Who Is Julianne Moore's Husband? All About Bart Freundlich

Julianne Moore has dozens of acting credits, two children and an Oscar, but she still finds time to prioritize her marriage to her husband, Bart Freundlich.

The May December actress tied the knot with Freundlich in 2003 after the pair met in 1996 and welcomed their two children, Caleb and Liv, in 1997 and 2002, respectively. In September 2020, Moore reflected on her decades-long relationship with Freundlich, sharing that the secret to their marriage was that they still made each other laugh.

″The only thing that I can say is, I think that you both have to really want to be married,″ Moore told Drew Barrymore on The Drew Barrymore Show. ″I do feel like I’ve seen situations where things aren’t working out for people, one of the members of the couple doesn’t want to be there.″

″I think if you’re both invested in it working out, and then you really have to have a good time,″ she added. ″My God, I think they really have to make you laugh. If they don’t make you laugh, it’s just deadly."

So who is Julianne Moore’s husband? Here’s everything to know about Bart Freundlich and his relationship with the actress.

He is a director

Freundlich may not be in front of the camera, but he is the main man behind it. He has had a long career as a director, starting off with his first big success, The Myth of Fingerprints, starring Moore in 1997.

Since then, he has worked on numerous films from 2005’s Trust the Man to 2016’s Wolves, both of which he also wrote.

In 2019, Freundlich spoke with True 212 about his directing process and how it felt to see his latest film, After The Wedding, premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

“It’s a great feeling to see something you’ve spent months working on finally reach completion,” he said. “The directing process can be a long and difficult one, but getting positive feedback from people who have enjoyed the film certainly makes it all worthwhile.”

He and Moore met on the set of a movie they worked on together

The Myth of Fingerprints was not only Freundlich’s first movie, but also where he met his future wife. Moore was going through a divorce at the time and was “super grumpy,” joking during a Q&A at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in 2019 that she and Freundlich crossed paths at “a very bad time.”

She recalled how they first met when she was running late for a meeting with him to discuss why she should do the movie, and she was in a foul mood because her boyfriend at the time had crashed her car.

When she finally got there, she admitted she was snippy with Freundlich but he was “so patient” with her and convinced her she should do the part.

“I asked him, ‘Why do you see me in this character?’ ” Moore said. “And he said, ‘Because you look like you’re two different people when your face is in complete repose and when you smile. You have a duality to your physicality.’ And I went, ‘Oh! Ok alright!’ ”

While Freundlich was convinced the meeting had gone poorly, Moore walked away thinking, “I’m going to do that kid’s movie," she said.

They have two children

A year after meeting, Moore and Freundlich welcomed their first child, Caleb, on Dec. 4, 1997. Five years later, Moore gave birth to their daughter, Liv, on April 11, 2002.

Now an adult, Caleb is a musician who has written and composed music for a variety of projects from documentaries to video games, per his website. He earned a Master’s in Music from New York University and released his own music in November 2023, which Moore proudly promoted on her Instagram.

Liv — who has often been called her mother’s twin — is a student at Northwestern University. In 2022, she and Moore teamed up for Bulgari's Mother's Day Gift Guide, posing in photos together for the campaign.

"I've been bragging about Liv since the day she was born, and I'm so impressed by how well she navigates the world and how mature she is,” Moore told Harper’s Bazaar of her daughter at the time.

They got married in 2003

Moore and Freundlich decided to tie the knot a year after welcoming Liv in an intimate wedding. While she didn’t initially feel the need to officially marry, Moore told The Guardian in 2011 that she felt it was the right choice for her children.

“The only reason I got married in 2003 was for my children,” the actress said. “I had a therapist who said marriage is really a container for a family, and that made sense to me.”

Seventeen years later, Moore shared on The Drew Barrymore Show that their time together had flown by. "I mean, I think that's what’s been nice about it. It doesn’t feel like a long time," she said.

For her 17th wedding anniversary the month prior, Moore wrote a sweet tribute to her husband on Instagram.

″I said he should take a shower. He said my hair smelled bad, like mildew, or an old box," the Still Alice actress wrote in the caption. "Happy 17th Wedding anniversary @freundlich96 — there is no one I’d rather be with everyday. I love you. #anniversary #quarantine."

He and Moore always put the effort into their relationship

In 2019, Moore opened up to PEOPLE about how she and Freundlich put time and energy into their marriage to keep it healthy.

“We have this narrative in our culture that if you want a career, you have to work hard, go to school, look for a job, you have to apply yourself but love is supposed to just happen to you,” the Oscar winner said. “One day you’re going to meet someone and get hit over the head and boom! That happens in romantic comedies but in real life you have to make time. When you find a person, you have to invest in them and that relationship. And that’s what love is.”

Four years later, Moore shared with PEOPLE how she and Freundlich continue to make each other laugh, even decades into their relationship.

"Bart has always made me laugh so hard that my eyelids start to flip up," she said. "My god, does he make me laugh."

She added that they’ve lasted so long because they actively choose to be together.

"I feel happy that my marriage is thriving and intact. That's a really great thing,” she said. "I think you both have to want to be together. Find somebody who's as interested in you as you are in them."

They have collaborated on projects together

Moore and Freundlich have worked together multiple times throughout their careers since they first met. Their latest project together, 2019’s After the Wedding, follows their collaboration on 2001’s World Traveler and 2005’s Trust the Man.

“I’m pretty familiar with working with my husband, so it didn’t feel out of the ordinary,” she told PEOPLE at the premiere of After the Wedding. “I think if anything, I’m highly sensitive to his moods, and so I know when things are bothering him.”

Freundlich also reflected on the experience of working with his wife in an interview with True 212, sharing that there was “no one I’d rather work with.”

“She’s just the best at what she does…I haven’t worked with her for about ten years,” he said. “She is very specific about the roles she takes. They either speak to her or they don’t speak to her.”

He added that this one “spoke to her” because she was intrigued by the character.