a full-fledged method actor whose process consumes her entire life — and even threatens her standing in the play itself, directed by the curmudgeonly Jerry (Giamatti).

Giamatti said he knows he plays “depressive men” like Jerry in more recent stages of his career, but joked that there’s a reason he can’t escape the parts: “I *try* not to be the same depressive, broken, middle-aged man all the time, but *I’m* a depressive, broken middle-aged man, so what do you want out of me?”

When an audience member drew parallels between Moore’s work in Todd Haynes’ 1995 classic *Safe* and her current Oscar-buzzed role in *The Debut*, the Academy Award winner said certain roles “cling to” her as an actor.

Julianne Moore in ‘The Debut’.

“The thing about Mona, for me, and for Carol White in *Safe*? She’s just a regular person. Particularly for Mona, she finds meaning and community for the first time in her life, and that was so moving,” Moore observed. “But she should be someone that you see everyday she should be you, she is, she’s us, she’s me, she’s Paul, she’s Jessie, we’re the people that kind of wandered in and found a path into our lives by trying out for the play. These regular ladies are up my alley.”

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Moore’s work in the film has generated significant awards chatter on the festival circuit so far, with the actress emerging as a likely contender (and potential winner) for her performance in *The Debut,* which would mark her first Oscar victory since she won Best Actress for *Still Alice* in 2015.

*The Debut* is out Dec. 11 in theaters. Watch EW’s video of Eisenberg, Moore, and Giamatti at TIFF above.

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Source: “EW Actors”