Julianne Moore is mad for beavers. (You’re all mature. No sniggering, please.) “I always tell my children”—son Caleb is 14, and daughter Liv turns 10 in April—“that my favorite animal is the beaver, because it’s so industrious,” the actress says. Then she adds, laughing, “And when they grow up, they’ll be, ‘Can you believe she said that all the time?’ ”

But Moore is serious. “Beavers don’t seem that industrious when you look at them,” she continues, “but they make those dams, little by little.” She doesn’t just admire the toothy rodents; she identifies with them. “I am diligent,” she says. “That’s one of my qualities: diligence. Not very glamorous, but true.”

Her hard work (she has acted in nearly 50 movies, including Boogie Nights, Far from Heaven, The Kids Are All Rightand last summer’s Crazy, Stupid, Love), combined with Streep-like subtlety, has led to four Oscar nominations and a reputation as an actress who fully inhabits her characters. And her stature will only be enhanced by Game Change, the made-for-HBO movie about Sarah Palin’s vice-presidential run, debuting March 10.

For the Julianne Moore's full story, check out the March 2012 issue, on newsstands now!

LEAH ROZEN, a former movie critic at People magazine, has profiled Lisa Kudrow and Naomi Watts for More.

Related: Michelle Obama Gets Personal

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