“I was my priority, a selfish little brat running around making films.” (Julia Roberts) This actress has become a Hollywood phenomenon. Just two years after her film debut, she was declared a superstar. Two “Golden Globes”, two nominations for the “Oscar” award, and the “Oscar” itself.
For almost ten years, her name did not leave the pages of tabloids because of romances with her film partners. She became the only actress with a fee of 20 million dollars and entered the club of the most expensive movie stars, which previously only included men. Today we will talk about the well-known “pretty woman” – Julia Roberts [ˈrɑbərts]. Why was she teased at school? What was her relationship with the famous brother? Why did Mel Gibson gifted Julia a rat? And which Hollywood celebrities suffered from this heartbreaker? This is the “Biographer” channel! Get comfortable and let’s get started!
Childhood and early years Julia Fiona Roberts was born on October 28, 1967 in the provincial American town of Smyrna, Georgia [smɜrnə, ˈʤɔrʤə], known only for the fact that several scenes of the legendary film “Gone with the Wind” were filmed there. Her parents, Betty Lou Bredemus [‘brɛdəməz] and Walter Grady Roberts, former actors and playwrights, met while performing in theater productions for the armed forces.
They later co-founded the Atlanta Actors and Writers Workshop. They were united by a common cause, they loved the theater and were obsessed with cinematography. They also ran a children’s acting school in Decatur [dɪˈkeɪtər], Georgia. By the way, the children of Coretta and Martin Luther King Jr. attended their school; and Walter Roberts was an acting coach for their daughter, Yolanda.
At that time, black children could not go to school with white children. Walter gladly accepted King’s daughter to his institution. Being good friends, the Kings were aware of the Roberts’ financial difficulties, so Mrs. King paid Mrs. Roberts’ hospital bill when Julia was born. The girl was the youngest of three children.
Her brother, Eric, was 10 years older than her, and her sister, Lisa, was two years older. The endless creative mess that surrounded Julia from the first years of her life allowed her to feel part of the artistic community. Children’s fairy tales were replaced by the stories of actors and directors who were frequent guests in their home.
It seemed to her then that the whole world was populated by the same cheerful, carefree and fanatical people who cared little about material values. So, Julia simply could not help but become an actress, as well as her brother and sister. Inset quote: “I think it influenced the choice of my path, because I grew up in a bohemian environment, in a free friendly family with certain cultural and political values, and I’m sure that all this influenced my way of thinking”.
(Julia Roberts) Eventually, the family’s situation began to deteriorate sharply. Roberts’ parents realized that the passion for the theater did not bring any profits. Then Betty Lou got a job as a secretary, and Walter went to sell vacuum cleaners. Gradually, relations in the family worsened – the parents did not speak for weeks, or began to shout at each other.
Betty began drinking, and Walter found nothing better than to start selling everything that had any value. At one point, Betty even decided to burn her wedding dress so that her husband could not sell it. She lit a fire right in the yard, so when Walter returned from work, he found his wife, barely standing, by a huge fire.
In the evening, she was taken to the hospital, and a week later, when she returned home, the woman had already made the decision to divorce her husband. Eric was 14 years old at that time, and Lisa and Julia were 6 and 4 years old, respectively. From 1972, Roberts attended Fitzhugh [fɪtshˈju] Lee Elementary School. Most of the time the girl was left to herself, and therefore all the time she played and ran with stray dogs.
“I dreamed of becoming a vet,” she said. “I thought that animals get better when you caress and love them. But when I found out that I would have to literally slaughter them, I immediately changed my mind.” 8 months after the divorce, her mother Betty married Michael Motes [moʊts], who was very violent.
Eric later admitted that his stepfather, often being drunk, liked to let loose. So the boy went to Atlanta a year later to live with his father. However, he understood the danger his younger sisters were in, even though he could do nothing to help them. Soon their mother had another child, Nancy. Unfortunately, in 2014, she died of an overdose. On her 9th birthday, Julia learned that her father was terminally ill. This was a huge shock for her.
Walter died of cancer a year later, but in the girl’s mind he remained her guardian angel for a long time, who would “watch over her from heaven.” Even years later, the actress says she feels a connection with her father and hopes that he, as a former actor, appreciates her current work. At Griffin Middle School, Julia was not popular among her peers, unlike her pretty older sister Lisa.
She was tall and clumsy, and the boys did not like her at all and she suffered a lot because of this. Classmates despised the younger Roberts and called her “toothy”. She was angry, ran to the toilet and cried. However, no one tried to comfort her. Only her older brother Eric, who occasionally came to visit her sisters, was her only support.
Inset quote: “I was actually very lucky to have an older brother. The difference between us was ten years. He played a huge role in my life, taking care of me since childhood. I relied on him, on his support, so all the changes associated with my parents’ divorce, and then with the death of my father, I endured relatively calmly only thanks to my brother”.
(Julia Roberts) At Campbell High School, the girl played the clarinet and was not popular at first either. However, soon everything changed. Julia grew up and became really pretty. Her teeth finally aligned, and her mouth no longer seemed so disproportionately large. Her classmates suddenly stopped teasing her and boys started liking her. The actress mentioned that she was impressed by the book of poems “Leaves of Grass” by Walt Whitman, which she still carries with her everywhere.
According to her, it was this book that inspired her to become an actress. At the same time, being a schoolgirl, Julia often locked herself in the bathroom and, taking a shampoo bottle, which in her childhood fantasies represented an Oscar statuette, composed the text of the “speech”. In the meantime, changes again took place in the family.
Her mother, suffering from a new husband, filed for divorce in 1983. She stated that marrying Michael was the biggest mistake of her life. Later, Motes would be openly gay, work in the church and write a book about his life, where he would try to justify all his actions. Roberts would always be silent about his stepfather, justifying her decision out of respect for her younger half-sister Nancy.
After graduating from high school, Julia entered Georgia State University to get her veterinary degree, but she only studied there for two years and never graduated. Inspired by the success of her older brother Eric in Hollywood, the girl also wanted to become an actress. Having taken her modest savings, 19-year-old Julia went to conquer New York.
First experience in cinema In New York, she had to work different jobs to pay the rent. She sold sporting goods, ice cream, and later signed a contract with the Click modeling agency. At the same time, Julia enrolled in acting courses and started going to auditions. However, because of her southern accent, no one wanted to cast her.
She also had to deal with pronunciation, which the future star was correcting with a speech therapist. Time passed, but success and recognition did not come to her. As well as roles in films. Even later, the star will say that she is very grateful for all those roles that she could not get. Because she tried to find work anywhere, sometimes in really terrible advertising projects.
“And so, I think it was a lot of good fortune that no one wanted me. I look back on it with real good feelings now,” the actress explains. Eric saved the situation by calling his sister and offering her a small role in the film “Blood Red”. Roberts gladly agreed to her brother’s offer and went to Los Angeles to see him.
Thanks to Eric’s patronage, Julia was really hired for an episodic role. The picture was shot by the famous director Peter Masterson [ˈmæstərsən]. Julia was approved without an audition, most likely because of her resemblance to her brother, as she was supposed to play the younger sister of Eric’s character – Maria. The film told about the Italian winemakers of California in the 19th century.
And although Julia had only a few phrases there, participation in the project became decisive for the young woman. The main thing was done – she was noticed. The fact that, according to Roberts, she would have bought all the available copies of the film and destroyed them herself speaks volumes about what it was like. Good self-criticism. But then there was no alternative.
The first success of the young actress came only the following year, because Julia starred in two films at once: “Satisfaction” and “Mystic Pizza”. In the first, she had an episodic role of a girl named Daryle, for whom dancing was the main thing in life. On the set, Julia first met a real star – actor Liam Neeson [ˈnisən], who immediately made an indelible impression on her.
It didn’t even occur to her to hide her feelings. Neeson reciprocated. The mysterious Irishman, who later starred in the famous “Schindler’s List”, became the first on the list of male stars with whom Roberts was dating. Their romance was stormy. Here is what Liam said about it: Inset quote: “The energy with which this young southerner instigated the development of our romance would have been enough to light up a medium-sized town in my native Ireland.” (Liam Neeson) The couple moved in and started living together.
At that time, Julia was already starring in the romantic comedy “Mystical Pizza” in the role of Daisy – a girl who drove men crazy. The actress got the role by accident. It all started with the fact that she was walking down the street with her brother Eric and his girlfriend at the time, and they met a mutual friend, who turned out to be a talent agent. Because of him, Julia got to the audition.
Producers and directors accepted her directness as a fact, but in reality it was, according to the actress, only to hide her self-doubt. When she was invited to the “Mystic Pizza” audition, she was so nervous that she started stuttering. “I came to the auditions,” she recalls, “and they told me that I’m doing quite well, that everything is great, but outwardly I’m not at all suitable for this role, and besides, I don’t speak clearly.
So, I can be free… Then I approached the woman who was casting the actors and said: “I understand everything. You’re looking for an actress with a different look, but I’m desperate for work.” The woman began to explain that Julia is a blonde, and they need a dark-haired girl, that is, a certain ethnic type, because according to the script, the character was Portuguese.
The girl went to the supermarket, bought hair dye, dyed it a dark color and went to the audition again. Then director Donald Petrie [ˈpɛtri] saw her for the first time. She had not met him before. Julia was offered to play a love scene with a young actor. They said their lines and started hugging.
When the guy started touching her hair, Roberts noticed that the cheap hair dye got first on his hands and then on her clothes, which he was touching. It was that comic look and desperation in the eyes that made such an impression on the director that he chose Roberts from the thirty other applicants who participated in the casting. Petrie decided to shoot Julia without actually rehearsing, because, in his opinion, she was “natural as a firework”.
The movie tells about the love adventures of three girlfriends who work in a pizzeria, make plans for the future, fall in love and experience failures. Roberts played in the company of Annabeth Gish [ʤɪʃ] and Lili Taylor [ˈteɪlər] and, to the surprise of many, made a real sensation. Despite this, for the actress, this experience was controversial.
“I wanted that job so much and then I got it, and I was like, um…” She told later, “This is great, don’t get me wrong, but… I don’t know what to do! Luckily, there was a whole gang of us who felt the same way.” Despite this, appearing in “Mystical Pizza” was fateful for Julia. The new executive of the 20th Century Fox studio, Joe Roth [rɔθ], happened to see Julia in this picture.
He didn’t even know then that she was Eric’s sister, but he immediately understood – this girl would become a superstar. Joe found the actress’ agent and said: “This girl’s going to be a movie star. I’d like to be in business with her.” As for her relationship with Neeson, it was believed that thanks to this affair, she got on the covers of tabloids and her name became quite famous. For Liam, it was probably unbearable, and for Julia – a real step to fame.
The first recognition Inset quote: “The first time I felt I was famous was when I went to the movies with my mom. I had gone to the loo, and someone in the bathroom said in a very loud voice, “Girl in stall No. 1, were you in Mystic Pizza?” I paused and I said, “Yeah, that was me.” (Julia Roberts) In the spring of 1988, disaster struck.
“I got seriously ill then,” the actress recalls, “although the causes of this illness were strange and incomprehensible, but I was seriously ill then and spent more than one week in the hospital.” Mom and sister moved in with Julia to take care of her. And one day she got the script that was later made into a movie. Mom asked her if she wanted her daughter to read it to her.
But she refused, saying that when she was better, would read it herself. So it sat on her desk for a long time. Finally, when the actress started feeling better, she finally read it. It was the script for “Steel Magnolias”. And after that Julia went to auditions. Of course, the role of Shelby Eatenton Latcherie [ˈʃɛlbi ˈitəntən læʧəri] went to Roberts.
She worked closely with her on-screen husband, Dylan McDermott [məkˈdɜrmət], during filming, and the couple began dating in May 1988. Their relationship was not public, but quite long. At one point, McDermott and Roberts were even engaged, but for unknown reasons, Roberts ended their relationship in 1990.
Already at this stage of her career, Julia formed a rule for herself, which she would adhere to for many years: don’t say yes to things just because you’re afraid the well might dry up. Inset quote: “Remember why you’re doing what you’re doing. That’s your anchor. Cultivate your taste and decision-making. I didn’t work for a couple of years in my twenties, because I was being offered scripts and thinking “Is it me or is this all just crap?” (Julia Roberts) Even if she didn’t always have enough money, she was waiting for something valuable. In “Steel Magnolias” Roth gathered famous
personalities such as Dolly Parton, Daryl Hannah, Sally Field [ˈdɑli ˈpɑrtən, ˈdɛrəl ˈhænə, ˈsæli fild] and others. However, even in this star company, Julia did not get lost, although she played a small role of a pregnant woman with diabetes, who decided to give birth to a child even at the cost of her own life.
“I think it was my first dramatic role,” the actress said. “But I was lucky, because in fact I felt like a fish in water in this material and had no doubt that no one but me could fully understand this girl, because I also had experienced something similar in my life.” In “Steel Magnolias”, every component of her role was literally aimed at the “Oscar” award – there was a serious illness, and pregnancy, and a beautiful but unhappy woman.
In addition, Julia managed to demonstrate a real dramatic talent. All this, of course, did not go unnoticed. Roberts won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. “It was wonderful,” she said later. “But if anyone saw this ceremony, I’m sure you couldn’t help but notice that when I received the “Golden Globe”, I looked like a terrible hick. I said something incomprehensible.
I didn’t know what to do when I was presented with the award.” She remembered her work in the film, despite its success, reluctantly, and called the director Roth a tyrant. He also did not remain in debt. In several interviews, he accused the young actress of being unprofessional. “Oscar” was expected, but Julia did not get it.
However, the fact that her name sounded among the candidates for the Academy Award was a great success for the actress. Unexpectedly for herself, Julia felt that she was becoming popular. Passers-by on the street began to recognize her. However, they often asked with doubt: “Are you Julia Roberts?” When she said “Yes”, some, shrugging their shoulders, responded: “It can’t be.” However, real glory was already waiting for her in the corner.
In the spring of 1990, director Garry Marshall [ˈmɑrʃəl] was in a difficult position. It was necessary to start filming, and there was still no actress for the lead role. The search lasted for three months, negotiations with the most popular Hollywood stars reached a dead end: there was a catastrophic lack of money for a real movie star.
Then Roberts was invited to audition. During the director’s first meeting with Julia, according to him, he felt a strong nerve in her movement and plasticity. Inset quote: “She didn’t sit still for a moment. She walked around the room, huddled against the wall, sat down and stood up again.” (Garry Marshall) Soon the director was already casting.
There were six main candidates for the lead role in the “Pretty Woman” project. At that time, Richard Gere [ˈɡɪr] had not yet been invited to the lead male role. Candidates auditioned with Sam Neill [nil]. To the director, Julia seemed strange in some ways, and he could not decide whether she could be funny on the screen.
“We’ll do another test,” Marshal told Julia, “but this time with Charles Grodin [ˈɡroʊdɪn].” Knowing that Grodin was a comedian, Marshal believed that he would be able to evoke the right emotions in his partner. Roberts has already played this episode 12 times, but when Grodin entered the frame, a real miracle happened: not only did she not give in to him in anything, but she was also funny, natural and relaxed. “She played perfectly.
She had a rebellious spirit, she laughed surprisingly naturally and literally glowed on the screen,” Marshal recalled. After that, for the director, the issue of the female lead was resolved. After some controversy, Richard Gere was finally approved for the role of her partner. Although “Pretty Woman” is now one of the most popular romantic comedies in the world, the original script did not have a happy ending. In the version written by J.F.
Lawton [ˈlɔtən], the relationship between Vivian, played by Julia, and Edward, portrayed by Gere, was not a romantic story between two people. The idea was to draw a parallel between Edward’s greed, a representative of the “wolves of Wall Street” and the complicated life of Vivian, who reflected the American society of the time.
Lawton did not create a romantic comedy, and did not think about a happy ending between the two characters. The working title of the movie was “3000”, the price for Vivian to spend a week with Edward. In the first version, the film ended with the separation of the “couple”. The businessman left the young woman on the sidewalk where they met a few days earlier, and sitting in his luxury car, he threw the promised money out the window and drove off.
With the money, Vivian and her friend Keith went on a trip to Disneyland. The film ended tragically: Vivian, who abused substances in the first version, died of an overdose. It was a very dark script. As a result, despite the support of major institutions such as the Sundance Institute, it could not raise the necessary funding. Considering it too dramatic, the project would never be implemented.
However, Disney bought the film rights and Garry Marshall was appointed to direct. Of course, the script was completely reworked after that. The producers thought that turning the plot into a romantic comedy and creating a love story with a happy ending would be much more profitable.
In this way, Vivian’s substance abuse was removed from the script, and she became a cute and eccentric girl. For his part, Edward was deprived of the annoying features of the spoiled rich man, instead he became a melancholic and more pleasant personality. The relationship between the two characters was also fueled by the undeniable chemistry between Roberts and Gere during filming.
Later, Richard said: “With Julia Roberts, we got along very easily, and the audience responded enthusiastically to this interaction.” And indeed, on the set, Richard Gere behaved very nobly towards Julia. He modestly went into the background and tried to do everything to put her character in the spotlight. “Pretty Woman”, which appeared on the screens in 1990, grossed 170 million dollars at the box office.
The viewer believed in the transformation of a woman of the oldest profession into a virtuous Cinderella. And the last kiss between Edward and Vivian on the fire escape in the young woman’s apartment in Los Angeles to the iconic soundtrack of Roy Orbison’s [‘ɔrbɪsᵊnz] “Pretty Woman” is still one of the most famous scenes in cinema.
By the way, it was this movie that introduced a new phraseology – “Julia Roberts’s smile” into the American dictionary. It was this smile that would later become the star’s iconic feature. In the same year, Roberts was awarded the Golden Globe for the second time in a row, and she was again included in the list of nominees for the Academy Award, now in the “Best Actress” category.
She was competing with Kathy Bates, Anjelica Huston, Meryl Streep and Joan Woodward [ˈkæθi beɪts, ænˈʤɛləkə ˈhʌstən, ˈmɛrəl strip ænd ʤoʊn ˈwʊˌdwɔrd]. When Julia was nominated for playing the role of a prostitute at the Oscars, the conservative film academics in Hollywood were shocked, and the award went to Kathy Bates.
However, many were convinced that the members of the Academy simply lacked the courage to admit that entertainment films can be made as talented as any other. What do you think? Should Julia have won an Oscar for her role in Pretty Woman? Write in the comments, let’s discuss! Next projects After “Pretty Woman” success, Julia did not even think of stopping.
Five days after the end of filming, she started working again, this time in the psychological horror “Flatliners” by Joel Schumacher [ˈʃuˌmɑkər]. The movie about the experiments of medical students entering an artificial coma in order to see what awaited us all on the threshold of death became personal for Roberts.
“My character was a complete person,” the actress emphasized, “closed, if you like: she was haunted by the ghost of her dead father. A very tense plot. And I think Joel and I managed to convey the character of this girl. Of course, I put a piece of myself into this role. I think you have to have something in common with the character you’re playing. At the same time, you don’t look like each other. That’s the difficulty.
A lot depends on the ability to transform.” Roberts showed herself as interesting and intelligent in this picture, and not only because of the glasses she wore. Many critics believe that this movie was the last exam to receive the “certificate of film maturity”, which was “excellently” passed by Julia. On the set, she fell in love again.
This time with his partner Kiefer Sutherland [ˈsʌðərlənd]. Sutherland recently split from actress Camelia Kath [kæθ], and Roberts had previously broken off a brief engagement. The feelings were mutual and very quickly turned into a stormy romance. “Kiefer is the man of my life,” the star said in numerous interviews at the time.
“I feel amazing wisdom in him, and although he is only a year older than me, sometimes it seems that this person has lived on earth for at least a thousand years. It is impossible to love more than we love each other.” Meeting with Sutherland changed her way of life. Now Julia spent all her free time in the Hollywood Hills in her luxurious villa, which she bought with her first million paycheck, and tried to cook some food with the help of a cookbook, waiting for Kiefer to come home.
Sutherland was famous for his capricious character, although he tried not to show it, because he cherished Julia. The man spent all his free time with her, buying her gifts and appearing with her in public. A year after the start of the relationship, the couple decided to get married. As a sign of engagement, Kiefer gave his beloved an engagement ring worth 100 thousand dollars.
At the time, this event was considered the wedding of the millennium. While the preparations were underway, Kiefer, after finishing filming in “Flatliners”, bought a house on Sunset Boulevard and was engaged in furnishing it. And Julia continued to work. Two months later, Joe Roth received the script for “Sleeping with the Enemy”, and he immediately realized that it was the perfect project for Roberts.
Then he called her and offered the lead role. Of course, Julia agreed. Director Joseph Ruben [ˈrubən] shot a film with so-called “marital cinema” concept, which showed the negative rather than the positive side of family relations. In his picture, Ruben revealed the theme of partner’s jealousy and love consumerism, which ends tragically.
Julia explained what attracted her to the character as follows: “It is difficult to answer clearly what prompted me to her, but with each page of the script, my conviction grew – I want to play this role.” This is a film about a woman who falls into the trap of marriage and lives in fear that her husband will kill her.
Roberts tried to convey maturity to her character, who experienced a heartbreak. And she really got used to her role. Filming this psychological thriller was not easy. During the shooting of the scene, when the wave threw her character half-naked ashore, the actress ran in circles in her underwear, and she was doused with water at that time. Suffering from the cold, Julia offered the rest of the film crew to take off their clothes as a sign of solidarity with her.
Cameramen and other assistants really undressed and after this episode the whole crew adored her. “We have never worked faster in our lives,” said the star. “The guys were surprised how quickly everything was filmed. They were cold too.” The director managed to scare the audience in the Hitchcock way, and the film won four nominations for “Saturn” award, including in the “Best Actress” category.
The worldwide box office grossed almost 175 million dollars. Compared to a budget of 19 million dollars, the film was a box office success. And in September 1991, it was first at the box office. The actress’ next work was the romantic drama “Dying Young” directed by Joel Schumacher, who had already worked with Julia in “Flatliners”.
Critics called this movie “Love story of the 90s”, referring to the film created in 1970. And, it really could be the case. In the 70s movie, the male role was played by Ryan O’Neal [oʊˈnil]. In the new film, Julia’s character was called Hilary O’Neil. In both dramas, one of the lovers was terminally ill: in the first case, a woman, here – a man.
However, the story about a wayward girl who took care of a terminally ill person, and eventually fell in love with him, did not find a response in the hearts of viewers who expected another comedy from Roberts. But the movie still won 3 nominations at the MTV Movie Awards in 1992, two of which – “Best Actress” and “Most Desirable Woman” – belonged to Julia Roberts.
Meanwhile, Julia, in between shootings, with her characteristic energy, was getting ready for the wedding. Preparations for this event were huge. She wanted her first wedding to be chic. The event was to take place on Soundstage 14 at the 20th Century Fox studio, which was transformed into a paradise for the event. There were absolutely fantastic decorations with an outside terrace, fountains and a garden.
It was planned to spend 100,000 dollars on security alone. The bride took care not only of a chic ivory wedding dress by Richard Tyler [ˈtaɪlər] worth $20,000 and the design of the wedding cake, but also of the bridesmaids’ shoes ($450 per pair) and 300 white cars for the guests. And they were preparing to send a ton of freshly cut roses from their native Smyrna.
At the same time, Roberts began acting in Steven Spielberg’s film “Hook” as Tinker Bell. On the wedding eve, the director even allowed the actress to take a short vacation, because he knew that all of Hollywood and guests from all over the country were invited to this ceremony. However, just a few days before the announced wedding date, Roberts decided not to get married.
Why? The press was not informed, only it was noted that the decision to postpone the wedding was mutual. However, not everything turned out to be so simple. After all, on the day when they canceled celebrations, Julia was spotted having lunch with a fellow actor and Sutherland’s best friend, Jason Patric [ˈpætrɪk]. Kiefer was happy to comment on the separation in the press, giving his vision of these circumstances.
“When she told me that there would be no wedding, I thought that everyone around me would hate me. I was even afraid to leave the house. It took a long time before I realized that people treat me with understanding and compassion,” he shared his feelings. In fact, the star later explained that the reason was simply a recognition that their relationship wasn’t right for either of them.
However, it is important to note that Sutherland was then accused of cheating with stripper Amanda Rice [raɪs]. Over time, Roberts said that she did not understand why her ex-fiancé was making a victim of himself. “I feel like Kiefer, for whatever reasons, tried to make it seem like he was the victim of the situation,” she told Entertainment Weekly.
“I quite honestly believe that Kiefer knows that it’s the best thing for himself and for me that it didn’t happen. But he shouldn’t try to make himself look better by taking shots at me. Somehow or another, it turned into Kiefer being left at the altar. Well, I just don’t understand that, quite frankly.” Nearly two decades later, Sutherland publicly praised his ex-fiancée for deciding to call off the wedding: “We were both young, and we were both very much in love, we had decided that we wanted to get married, but then this other thing kind of took over,” Sutherland told The Jess Cagle
Interview in 2016. “She was arguably the most famous woman in the world, and this wedding that was supposed to be something between the two of us became something so big. It wasn’t what she wanted to do in the end,” he said. “And I think it took a lot of courage, in amongst all of that other stuff, to be able to say, ‘I can’t do this.
‘” As for her relationship with Patric, the two of them were spotted boarding a plane to Ireland on Roberts’ wedding day. However, Patric strongly denied these assumptions. “All that stuff is made up,” he told Vulture in 2011. “They had a relationship that ended, and I was with her for a little while and it ended… I think they’re fine. But we never had any issue, even back then.
” After such a life upheaval, Roberts returned to the filming of “Hook” – a tale about the difficulties of parting with childhood illusions. However, the events of recent days could not but affect her mental state. In the film, she played a good fairy, but in reality she was becoming more and more moody and sometimes even depressed. On top of all that, she didn’t like that colleague Dustin Hoffman [ˈhɔfmən], in her opinion, had much more privileges.
It also annoyed Roberts that the fairy had to walk barefoot in the script, as a result of which the actress had small wounds on her feet. Spielberg [ˈspilbərɡ] understood Julia’s condition and tried to support her. He was forced to attach a special worker with a sponge and a towel to her – after each take, he had to wipe her feet and then hand her shoes. Do you think it’s too much? Write to us in the comments, it will be interesting to hear your opinion! Although the press was waiting for another scandal, it did not happen. After the shoot, Julia returned to her usual self and radiated
beauty and confidence with her charming smile. It seemed to many that Roberts was tireless. Still. In less than five years, she starred in 10 films. The actress once said: “I adore my profession and the only thing I can complain about is that sometimes I have to spend time on vacation.” However, it seems that she needed to rest just then.
Especially since the press took it up. It was mentioned that on the set of “Hook” she had a nervous breakdown, and Spielberg was then forced to send her to a psychiatrist. Rumors began to spread that she uses substances like her brother Eric. It was also assumed that Roberts would probably come in handy with the 7 million received from Spielberg, because, perhaps, “this is her last film, after which all the money will go to treatment.” But everyone was wrong.
And over time, Julia proved that it was too early to write her off. Family dramas and a quiet period After 1991, there was a slight lull in Roberts’ career. “I didn’t act out of principle,” the star said. “It’s just that the projects that were offered to me were disgusting. I wasn’t going to change just because the circumstances around me were changing.
I was very confident in myself: I was 24 years old, and I didn’t want to obey the pressure.” At the same time, the relationship with the older brother also worsened. Eric did not like that she had cut and dyed her hair. According to him, Julia threw him a tantrum because he did not respect her as an actress.
In addition, Eric heard from his sister that there was no kindness in him, only hatred for people. And since that quarrel, they hardly communicated. Even after the success of “Pretty Woman”, a real gap formed between the siblings. If at first Eric felt envious of Julia’s success, now he also believed that the credit for it belonged to him personally. His addiction worsened the situation.
And in the end he couldn’t stand it. Without choosing expressions, Eric began to shame her on the pages of the tabloids, calling the actress incompetent. Roberts was very hurt by those words, but she did not respond in the same manner, trying not to comment on the situation with her brother at all. “For many years, I tried to help him,” the star said.
“I understood that he was on the verge of disaster several times. But he was almost eleven years older. He was an adult, and I was still quite a girl. And I realized that the only thing I can do is stay away. I had to make a choice. And as selfish as it may sound, I decided that my life should at least be filled with something good, not drama, especially not mine.
” And if earlier the conflict consisted mainly in their personal relationship, then the new aggravation was caused by the intervention of Eric’s second wife. The enmity between the brother and sister flared up with a new, even greater force. The thing is that as soon as Kelly Cunningham [ˈkʌnɪŋˌhæm] gave birth to Eric’s daughter Emma, he began to talk about the relationship with Kelly as his biggest mistake in life.
After divorcing her, the actor was practically deprived of the right to meet his daughter. The court allowed him to see her only in the presence of third parties. This annoyed him, but the most unpleasant thing for him was Cunningham’s support by his sister, who allegedly gave Kelly money for a lawyer. “She took everything from me!” Eric shouted after the court verdict.
“First my mother, then fame, and now my daughter! Just think! Now they call me “Mr. Roberts, the brother of a famous actress.” But if it wasn’t for me, she would have become a waitress in some eatery! It was I who helped her get her first role in a movie. And I was happy for her success like a fool!” Julia, when she was asked about it, initially remained silent, and then gave an interview to Rolling Stone magazine, in which she no longer hid her hostility to her brother.
On the pages of the same magazine, Eric’s new wife urged her to remember her parents and reconcile with her brother in the name of family ties. However, there was no response from Julia. She clearly did not like her brother’s new beloved, which, in her opinion, professed Scientology and involved Eric in it. Thus, the truce did not happen. But back to the career.
On December 2, 1992, Joe Roth and the Disney studio executive announced a two-year contract signed with Julia Roberts, under the terms of which she had the right to independently find, develop and produce films in which she would star. The unusual thing about this deal was that the movie star created her own company not with a studio, but with an independent producer.
“I have great respect for Joe Roth and I completely trust his creative sense,” Julia said. Roth, for his part, said he had no immediate plans for Roberts, but would love to see her in comedies and romantic dramas. January 10, 1993 was an important day for Julia’s creative life as she received Audrey Hepburn’s [ˈhɛpbərnz] recognition, the actress she was often compared with.
Of course, not everyone shared this opinion. For example, the great director Billy Wilder [ˈwaɪldər] mentioned Julia in his memoirs, recognizing her abilities and comedic talent. He wrote that he fell in love with her immediately after “Pretty Woman”, but categorically rejected attempts to compare her with Hepburn. By the way, the biography of this legendary actress is already on our channel.
We will leave a link for you in the description below this video. It will be great if you also watch it and form your own opinion about whether these two stars are similar. As for the above date, on this day, at the request of Audrey Hepburn, Julia received her Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Achievement.
“She was sick at the time and couldn’t come to get it,” says Julia. “And I was lucky because she asked me to give her speech.” From that time, the actress began to be seen as a star capable of ensuring the commercial success of any, even not the best, film. “They say I can open movies, and that’s nice in that it puts it into people’s minds that women can do it,” Julia admits.
“It’s not just Kevin Costner, not just Arnold Schwarzenegger. Not just guys.” Meanwhile, personal problems began to depress Julia, and she returned to the set. Actually, the role in Robert Altman’s [ˈɔltmənz] black comedy “The Player” was episodic. The actress appears only in the final frames of the film, where Bruce Willis’ character saves her from death.
In Altman’s picture, many Hollywood movie stars were involved in episodic roles. The main characters were played by Tim Robbins [ˈrɑbɪnz] and Greta Scacchi [‘skækɪ], and Lyle Lovett ˈ[lʌvɪt], a country singer, who played the role of a detective. That’s where Julia and Lyle got together. Many of the actress’ friends were surprised when they found out that he made a magical impression on her and many called the couple “Beauty and the Beast”.
However, everyone was even more impressed by the rapid development of their relationship, although few believed that anything would come of it. “I had a very strong reaction to meeting him,” Roberts said in 1993. “Different to the way I’ve ever reacted to any person on the planet… He’s perfect.” During this period of her life, the meeting with the musician coincided with her active personal development: she traveled a lot and read a lot.
In general, since then, books have become her favorite way to spend time. “Reading is my passion,” says Julia. Reading, and knitting, which she mastered at a young age. She can often be seen with yarn on film sets in between work. And an unusual relationship with Lovett would be a step towards finding her happiness. On June 27, 1993, Julia’s publisher, Nancy Seltzer [ˈsɛltsər], reported to the Associated Press that her client Roberts was legally married to singer and musician Lyle Lovett a few hours ago. It was like an explosion. Reporters did not believe it until Julia’s close friend,
movie star Susan Sarandon [ˌsɛˈrændɪn], confirmed the fact of the actress’ marriage. “I was filming The Pelican Brief,” Roberts said after the wedding, “and the only person who knew I was going to get married was our director, Alan J. Pakula. I was going on a weekend trip and, driving by the crew, shouted to them, ‘Wish me luck.
‘ I don’t think they were surprised to read about my wedding the next day.” Guests were notified only two days in advance, so only 75 people managed to get to Marion, Indiana [ˈmɛriən, ˌɪndiˈænə]. Those who happened to be nearby were invited to the wedding ceremony. The exception was Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins and their son, who rang the bell at the ceremony.
The presence of this family was an indispensable condition. Many considered the invitation to be another Julia’s prank. Among them was Richard Gere. There was a feeling that the decision was made suddenly. Inset quote: “No, it was no accident. I was happy. What was happening seemed like a dream to me, and I was afraid to wake up”. (Julia Roberts) Those who came were in for a surprise.
They saw a charming bride in a white dress and barefoot. The guests recognized it as evidence that the whole ceremony is half a joke. When she was asked why she went down the aisle barefoot, she answered, laughing: “Because I like to be closer to the ground!” She later admitted that Lyle advised her to do so.
On the third day after the wedding, Roberts appeared on the set. Among her colleagues, many did not even know that she had become a married woman. After the wedding, Lovett took his wife to his old Texas house, built by his grandfather 100 years ago in the middle of a large farm. Many saw that Lyle adored his young wife, but even ardent romantics could not get rid of the idea that everything that was happening to Roberts was some kind of script that she decided to play out in her life.
However, the newlyweds spent most of their time separately. Julia then worked in New York, and Lyle preferred a quiet country life. “We saw each other every week, but we didn’t spend more than seven days together,” Lyle admitted. “We’re pretending to be a normal couple,” Roberts says in one of the interviews. “We get up in the morning and go to our jobs.
He goes to the studio to cut a record; I go to the studio to make a movie”. At the same time, Roberts worked on changing her screen image. After “The Player”, she played the character of the above-mentioned crime thriller “The Pelicans Brief” based on John Grisham’s [ˈɡrɪʃəmz] novel. In it, Julia played law student Darby Shaw [ʃɔ], who investigates a murder case.
She was extremely surprised and pleased to learn that the famous writer, describing the character of his courageous heroine, had her in mind. Roberts’ partner on the set this time was Denzel Washington [ˈwɑʃɪŋtən]. The actress called this filming experience ideal. It “was a dream”, she said. “You feel justified in holding out for something that pays off.
” Alan Pakula [pəˈkulə], the film’s director, claimed that Roberts was easy to work with. “She gave everything. By the end, she had earned the respect of the entire crew. Julia responds to the other actors, which is what the best people do,” he said. Critics liked the chemistry between the two main actors, and the film was quite successful at the box office, as it grossed more than 195 million dollars with a budget of 45 million.
Soon, Julia and Lyle again starred in Robert Altman’s satirical comedy-drama “Ready to Wear”. She appeared in a small role as a journalist, and her husband – in the role of a representative of a shoe factory. It is difficult to say whether he was jealous of Julia, who had to play many intimate scenes with Tim Robbins. This film reflected the madness and fakeness of the fashion world.
Many world movie stars starred in the film, including: Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Rupert Everett, Kim Basinger [soˈfi ˈlɔ’ræn, ˌmɑrˈsɛloʊ mæstroʊˈjɑni, ˈrupərt ˈɛvərət, kɪm ˈbeɪsɪŋər] and others. Although the movie in general turned out to be less exciting than the noise raised by the press around it, it was full of interesting details and observations about the fashion world of that time.
At the same time, the couple’s family life was far from perfect and they divorced in March 1995, three months before the two-year anniversary of their life together. Many believed that Lyle, who was seen by the paparazzi with ex-fiancée Ashley Judd [ʤʌd], was to blame for everything. It was also claimed that he allegedly started an affair with singer Kelly Willis [ˈwɪlɪs].
Julia, however, was attributed a relationship with Daniel Day-Lewis [deɪ-ˈluɪs]. After the divorce, the actress still warmly spoke about her ex-husband: Inset quote: “Lyle and I experienced a heavy sense of loss. But we remained friends. Now I think that it is not necessary to get married, even if you are bound by love and friendship with your husband.
People should always be able to come and go freely”. (Julia Roberts) In the two years between 1993 and 1995, Roberts starred in five films not quite known to the general public: “I Love Trouble”, “Something to Talk About”, “Mary Reilly”, “Michael Collins” and “Everyone Says I Love You”. In the romantic crime comedy “I Love Trouble” Roberts again played a journalist who investigates the case of a train accident that killed a great scientist.
The movie became a kind of record holder for the number of clichés and banalities. Critics noted that the tandem of Nolte [noʊlt] – Roberts was also not very successful. On the same shooting, there were rumors that the actors really didn’t work well and sometimes there was hostility in their communication.
However, Roberts, as usual, did not comment on the gossip, because she had a habit of never throwing mud at her colleagues on the set. One way or another, but the incompatibility of the tandem, which was revealed even on the screen, did not contribute to the box office. This picture with the participation of Roberts became one of the rare ones that did not succeed at the box office.
In the next movie “Something to Talk About”, Julia’s character – Grace – for the first time wonders what she wants in this life. In general, in the picture, the authors describe a rare case when a husband’s betrayal benefited his wife and those around her. Julia played quite convincingly, but it seemed that she wanted to say more than the director required.
Critics, of course, noticed this, saying that some interesting moments contained in the script were drowned in the sea of family problems of the character. However, at the box office, this tragicomedy fared better than the previous film. When Roberts got hold of the script for “Michael Collins”, she immediately called director Neil Jordan [ˈʤɔrdən] and asked to give her at least a small role in his film, because she really liked both the text and the plot.
Jordan agreed, and Roberts played the girlfriend of the founder of the Irish Republican Army Michael Collins, although at first it was planned to invite the actress Mary-Louise Parker [parkər] for this role. Julia’s partner on the set was her ex-lover Liam Neeson, and the press immediately began to write about the possible continuation of the romance between the stars.
However, the actors denied it. “Julia and I know each other really well, and that helped us in our work,” Neeson said. “The most difficult and interesting thing for us was to show the innocence of our characters’ love. We were inspired by the correspondence between Collins and Kitty Kiernan [ˈkɪrnən], whom he loved. But everything that was between us before was 10 lives ago. For her, and for me.
” In addition, Liam was already married to actress Natasha Richardson [ˈrɪʧərdsən], and Roberts, as the tabloids of the world wrote, had a new boyfriend, the handsome Mathew Perry [ˈpɛri] – the star of the popular TV show “F.R.I.E.N.D.S”. They met on the set of one of the series episodes.
Julia played the role of Susie – a school friend of Chandler, who was played by Perry. Matthew spoke quite original about their first meeting: “When I saw Julia, I literally lost my head. I immediately remembered my favorite childhood movie – “Jaws”. The actress recalled the first meeting: “I was very nervous because he’s awfully clever and, you know, funny and handsome. I was very nervous”.
A few days after filming on TV, Julia and Matthew were seen at a party, and then they began a passionate but short affair. Several times a day, Perry sent his beloved faxes with a declaration of love, followed by countless roses and chocolates. But like all good things, their relationship ended quickly and soon the couple broke up. Meanwhile, the film “Michael Collins” was released on the big screens and was received differently on different continents.
In Europe, the film was highly appreciated due to the national liberation theme it raised, and even received the “Golden Lion” at the Venice Film Festival. However, it was criticized in the US for historical inaccuracies and Roberts’ Irish accent. Julia, on the other hand, continued to demand to be recognized as an actress, and not just as a “pretty woman”.
English director Stephen Frears [frirz], preparing the gothic horror project “Mary Reilly” for production, counted on Roberts to participate in it from the beginning. It was a screen adaptation of Valerie Martin’s [‘mɑrtɪnz] book of the same name. The events in the movie were shown from the point of view of Mary Reilley – she tells the story of Dr. Jekyll [ˈʤɛkəl] and Mr. Hyde [haɪd], being their “common” maid.
Even before filming, the studio management expected that the picture would bring the actress an Oscar. Julia’s partner was John Malkovich [ˈmɔlkəvɪʧ] – a world-class intellectual and movie star. “I dreamed of acting with John Malkovich and I’m glad that this dream came true,” said Roberts. The movie, contrary to expectations, did not become very successful.
Critics sarcastically noted that “by and large, Roberts was not the worst element of the film”, which, in their opinion, came out without a beginning and without an end, without conflict and without content. And although it was considered terrible, in fact, in terms of the number of horror elements, it was not compared to the previous films about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Julia soon found herself in Italy filming Woody Allen’s musical film “Everyone Says I Love You.” In the film, she played an art critic and a desperate admirer of psychoanalysis, who wins the heart of the aging Joe, whose role was played by Allen himself. The director refused “depth” and “significance” in this picture. According to Allen, he wanted to make a musical comedy with actors who can’t sing.
Critics praised Roberts’ image in the film, which, in their opinion, combined the grace of Diane Keaton [ˈkitən] and the fragility of Mia Farrow [ˈfɛroʊ] (the director’s favorite actresses). On familiar ground In 1997, all the newspapers and magazines were cheering with the headlines “Roberts is back!” After all, two successful films with the actress were released at once – the comedy “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and the thriller “Conspiracy Theory”. In the first one, Julia played a not very decent girl named
Julianna. “I had to play a real monster,” the star recalled. “Julianna lies and manipulates people, hoping to disrupt the wedding.” At first, Roberts was embarrassed that she had to constantly switch from comic scenes to dramatic ones, but she soon realized that this was the most interesting challenge for the actress.
Director Hogan [ˈhoʊɡɑn] recalled that Roberts made a particularly strong impression on him the day she starred in a difficult scene in the film, and the fans gathered around shouting her name. Despite the fact that she was constantly distracted, Julia, completely disconnected from reality, managed to turn into her character. The Roberts magic really played its part.
After all, after its release on the big screens, “My Best Friend’s Wedding” became a box office hit, grossing almost 300 million dollars worldwide. The film is on the list of the 10 biggest films of 1997 both domestically and worldwide. She got to the filming of “Conspiracy Theory”, one might say, under duress. After all, Mel Gibson [ˈɡɪbsən] and director Richard Donner [ˈdɑnər] came to persuade her.
And their gift was not quite what the star expected. Inset quote: “Mel is a huge prankster, so he started by giving me a rat as a present. A real stuffed rat. It was wrapped up so prettily in a box with a nice ribbon and a really sweet card.” (Julia Roberts) Julia was shocked by what was happening.
However, the men calmed her down and, among other things, began to persuade her to take part in their future project. When the actress refused, as she was tired, they blocked the door and refused to leave until Roberts agreed. After such persuasion, the woman simply had no choice but to agree. And the orchestra was already waiting for her outside the door. This is how the work on the thriller “Conspiracy Theory” began.
But this was not the only prank of a star by a colleague. In one of the scenes, for example, when Gibson’s character was showing Julia’s character a secret handshake, he put an artificial cockroach in her hand. Tired of such practical jokes of a colleague, Julia decided to get her revenge and blocked the toilet door in his trailer.
As a result, Gibson, using his own expression, “danced like Gene Kelly in the rain.” But Julia did not calm down and soon sent him polka dots underwear, tied with a blue ribbon, as a surprise. So, she still had the final say in the pranks. Due to its dark tone, the film “Conspiracy Theory” was less successful than “My Best Friend’s Wedding”, but Roberts did not regret at all that she once succumbed to Gibson’s persuasion and starred in this film.
According to her, she was happy to switch from a light comedy to a dark story. So how does she choose her roles? If not taking into account the colleagues’ persuasion. According to Roberts, trusting her own intuition is crucial in her career. She listens to her own feelings while reading a story or script. “The first impression is very important to me,” she says.
The actress is sure: every film, every role leaves its mark. And each one changes her, making her spiritually richer. After these successful projects, Julia began a new period of life. She started doing yoga, aerobics and running. Her last passion was dancing, which, according to her instructor, was a kind of stress reliever.
Julia celebrated her thirtieth birthday in a rather original way – in a New York amusement park together with children who were helped by the “Save Childhood” Foundation. 5,000 children attended the party, and the actress and the children had fun and spent good time together. For the PBS television company, Julia agreed to star in the TV documentary “In the Wild: Orangutans With Julia Roberts”.
The movie was shot in the jungles of Borneo island [ˈbɔrnioʊ]. The actress got so into the role that she insisted on even spending the night in the forest. Shortly after her arrival, Julia was unexpectedly rushed to a New York medical center with an unexplained illness that caused bouts of fever, nausea, and headache.
When Julia was alone in the apartment, she felt sick, and she called her new friend – actor Benjamin Brett [brɛt], who called an ambulance as soon as the actress felt worse. Roberts met Brett shortly before this incident, at Susan Sarandon’s party. Doctors initially decided that the actress had caught some unknown virus in Borneo, but the diagnosis was not confirmed. Her press rep reported that the actress only has the flu.
Benjamin constantly called the hospital, and when the star was discharged, he took care of her at home. And after his caring attitude during Julia’s illness, the actress really fell in love and the couple started a romantic relationship. Meanwhile, in 1998, Roberts changed her role again and appeared in Chris Columbus’ [kəˈlʌmbəs] melodrama “Stepmom” with the already mentioned Susan Sarandon.
Friends for life, Julia and Susan acted out a real women’s drama in the movie, where they opposed each other. Critics noted that Columbus made a pure melodrama that met all the requirements of this genre, although the problem, most likely, was the conflict of good with even better. They also emphasized the fact that Roberts, despite usual, did not have an affair this time with her co-star Edward Harris [ˈhɛrɪs].
And all because she already had a rather serious relationship with Benjamin Brett. “He’s just a great guy, a wonderful man,” Julia commented on her romance. “He’s very sweet and we have a lot of fun together.” The actors lived separately, but they could often be seen together in clubs and restaurants in New York, albeit accompanied by bodyguards.
Their romance lasted more than two years, but did not end with a wedding. At the same time, the star did not forget about her own career. And 1999 was a breakthrough year for her, because two incredible romantic comedies appeared on the big screens at once, which once again proved that it is too early to give up on the actress. Those were “Notting Hill” and “Runaway Bride”.
The actress immediately liked the script of “Notting Hill” about the struggle of a celebrity with the tabloids. According to the idea, the main character of the film Anna Scott [skɑt] was supposed to be on the screen as a cameo figure, and the main protagonist was to become the owner of the store.
Hugh Grant was invited for this role, and Roger Michell [ˈmɪʧəl] became the director of the future film. Together, they decided that probably only Roberts could play the star, although they had little hope for that. The script was sent to the actress just in case, and she, to everyone’s surprise, agreed. Inset quote: “I thought it would be easier to play Anna Scott.
However, later I realized that this will be the most difficult role in my career. The smaller the gap between reality and the fictional world, the harder it is to hit the target.” (Julia Roberts) The shooting of the picture took place in the suburbs of the British capital, where an exact copy of one of the London neighborhoods was built.
The film creators managed to combine humor, great comedy stars, and the beauty of London in their picture, which guaranteed its success at the English box office. During the period of filming in London, Julia arranged a “Roman holiday” for herself and, accompanied by Benjamin, went on vacation to Capri [ˈkæpri] island. Witnesses claimed that the couple were inseparable and spent most of their time in their room in the luxurious hotel “Europa Palace” or by the indoor pool and only occasionally went for walks on the island.
At the “Notting Hill” premiere, the actress again gave the press a reason to actively discuss her. And all because she appeared on the red carpet in a shiny red dress with short sleeves and… with unshaven armpits. This caused a lot of indignation in the press and… spawned a new trend. No one has yet discussed the issue of body positivity, so such a bold step did not go unnoticed.
However, the star explained everything differently: “I just hadn’t really calculated my sleeve length and the waving and how those two things would go together and reveal personal things about me,” Roberts told host Busy Philipps. “So it wasn’t so much a statement, as it’s just part of the statement I make as a human on the planet, for myself.
” Despite the fact that rumors about the continuation of the project “Pretty Woman” existed for a long time, however, it so happened that Gere and Roberts were destined to meet again on the set in a completely different film, albeit from the same director – Garry Marshall. And it began with the fact that Richard sent Julia the initial version of the script of “Beauty-2” to London, when she was still filming in “Notting Hill”. She liked the script, but she decided to refuse.
In order not to offend Garry Marshall with her refusal, Julia went to the trick, asking for a fee of 17 million dollars, hoping that no one would make such sacrifices. To her surprise, the check was written immediately. In addition, her sister Lisa was invited to the film for a small role as Elaine from Manhattan.
“We were shooting in a small town, not far from Baltimore,” said Garry Marshall. “It was December, and the local southerners were freezing outside just to see Julia with their own eyes for a second. I was once warned that there might be trouble, and then I asked the cast to come out of the trailer, greet the audience and ask them to leave. When Gere came out, the crowd applauded.
When Julia appeared, there was a collective hysteria. People cried when they saw her. Grown people. Julia was so confused that she didn’t know what to say.” “Notting Hill” was released at the end of May 1998, and “Runaway Bride” premiered two months later. As a result, the viewer got a double dose of Julia Roberts.
Both films seemed to be two sides of the same coin dedicated to the actress’ life – a movie star and a simple woman “born free” – and both were warmly received by the public. And which of the two films do you personally like more and why? Write in the comments, maybe you will find like-minded people! “Oscar” and the new millennium Julia was not too impressed with the image that developed after the film “Pretty Woman”, although it brought her world fame.
And so, finally, after all the “weddings” and “brides”, she had to play a real character. The plot of the biographical drama “Erin Brockovich” was quite simple. It was the true story of a secretary at a small law firm, a single mother, who accidentally discovered that a utility company had contaminated the groundwater in the small town of Hinckley [ˈhɪŋkli].
As a result, hundreds of residents fell ill with cancer, and the mortality rate, including among children, rose sharply. Brockovich and her boss managed to settle the conflict through the court for an incredibly large sum of 333 million dollars. With this project, Julia confirmed her high status as a highly paid actress and asked for 15 million dollars, although the budget included an amount of 10 million.
When asked what exactly made her do this, she answered: “Cause, I got tired of low-balling.” Steven Soderbergh [ˈsoʊdərbərɡ] was approved as the film’s director. The search and selection of a partner for Roberts was handled by the director himself. “Thank God, I managed to get Albert Finney [ˈfɪni] for the role of her boss.
I needed an actor who wouldn’t get lost in her background,” he said. To participate in the project, Soderbergh invited mainly those who worked with him on the previous movie “The Limey”. The film crew was small, and they worked like in a low-budget film. The director held the camera in his hands. A wonderful, friendly, creative atmosphere was spread on the set.
The actress met the real Erin Brockovich when the film was already half shot. Erin came to the shooting to play the role of a waitress in the restaurant where Roberts’ character dined during the film. According to the director’s plan, her character was named “Julia”. Inset quote: “Erin turned out to be exactly what I imagined her to be.
She was very nice, but I was honestly nervous and tried to hide my nervousness with the most ridiculous jokes I could think of.” (Julia Roberts) The project went very smoothly from start to finish. It was obvious that it was made professionally, and at the same time it felt amazing lightness – as if everything was done while playing.
The director said that he was creating a film about the woman’s fate and therefore did not make any attempt to distract the viewer from her life. “This is a movie for adults,” Soderbergh claimed. At that time, he could not even imagine what a triumphant fate awaited his creation. Roberts’ acting was called “unbelievable”. Without her, her charm and amazing appeal, as they say, the film would not have happened at all.
Someone even called Julia “Rocky in a miniskirt”, that is, as fearless and all-conquering as Sylvester Stallone’s hero. Critics unanimously noted that thanks to the role of a prostitute in “Pretty Woman” Julia became a movie star, and in the role of Erin Brockovich, she proved that she is a high-class actress.
For this role, the star received many awards, including the British Academy Film Awards, Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, Golden Globe, Jupiter Awards, MTV Movie Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards and even Teen Choice Awards. And the actress finally deservedly received her long-awaited Oscar. Her first film after “Erin Brockovich” was the gangster comedy “The Mexican”, which gave her the opportunity to work with her old friend Brad Pitt.
The script of the film was originally planned to be shot without big movie stars, but Roberts and Pitt, who had been looking for a project they could do together for some time, learned about it and decided to take part in it. Filming took place in the small town of Real de Catorce [real də ka’torsə] and became the brightest event in the life of this Mexican hinterland.
No less than a third of the residents were involved in the process as scenery builders, watchmen and extras. The film crew occupied all the rooms in a few hotels. The presence of movie stars Roberts and Pitt attracted thousands of tourists from all over Mexico to the town, as they wanted to catch a glimpse of the living idols. Meanwhile, the film did not become very successful and earned only 67 million dollars.
However, for the actress, this project turned out to be fateful, because on the set she met cameraman Daniel Moder [ˈmoʊdər] and the couple began an affair. The whole drama was that at the time of their meeting Moder was married to make-up artist Vera Steimberg [staɪmbərɡ]. Many considered Roberts a homewrecker, because Moder filed for divorce only in 2002, when he already had a relationship with the star.
Information spread through the press that the actress went to extremes for the sake of her lover: she offered Vera a sum of money so that she would agree to a divorce. Moreover, the compensation was considerable: they called 10, 100 and even 200 thousand dollars. At that time, Vera gave interviews in which she said that she was not going to give her husband to this “kidnapper of other people’s men.
” Nevertheless, nobody knows what the star and non-star agreed on. As a result, the actress got what she wanted. She answered all questions: “He says that his marriage has already ended. I think I can trust him!” Julia was happier than ever and took on new projects with passion. In Joe Roth’s 2001 romantic comedy “America’s Sweethearts”, on the one hand, it told the story of the search for love and happiness of the Hollywood assistant Kiki, played by Roberts, and on the other hand, it mocked the Hollywood customs, when the superstars are ex-spouses,
played by John Cusack [ˈkjuzək] and Catherine Zeta-Jones – they are at each other’s throats, but they have to create the illusion of a happy family. Julia worked, as usual, as if she had not recently received an Oscar, not showing any star ambitions characteristic of many Hollywood movie stars.
However, critics believed that, despite the stellar cast, the film lacked “likable characters” and was only funny in spurts. Despite this, the movie was commercially successful. In her next film of the same year, Roberts teamed up with “Erin Brockovich” director Steven Soderbergh for the adventure comedy “Ocean’s Eleven”, which starred George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon [ˈdeɪmən] and more.
The movie was called the “Clooney project” from the beginning, because George was both its producer and the actor – the performer of the lead role. On the set, Roberts and Clooney became true friends and were always happy to participate in joint projects, of which the actors had five. However, the shooting process was not easy and there were always some difficulties.
So, for example, it was originally planned to include the fight between boxers Tyson and Holyfield [ˈtaɪsən ænd ˈhoʊliˌfild] as a “revealing moment”, during which the casino robbery should take place. However, Tyson was excluded from the project, and in his place they invited Lennox Lewis [ˈluɪs], who was supposed to fight in the ring with the Ukrainian boxer Volodymyr Klitschko [vɔlɔ’dɪmɪr ‘klɪʧ,kəʊ].
Despite some difficulties, the movie became a hit. With critical and box office success, the film became the fifth highest-grossing film of the year with a worldwide total of $450 million. A few days before Independence Day, Julia unexpectedly started inviting friends to visit her Taos ranch in New Mexico for a barbecue.
Relatives and friends of the actress, among whom were, of course, George Clooney, Steven Soderbergh, Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt with Jennifer Aniston and best friend Susan Sarandon – had no idea that they were actually going to the wedding. After the traditional fireworks, dedicated to the holiday, and then dinner, where several turkeys baked by Julia herself were served, the guests were tempted to have a rest, but the hostess, smiling mysteriously, asked them to wait for the promised surprise.
Finally, when it was completely dark, garlands of Chinese lanterns lit up and illuminated the circle of scattered rose petals. Everyone was sure that it was time for cocktails. Instead, Julia appeared on the lawn in a pale pink linen dress, holding her lover’s hand. Moder put on a red shirt and brown pants.
Danny got down on one knee and turned to Julia saying, “In the presence of those we love, I ask – will you marry me?”, and she immediately exclaimed, “Yes, yes, yes!” The guests immediately forgot about their fatigue. The wedding ceremony took place on the same night. Then there was dancing, fun, music by Bob Marley and Sade. Everything was as simple and sincere as possible.
They could get married anywhere: in a luxurious castle or on the ocean shore. But according to friends of the star, it would not be Julia. “It was a great joy. These two people absolutely found each other,” said the guest of the celebration. After an impromptu “honeymoon”, Roberts began to actively act again. She appeared in Steven Soderbergh’s comedy drama “Full Frontal”.
And already in 2003, she received a record 25 million dollars, the highest earnings of an actress at that time, for the role of a visionary professor of art history at Wellesley [ˈwɛlzli] College in Mike Newell’s [ˈnuəlz] drama “Mona Lisa Smile”. The film received mostly lukewarm reviews from critics who found it “predictable”, but the film grossed over $141 million in theaters.
A year later, Roberts replaced Cate Blanchett [ˈblænʧɪt] in the role of an American photographer in the romantic drama “Closer”. It was a screen adaptation of the famous play by playwright Patrick Marber [mɑrbər], which after its theatrical premiere in 1997 became not only a sensation, but is still considered a modern classic.
Many criticized the choice of Julia for the lead role, saying that the 37-year-old actress would look too mature next to her partners Natalie Portman and Jude Law [ˈnætəli ˈpɔrtmən ænd ʤud lɔ]. Julia did not give much thought whether to act or not. She was more pleased that her favorite director, Mike Nichols [ˈnɪkəlz], would lead the shooting process.
The picture was predicted to be a great success, but in order for the audience to go see a film in which the characters mostly talked, “Oscar” nominations were needed. And, fortunately for the creators of the film, they did not delay. Both the film and the actors were nominated for a large number of awards. Roberts herself, convincingly playing a divorced woman-photographer, proved that she has outgrown her image as the actress of romantic comedies.
The following year, Moder persuaded Julia to agree to participate in the sequel of “Ocean’s Twelve”. During the filming, however, Julia seemed not herself. The star’s mood swings, as it turned out, were not accidental, because it was on the set of “Ocean’s Twelve” that she found out she was pregnant. The rest of the time, the actress tried to protect herself and refused physically exhausting scenes.
As for the film, despite more negative reviews from critics compared to the first part of the franchise, it became another box office hit, grossing $363 million worldwide. The star’s pregnancy did not go smoothly at all, especially since she was carrying twins under her heart.
The actress was taken to the hospital three times, and was finally hospitalized in one of the Los Angeles clinics in October 2004. According to doctors, there was a considerable threat to her future children’s health. Most of the planet was worried about the star. However, on November 28, 2004, her fans breathed a sigh of relief: Julia gave birth to a son named Phinnaeus and a daughter named Hazel.
“It was wonderful,” said the happy mother a few days later. “And I will definitely give birth again!” At that time, the star was already 40. Was she afraid to change her life? “No,” Julia said. “I was not afraid of anything! Although now it seems to me that no matter what the doctors say, it makes sense to have children as late as possible.
” Inset quote: “When you become a parent at a mature age, you perceive them as… a reward! Not as a huge responsibility, not as a drastic life change… although it is. But the main thing is the feeling that you have won a prize, an Olympic medal. “Oscar”, after all! (Julia Roberts) For some time, Julia turned into an exemplary housewife.
She decided to direct all her restless energy to her children and cope with all responsibilities almost without the help of nannies. However, less than two months later, she was already attending yoga and Pilates classes. And in 2005, she starred in the music video for the single “Dreamgirl” by the Dave Matthews Band. This was her first appearance in a music video. And the star voiced Hova in “The Ant Bully” and Charlotte, the spider in “Charlotte’s Web”.
Due to her work, Julia often had conflicts with her husband. The latter was due to an offer made to her to play the lead role in a musical on Broadway. She accidentally informed him of her intention to consent during dinner at a restaurant. Danny pointedly reminded his wife that they had agreed that she would only take care of their children for two years. And they were going to renovate the ranch and build a new house in Malibu.
The conflict immediately became public property, and soon newspapers began to claim that the star’s marriage was on the verge of collapse. However, Moder gave in to his wife’s desire to try something new and Roberts began training for the role of Nan in Richard Greenberg’s [ˈɡrinbərɡz] play “Three Days of Rain” alongside Bradley Cooper and Paul Rudd [ˈbrædli ˈkupər ænd pɔl rʌd]. Rehearsals in the theater lasted 10–15 hours a day.
In the breaks between them, she had time to see her children. On the day of the premiere, crowds of fans blocked the traffic waiting for the movie star to arrive. The audience sold out tickets in advance for the entire three months that the show was on Broadway, and it was extremely difficult to get a ticket. At the same time, critics remained dissatisfied with what they saw.
The New York Times reviewer summed up the experience: “Some movie fans may have the same fear about seeing Ms. Roberts in the flesh. They shouldn’t. She looks every inch the magnetic (if theatrically challenged) movie star. Fans of Mr. Greenberg, on the other hand, should definitely stay home.”. Nevertheless, the theatrical experiment failed and left her no choice but to return to Hollywood.
Without wasting time, Roberts began working in the action film “Charlie Wilson’s War” with Tom Hanks and Philip Seymour Hoffman [tɑm hæŋks ænd ˈfɪləp ˈsimɔr ˈhɔfmən]. The political satire based on real events was staged by Mike Nichols. The film talked about the illegal operations conducted by the Texas Congressman Wilson in Afghanistan in the 80s.
Roberts played journalist and socialite Joanne Herring [ˈhɛrɪŋ] in this movie. During filming, it turned out that the actress was four months pregnant. She felt quite uncomfortable in the morning, but the scene where she had to appear in front of the camera in a bikini scared her the most, because so far no one suspected anything.
Before filming, she told the director that she would soon become a mother again, and asked to cancel her appearance in a bikini on camera. But he assured her that she would look great. As a result, the scene was shot, and no one noticed the difference. But her partner Tom Hanks, when someone asked him how he felt working with Roberts, jokingly replied: “I don’t even know. Because Julia was pregnant all the time.
” “Charlie Wilson’s War” was acclaimed, grossing nearly $120 million worldwide and earning Roberts her sixth Golden Globe nomination. After returning from Morocco [məˈrɑkoʊ], Roberts did not sit still, and immediately began to act in the film “Fireflies in the Garden” – an autobiographical drama of Denis Lee, who believed that motherhood made Roberts’ acting deeper and more emotional. Even eight months pregnant, Roberts continued to work.
Such an attitude was also explained by the fact that the second pregnancy was much easier for her than the first one. On June 18, a boy named Henry Daniel, weighing eight pounds, was born in one of the Los Angeles clinics. The birth of the third child immediately gave rise to numerous rumors about the end of the star’s film career in order to fully devote herself to motherhood. But that did not happen.
Very soon she could be seen in the comedy thriller “Duplicity”. Julia appeared there as a CIA agent who cooperated with another spy to carry out a complex scam. Despite mixed reviews and moderate box office, critics praised her performance. She received her seventh Golden Globe nomination for this role. Before moving on to the last chapter, we would be grateful if you subscribe to our channel and press the bell button to receive notifications of our new videos! We always have something interesting to offer! What now? In 2010, Julia Roberts invited her friend Garry Marshall to make a film adaptation of the novel
of the same name “Eat Pray Love”, but Marshall refused, because he did not want to go outside America to the places where the action of the film takes place. Although the director rejected the actress’ offer, during the meeting he offered her a role in the romantic comedy “Valentine’s Day”, which he was working on.
Roberts agreed, and for her six-minute role as a US Army captain on a one-day vacation, she received an advance of $3 million. As for “Eat, Pray, Love”, the actress really did that. During filming in Italy, the star even gained ten extra pounds due to high-calorie food. But the star went to Bali only on the condition that her family would live with her during filming.
Interestingly, Javier Bardem, who played her lover, who’s character is 15 years older than her, is actually the same age as Roberts. Despite the simple plot, and the fact that the film was released in the same week as “The Expendables”, the box office was very successful. And the film is still loved all over the world.
The following year, the star appeared in the role of a middle-aged man’s teacher in the romantic comedy “Larry Crowne”. The film was poorly received by critics and the audience, although people praised Roberts’ comedic performance. In the next movie “Mirror Mirror”, an adaptation of the famous fairy tale, Roberts played a negative character – the evil stepmother of Snow White, who was portrayed by Lily Collins [ˈkɑlɪnz].
Peter Travers [ˈtrævərz] from Rolling Stone felt that she tried “way too hard” in the role, while Kathy Rich [rɪʧ] from Cinema Blend noted that Roberts “takes relish in her wicked [portrayal] but could have gone even further with it”. In 2013, Roberts starred alongside Meryl Streep and Ewan McGregor [ˈjuən məˈɡrɛɡər] in the dark comedy-drama “August: Osage County”, about a dysfunctional family that reunites in the family home when the head of the family suddenly disappears.
The movie was successful, and a good performance brought the actress a large number of nominations for prestigious film awards. The following year, Roberts starred as Dr. Emma Bruckner [ˈbrʌknər] in the television adaptation of Larry Kramer’s [ˈkreɪmərz] AIDS play “The Normal Heart”, for which she was nominated for an Emmy.
And a year later, the actress appeared in the image of a grieving mother in Billy Ray’s thriller “Secret in Their Eyes”, which received negative reviews from critics and did not find its audience. Despite this, for the actress, such an experience was important in the formation of her dramatic role. It was not so easy, considering that according to the plot, the main character, played by Julia, had to face the death of her own daughter. But Roberts admits – she does not use the Method.
And never puts herself in the place of her character. “…my whole pact with myself at that point was to say ‘I don’t relate to this as a parent, I relate to it as an artist and I relate to it within the constructions of my feelings about my own mother or my feelings of being a mother but not as it relates to my own children,” she explains.
In 2016, Julia reunited with Garry Marshall and reportedly earned $3 million for a four-day shoot to play a seasoned writer who gives up her child for adoption in the romantic comedy “Mother’s Day”. By the way, that year on Mother’s Day, her own children also gave her an original gift. And her next film was Jodie Foster’s [ˈfɑstərz] thriller “Money Monster”, in which she played a television director alongside her old friend George Clooney and Jack O’Connell [oʊˈkɑnəl].
In recent years, the image of a mother in movies has become usual for the star. So, in the 2017 drama “Wonder”, which was an adaptation of the novel of the same name, Roberts played the mother of a boy with Treacher Collins syndrome. According to the actress, she got the role by accident. Julia is familiar with the book on which the film script is based – the novel of the same name by RJ Palacio [pa’lʌsɪəʊ].
Moreover, she read it to her own children. “It’s incredible, the way it helps children find their way toward compassion and empathy without teaching them directly,” she says. As it happened, the movie rights were held by David Holberman, her former producer on Pretty Woman. “We met for lunch, and he gave me the job!” Grossing almost 306 million dollars at the global box office, “Wonder” became one of Roberts’ most popular films.
In the same year, the actress voiced Smurf Willow in the animated film “Smurfs: The Lost Village”. And in the drama “Ben Is Back” Roberts again played the mother, this time of a troubled young man. The film director, Peter Hedges [hɛʤɪz], was incredibly happy when Roberts agreed to participate in the film. He was so interested in her presence that he was ready to meet anywhere.
“When I heard Julia was interested, she couldn’t meet me for many months,” Hedges says. “I was like, ‘No, no, I have to meet her. I’ll go anywhere in the world. They called back and said she was in Malibu and I was there in 12 hours. We had a great meeting.” Inset quote: “Julia Roberts rock your f***ing world. She’s astonishing”.
(Peter Hedges) Despite the love for his work and relentless energy, gradually acting became a secondary issue for the star. In one of the last interviews with CBS, she admitted that now family life means much more to her than career. According to Julia, she used to carefully select scripts, but now her new status as a woman and mother has made her very selective.
Over the past 7 years, she has worked on 13 projects, which is not a lot for a star of her caliber. At the same time, Julia tries to keep a balance between work and family. And when she is at home, she takes care of the children and supports the personal little universe that she and her husband were able to build in 20 years of marriage.
Outside the film sets and social gatherings, the superstar leads the life of an ordinary person. Julia raises her teenage children, cooks breakfast for them, runs a household on a ranch in New Mexico. On weekends, he walks with her girlfriends-neighbors, watches her favorite movies, such as “The Philadelphia Story”, reads, and often spends her vacations in Greece with her family.
This also applies to the issue of publicity. Daniel and Julia lead a closed lifestyle, rarely appear together in public, refuse social outings and even missed the Oscar ceremony several times in a row. “My husband was away, and I felt that I wanted to stay at home and be with my family,” the actress explained her absence at the ceremony in 2009.
“I prioritized spending time like this, so we just watched the show on TV.” Protecting the family from public attention was a conscious decision. According to the star, her children had no idea how popular their mother was for a long time. She did not show her kids films with her participation, considering that they were still young. Sometimes there are even comical situations.
Once when the actress was with her children at the zoo, a woman approached her and asked “I’m not mistaken, are you really Julia Roberts?” “Yes,” answered Julia, a little confused, “Yes, but my children don’t know about it. You won’t tell them, will you?” “A mother is a mother.
I try to evaluate myself in a healthy way: as an ordinary woman with an unusual occupation,” the actress admits. “There is nothing outstanding about me, this profession highlights me in italics. And fortunately, there are people around me who are always ready to remind me that I am an ordinary person.” In numerous interviews, the actress avoids talking about children and her husband.
He explains this by the fact that Daniel does not really like to read about himself on the pages of magazines and on the Internet. Besides, she very carefully comments on everything related to her sons and daughter. But every comment is full of warmth. “He has red hair and big green eyes, and she looks very feminine, with blue eyes and blonde hair,” speaking of older children. “He likes blueberries. And she likes her dad”.
However, even now Julia admits that it does not always correspond to the ideal. Inset quote: “Sometimes I get gripped with fear of blowing it. And sometimes I’ve just said to my kids, ‘So today, me as a mom? Can we just take that off the board because I blew it.
” (Julia Roberts) Despite this, the star is happy that she has three wonderful children and a husband with whom it is so nice to raise them: “I met [Danny] when I was ready … And then we call these children into our lives when we’re ready to best partner with them.” She considers her husband to be her best friend. And the best… truth teller.
“And this is the greatest support for me – when you can count on a person to tell you the truth, you can count on him in everything,” Roberts explains. The couple has a small romantic tradition – to exchange letters. The first letter that Daniel wrote to his beloved was on seven sheets of paper. “It is still hidden in my place”, the actress says.
“Someday I will show the letter to Hazel and say: “That’s what kind of guy you should be looking for.” Moreover, they’ve worked on several films together, often at her specific request. “There’s comfort there, but also terror,” she says, “which is a good combination. Terror because the person I want to impress most is looking right at me.” Julia recently made her series debut as an employee at a secret government agency in the first season of the psychological thriller series “Homecoming”.
The series, which premiered on Amazon Video in November 2018, received critical acclaim, who concluded that it was an “impressive small-screen debut” for Roberts that “balances its haunting mystery with a frenetic sensibility that grips and doesn’ let go.” The actress was delighted with the project: “I got great satisfaction and a unique experience from this work.
I am sure that the secrets of its characters will not let the audience look away from the screens,” she said. For her participation in this project, the star received a nomination for the “Golden Globe” for the best female role in a dramatic television series. After taking a four-year break in her career, in 2022 Roberts returned to the big screen in tandem with her old friend George Clooney in the romantic comedy “Ticket to Paradise”.
For the sake of this filming, they were forced to go to Australia. It was the longest she’d ever been away from her family. “Sixty-two days,” Roberts said. “I wrote a lot of letters.” But she still really needs such forays. Inset quote: “For me, traveling is one of my favorite aspects of the profession. When I was younger, I rarely traveled.
I have worked with George many times and it has always been such a joy! Over the years, he has become a true friend of mine, and I’m really looking forward to our new film. This is a romantic comedy, and we have never acted together in such a movie”. (Julia Roberts) In an interview, Julia and Robert mention that working together was pleasant and easy.
Especially in the scenes where they had to play their characters in an altered state. By the way, the friendship with Clooney is so strong that they were often credited with an affair. Fans on both sides have constantly speculated about something more than a friendship between the actors. In order not to give an extra reason for gossip, Julia even gave up the idea of naming her youngest son George, as she wanted.
At first, the actors just joked about it and did not comment on anything, but then they still answered in an interview. Julia also played Martha Mitchell [ˈmɪʧəl], a controversial figure during the Watergate scandal, in the political TV series “Gaslit”, based on the first season of Leon Neyfakh’s [neɪfʌkz] Slow Burn podcast. As the wife of the Nixon administration’s attorney general, Martha leaked harmful information about high-ranking officials, only to be locked up in a mental hospital.
The situation in which the main character got into, according to Julia, is relevant to this day. And that is why it is important that we are able to highlight the stories of women who have been unfairly condemned by society years later. “There’s nothing that makes you look crazier than running around screaming, “I’m not crazy.” You say culture is quick to judge. Is anyone slow to judge? It doesn’t exist,” she explains.
“Gaslit” gave the actress the opportunity to reveal her full professional potential. At times, she exudes the charisma and audacity so familiar to us from her early projects. At times – and especially with the plot development – the series gives her the opportunity to reveal herself as a dramatic actress, to turn to more gloomy and detailed images that defined the last years of her career.
She explains such a choice of roles to the experience and change of priorities and vision. Inset quote : “I’m 54 years old. The truth of what you see and how you understand it and the weight of things becomes clear. You want to be able to unpack that. Also, it might be a response to having a happy life. You think, ‘Why would I leave a happy life to go pretend to be in a happy life?’” (Julia Roberts) Roberts also appeared as Amanda in the film adaptation of the novel of the same name, “Leave the World Behind”, alongside Ethan Hawke [hɔk]. The film is being produced by Barack and
Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions. As you can see, the star does not think about leaving her career, and although she is a loving mother and wife, she is in no hurry to try on the role of a desperate housewife. And what will happen next, life will show. Julia Roberts seems destined to remain America’s favorite forever, even if her screen appearances are infrequent.
No wonder, in 2008, Roberts became the 22nd laureate of the annual award of the American Cinematheque, which is awarded to outstanding actors and directors for their contribution to the art of cinema. Yes, Julia Roberts is special. And not because she takes the first place in the rating of actors capable of providing box office even for an average film.
And not because her appearance in the world is immediately covered in detail by the press. And not even because even envious colleagues are still forced to recognize her true talent. So what is the actress’ phenomenon? Some cite her particular energy, the fact that she is not afraid to take risks and play roles that others have rejected, and to appear in films with a strong cast.
Others – on her unique plasticity of movements, in which a strong nerve and extreme self-sacrifice are always felt. And we believe that the star has always known what she wants in life and just goes for her dream. Inset quote: “Well, I wish I could take credit for the planning… It was a kind of higgledy-piggledy destiny thing, but it all worked out.
” (Julia Roberts) The most beautiful woman in the world, which she has been five times, according to People magazine, is very careful about beauty issues. Getting old is inevitable, the actress believes. It is important to take care of your health, surround yourself with beautiful people – this is the secret of her charm, which is still an integral part of Julia Roberts. But her beauty is not in expensive clothes or bright makeup.
She can often be seen without makeup, she is personally against botox for herself. “I want my children to understand when I’m angry and when I’m happy,” she explains her position. Inset quote: “Appearance is not where all value lies, but much more…what you feel inside is reflected in your eyes, skin and smile. Drinking water really matters.
A good night’s sleep really matters”. (Julia Roberts) Her position is followed in projects that are not related to the world of cinema. Yes, she is the face of two products – Lancôme and Chopard. In the case of Chopard, Julia took part in a promotional campaign for their new Happy Sport watch.
For this, the actress starred in a commercial shot by the director and favorite of the Cannes Film Festival Xavier Dolan [ˈdoʊlən]. In it, she happily dances, and her delicate white shirt and jeans are complemented by a Happy Sport watch and a constant smile. Julia liked working with the director. In turn, Xavier also admired his star. “There’s no question that Julia represents, for me, that kind of modernity in a woman that we think is really sensual and beautiful. That’s definitely what strikes me most about Julia: her humanity.
” When the L’Éclat fragrance from the La Vie est Belle collection appeared in Lancôme, Roberts became its face, and the slogan was “Shine bright like a diamond”. During the development of the fragrance, Roberts participated in all key discussions – from perfume notes to packaging.
“Thank God, the fragrance was given an “inconvenient” French name for English-speaking countries,” Julia jokes, “so many in America call it “Julia Roberts Fragrance.” It’s good for me – as a guarantee of professional suitability.” Julia Roberts has been walking towards her cherished dream for a long time. She became Hollywood’s number one star. And her dream now became something completely different than fame. “Fame is a myth,” says the star.
“I have said more than once that people’s ideas about my life or the life of an actor are generally wrong. Our life is not necessarily chaotic, full of scandals, stress and glitter. At least mine. I don’t think fame changes people. And I just want to live my life!” Julia Roberts was and remains an actress and a woman who writes the script of her own life, consulting only with her heart.
But “Oscar”, she jokes, “sometimes feels lonely, probably he needs a little brother”. We hope we’ve answered all the questions you might have about our star today! We will be grateful for liking this video! And if you want to learn about another Hollywood’s favorite, we advise you to review the biography of Sandra Bullock, with whom Roberts was most often compared. Click on the video that appeared on your screen and enjoy.
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Disclaimer : This content may be created by AI for entertainment purposes. Any resemblance to real persons, events, or places is coincidental.
