{babes} Moore talks movie sex scenes

LOS ANGELES -- When it comes to movie sex, Julianne Moore doesn't care which way she swings.

"It's not any different," she says. "I've done love scenes with men and women and the only thing that matters is that you have a partner you can trust, and you know what the tone is and that you do it together. And if you're ever in a situation -- and I haven't been -- where it's not comfortable, then that's difficult."

Just ask Mark Ruffalo, who co-starred with Moore in 2009's apocalyptically bleak Blindness and now reunites with her in the affecting, funny Sundance hit, The Kids Are All Right. Or better yet, let him describe what it's like.

"You get in front of a group of total strangers wearing a sock and a piece of tape and you're asked to jump into these scenes. 'Okay, now bend her over.' It's not very sexy," Ruffalo says. "It's very formalized and at best you can laugh at it, but at worst, which I've experienced as well, you have your partner telling you how you're doing everything wrong in front of a group of strangers."

Presumably nothing nearly that uncomfortable occurred on the set of Kids, which opens in limited release on Friday before expanding across Canada this month.

Moore and Annette Bening star as Jules and Nic, middle-aged lesbian parents of two teenagers Joni and Laser (Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson), who were conceived by donor insemination.

The movie follows the kids as they track down their biological father Paul (Mark Ruffalo), a cool, self-assured restaurateur, and the impact he subsequently has on the family and the relationship between the two women.

For Ruffalo, the role adds to a resume populated by troubled but charismatic characters. "He's got everything -- the motorcycle and the girls, and he's very charming and very seductive to us. And I love that he kind of falls apart at the seams. He goes from being confident and having this perfect life to just becoming a lump. The whole experience opens him to growth. I think when you get the s--- knocked out of you and you're vulnerable, it's a time when you're reforming yourself. We like these guys because they're living such a fun, unapologetic life, but we sense there's something deeply tragic about them at the same time."

For her part, Moore agreed to star in the movie five years ago -- a sign of how difficult the economic climate is for smart, character-driven adult-themed material.

"It's so hard to get financing right now," she says. "It's worse than I've ever seen it. It's worse for the studios too because there was all that hedge fund money and they were partaking in it as well. So the studios are making fewer movies. And what they're doing is making big-budget movies. The medium ones have disappeared. In terms of independently financed stuff, just getting a few million dollars for something is really, really hard. All businesses are dried up -- we're in a recession.

"So in terms of that, you just keep going the way you always did. But things always change. There was that sort of nice period where people would make a movie and be like, 'Here, do it!' That was great. But then there was a glut of movies that didn't get distribution."

Not that she -- or the equally prolific Ruffalo -- have ever shied away from Hollywood. Her credits range from Hannibal and The Lost World: Jurassic Park to Boogie Nights and The Hours. Likewise, Ruffalo divides his time between such high-end projects as David Fincher's Zodiac and Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island to such Sundance entries as his own directorial debut, Sympathy for Delicious, which, alongside The Kids Are All Right, debuted at the prestigious festival this past January.

"A six-month long shoot, that's a long, long time to hold the energy and intention.

"I love these short ones because if they're working and you have a great script and really good actors, the energy stays and it's like a fast game of basketball. I enjoy them both. I like having a nice air-conditioned trailer and food, but I also like this way of working too.

"Julianne comes from the stage and I came from the stage and Annette comes from the stage, so theatre actors have a way of working that's very good for these short shoots. They're already prepared. They're immediately out of the gate.

"And those women are so damn good you're always playing way out of your comfort zone, trying to catch up to them."

And, despite tough times, Ruffalo remains optimistic that there's a future for indie cinema.

"These big movies have been pooping out, you know," he says, without naming names.

(Might we suggest such disappointments as The A-Team?)

"It's pretty amazing. I don't know if people are getting more savvy or what's going on, but I think it's a real exciting time "¦ I think, ultimately, a great story and good acting is what will drive people (to see it.)"

And cause them to react -- sometimes passionately -- as he learned while promoting Kids.

"Yesterday, after an interview on TV, the woman said, 'By the way, I'm a lesbian and you lay off our women!' And she totally meant it. That was really strange. At first I thought she was kidding, then I realized she was really serious and she was going to arm-wrestle me."

But, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, he believes Kids can find an audience amid this summer's thrill rides and broad comedies.

"The 600-pound gorilla is that it's a lesbian movie and we're in this huge debate about gay marriage. But what I loved about it was how quickly the novelty of the gay marriage and sperm donor thing falls away. I've seen it with a couple of audiences now and they're laughing, not because it's a joke-driven movie, but because they see themselves in it. What it quickly does is get to the essence of what a family is in a real universal sense "¦

"Coming out when it's going to come out, the one thing that will bring people to it is the sense that it's funny. It's Julianne and Annette -- that's its own draw to a lot of people. Them being lesbian lovers is its own draw."

What about his own box office appeal? He laughs.

"That and four bucks will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks."

'Kids' star waiting on 'Spidey' role

Josh Hutcherson is waiting to find out if he'll soon be doing whatever a spider can.

The 17-year-old actor, best known from Zathura and Journey to the Center of the Earth, is on the short list to replace Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man.

"It's an honour, honestly," he says of being considered for the star-making role.

The as-yet-untitled action-adventure is a 3D reboot of the comic-book franchise, returning Peter Parker to his roots as a teenager grappling both with his newfound abilities and the murder of his uncle -- a tragedy he could have prevented. It's scheduled to swing into theatres in July 2012.

The search for a new Spider-Man began after Maguire and director Sam Raimi struggled for months to mount another sequel. But after widely reported differences over the script and even which villain would menace the wall-crawler -- John Malkovich had been linked to the role of the Vulture -- Raimi and the studio went their separate ways.

Instead, behind the camera will be Marc Webb, the gifted director of last year's hit (500) Days of Summer. Webb and Sony have been casting a wide net in their search for potential stars. Along with Hutcherson, candidates purportedly include Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot), Anton Yelchin (Star Trek), Aaron Johnson (Kick-Ass) and Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief).

When does Hutcherson expect to hear who will don the tights?

"I have no idea. I hear so many different things, I just keep my head low and when I hear something, that's when I'll know. I'm pretty sure I know about as much as you guys know. I'm pretty much clueless."

In the meantime, he's staying gainfully employed. He's wrapped a remake of the Red Dawn, the xenophobic 1980s Cold War thriller in which the U.S. is invaded, and is set to reprise his starring role for a Journey to the Center of the Earth sequel later this year.

As well, he's promoting this month's The Kids Are All Right, the indie flick in which Julianne Moore and Annette Bening play his lesbian parents; Mark Ruffalo portrays the sperm donor who fathered him.

Working with the trio of acting veterans, Hutcherson says, "was insane. I was so intimidated before I met them. I was like, 'How is my performance ever going to stand up against them? They're so amazing.' And then I met them, and they're such normal real people. Mark's like the coolest guy on the face of the planet; I want to be him. So for me, when I realized they're just normal people with their families, it would be a really easy dynamic to play."