Julia Roberts’ transformation: in life and on the screen

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The owner of the famous Hollywood smile Julia Roberts, who celebrated her fiftieth birthday the year before last, successfully balances her professional career and family life.   

It’s hard to believe, but it’s been 30 years since one of the most popular romantic comedies in movie history was created. Harry Marshall finished filming Pretty Woman on July 24, 1989. Not surprisingly, there have been many changes in the life of the lead actress, Julia Roberts, since then. Preserving her natural charm, one of Hollywood’s most famous actresses has tried on many different movie characters. Having become a mother of three children, she increasingly turns to the images of mothers on the silver screen.

After the actress starred in 2000 in Steven Soderbergh’s “Erin Brockovich”, which brought her the coveted “Oscar”, Julia the following year met her future husband. She met him on the set of the movie “The Mexican. He turned out to be a humble cameraman, Daniel Moder, who became the father of her twins: son Finneas and daughter Hazel. And three years later their family was joined by another little boy, son Henry. For a time Julia focused her energy entirely on her family, devoting herself entirely to household chores and child-rearing. And when I returned to professional activities, I became even more careful in the choice of material.

Since then, she often agrees to work on projects only when she feels the need to support certain ideas, finding them sometimes in beloved books. So it was with the work on the role in the film “Eat, Pray, Love,” adaptation of the autobiographical novel of the same name by Elizabeth Gilbert.

As one of the highest-paid actresses in the world, Julia can afford not only to choose the projects in which she would like to participate, but also to give up work completely, devoting himself exclusively to his family. After all, it is the family that is the raison d’être of her existence. So if Julia has already decided to get away for a few days from her three children and her beloved husband, then she really thinks it’s important enough.

Two years ago she starred in Miracle, based on the novel of the same name by R. R. J. Palacio, in which she played the role of the mother of a boy with a congenital facial deformity. The film, like the book, has many memorable sayings that I want to take apart into quotations and hang in school corridors and subway stations, such as “If you ever have to choose between being right or being kind: “If you ever have to choose between being right or being kind, choose kindness.

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Last year Julia Roberts again appeared on the silver screen as a mother whose son is struggling with a completely different disease. Peter Hedges’ “Ben’s Back” tells the story of a teenager who goes through a painful ordeal as he struggles with drug addiction. His whole family goes through it with him. But even after the rest of the family comes to the conclusion that the junkie’s fate is primarily in his own hands, the boy’s mother still does not give up hope that she can help him out of this hell.

It is surprising that Julia Roberts does not turn to her favorite role of a strong woman who, with her self-confidence and firmness of character, puts everything and everyone in their place. This time she appears to the audience as a rather confused woman, sometimes completely helpless, ready to do anything to save his own son. Her heroine deliberately goes for the deception, not only risking the trust of her beloved husband, but also the peace of the whole family. She seems ready to get over herself and get down on her knees in front of her own son. Perhaps this Julia Roberts viewers have never seen before. Oddly enough, but in this weakness is born the ultimate strength of the mother, embodied by the famous actress with incredible dedication.

Our meeting takes place in Toronto at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. Although Julia Roberts celebrated her fiftieth birthday the year before last, the actress looks much younger than her age. She is wearing tight black pants that accentuate the slimness of her long legs and a black jacket worn over a polka-dot blouse. The biggest attraction is her “signature” smile. It is because of this smile Julia Roberts can not be confused with anyone else. However, don’t count on it being a sign of subservience. Talking to the actress, you should always remember that she will not be ceremonious with those who will try to dig into her personal life or whose statements seem to her simply stupid. Julia is known for her sharp tongue and ability to put everyone in their place. When answering questions, she tries to be brief while avoiding clear definitions.

Drug addiction in today’s world is a huge problem that primarily affects young people. As you worked on this film, you wondered if there was any hope of dealing with this problem.

Of course. And what about without hope? One should always hope.  Especially when confronted up close with these many stories of human suffering. When you read about families losing their loved ones, you realize that there’s no way that all of these people’s experiences are in vain, and no one will ever draw any conclusions from them.

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Did you have to meet mothers who were in similar situations to your heroine?

No, I didn’t talk to the mothers. I think it is very selfish of me, as an actress, to ask about the details of their grief and thereby stir up their already painful wounds. Fortunately or unfortunately, nowadays you can find enough information on the Internet. You simply type “mothers of addicted children forums” into a Google search engine and numerous pages of mothers’ confessions pop up in front of you. By the way, as I was reading all these heartbreaking stories, it suddenly occurred to me that if it weren’t for the Internet, I would hardly have been able to find out about them. I still never tire of being amazed at how fearless people can be in sharing their innermost secrets.

I have to tell you that you surprised me greatly by portraying a very vulnerable woman on the screen. The audience saw a different Julia Roberts: vulnerable, insecure. I think that was very brave of you. How did you yourself perceive this image of a mother?

I took this role as a chance to create a unique image, which is in a sense a perfect example of a person who feels constant guilt and suffers from it. My heroine is right and wrong at the same time. It was this feature in her image that was especially appealing to me.

Playing the role of the woman whose son returns from rehab, did the thought of your own children cross your mind?

No, I tried not to think of such a scenario. After all, if you constantly worry about all the bad things that can happen to children, you’ll probably have to lock the door and never let them out of the house. Isn’t that right? So there is nothing to do but focus on optimistic thoughts and hope for the best.

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What are you and Danny like as parents in real life? Are you strict with children?

I would say that we are a united front. We, like all other parents, are well aware that children are just waiting for an opportunity to find a breach and use it for their own self-serving purposes. Sometimes we alternate in severity. Simply because each of us has our own territory in which we notice things faster than the other. And this is good – it creates a kind of balance in the family. It’s important that kids just don’t know which parent is tougher than the other at the moment(laughs).

Your heroine decides to hide the truth from her husband in order to save her son. Do you keep secrets from your husband?

I won’t keep anything secret from Danny under any circumstances. Even if they ask me not to tell anyone about my own secret, I warn them right away that I won’t hide anything from Danny(laughs).

How do you manage to juggle all your life responsibilities?

(laughs) In fact, we all become jugglers as soon as we have someone in our lives for whom we are responsible in some way. It could be a roommate, your boyfriend, or your girlfriend. When you start a family and have children, the complexity of juggling only increases. And it’s all about how to make sure no one is left out. Including yourself.

Talking about your own professional life, what would you say are the most important turning points in it?

My career would not have been as successful if I had not met directors such as: Harry Marshall, Steven Soderbergh and Mike Nichols.

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There’s no question about Harry Marshall casting you in Pretty Woman and Steven Soderbergh casting you in Erin Brockovich, which won you an Oscar. But what about Mike Nichols? Why do you single him out of all the directors you’ve worked with?

I am very grateful to him that he saw something in me that I myself did not know, inviting me to the shooting of the psychological thriller about the love quadrangle “Intimacy. The fact that Mike thought I could play such an ambiguous role gave me confidence. Also, he had an incredible impact on my life not only as a director, but also as a person. Mike and his wife Diane are like family to me.  

And yet, going back to the beginning of your career, how did you feel about the appearance on Broadway of the musical Pretty Woman?

I had no idea how surreal my experience of watching this musical would be! Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the show, it was great and fun. So much fun that my cheeks still ached from laughing and smiling for a long time. But I had no idea how incredible it would be to hear my own lines, which I made up during the making of the film, often on the fly. And now they sound off the stage of a Broadway theater! In general, I must say that we improvised a lot, shooting “Pretty Woman. They tried different jokes and tried to make Harry laugh. The only thing that made me sad was that Harry wasn’t with me. I think he would have loved it.     

Lena Busse

Photo: HFPA


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