Oscar-winning actress Julianne Moore told us what she said to her daughter the day of the Sandy Hook massacre and why Jacinda Ardern inspires her. That — and more — from our interview with her at Festival de Cannes.
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00:00I heard her say, Mommy, did a bunch of little kids get shot today?
00:18I had an extraordinary experience that day because my daughter was just, I think she was 10 years old?
00:27Yeah, 10 years old. And she had the day off from school, so I decided to take her to work with me.
00:31And that's when the news broke. And I was very, very careful to keep the radio off in the car
00:36and the television off in the hair and makeup room. And I told everyone, please don't mention this
00:41because I wanted to wait until we were home to discuss it with her father and her brother
00:48so she wouldn't feel scared, so she would feel safe.
00:51So we went home and it was December 14th and we were decorating the Christmas tree
00:54and she had just received a phone and she was very, very carefully monitored with only emergency numbers in it
00:59and she had a little Instagram account with only a few other little kids.
01:02And she went through it and I heard her say, Mommy, did a bunch of little kids get shot today?
01:07And that was the point that I became ashamed.
01:12I realized that in my effort to keep my child safe, I wasn't keeping her safe at all.
01:17She wasn't going to be safe from gun violence and its effects if I didn't do something about it.
01:22And it's my responsibility as a parent and as a citizen of the United States to really do something to change our laws.
01:37Because it's in our Constitution, I think there are people who feel that these acts are somehow about taking away people's guns.
01:46This is about safety. It's really a public health issue.
01:53In the places where there are gun sense regulations, where there are common sense safety laws, gun violence is reduced by 50%.
02:07So we know that these regulations work.
02:09I think it's time for our lawmakers to act. I mean, that's what we believe.
02:13That's the way we change things in the United States. We do it, we're a government by the people and for the people.
02:18We vote on things that we care about and we expect our legislatures to enact these laws.
02:35Today I'm announcing that New Zealand will ban all military-style semi-automatic weapons.
02:41We will also ban all assault rifles.
02:47We will ban all high-capacity magazines.
02:51We will ban all parts with the ability to convert semi-automatic or any other type of firearm into a military-style semi-automatic weapon.
03:02She's an example of a true leader. I was very, very moved and impressed by her through that entire crisis.
03:10That's what I hope for in the United States. I hope for that kind of leadership and I think she's a real example.