Here are some newish photos of Julia Roberts and her family out and about in Malibu a few days ago. It’s funny how Julia and her family can go months – years! – without getting pap’d at all, and then, when she has a movie coming out on Christmas, suddenly there are nice family photos available, right? Anyway, we hardly ever see Julia’s kids, how old are the twins? Phinnaeus and Hazel Moder are… 9 years old. The littlest one, Henry, is 6 years old. Henry seems to be in the sidecar/wagon thing attached to Danny Moder’s bike.
Anyway, since the whole point of this is to promote August: Osage County and The Return of Julia, let’s discuss Julia’s recent interview with Refinery 29 – you can read the full piece here, and here are some highlights:
Getting to know her costars: “We spent a lot of time together and getting to know each other. We didn’t know each other at all when it started, and by the time that we began filming, I felt very familiar and entangled with these girls in way that seemed correct for sisters, and had made just enough happy experiences with them and had a couple of appropriate sisterly like, ‘really, that’s what you’re wearing?’ kind of moments where I felt like it was all going to fall into place.”
Preparing for her role: “I guess some people write diaries or backstories — I liken it to channeling. Just kidding — but kind of not kidding. But, no, I feel like when I first read this script my heart just swelled and I completely understood everything about the character. What one is not proud of is all relative. What she is not proud of could be nothing to someone else. People’s pain is so individual. But, I feel like as an actor, to be in touch with all those emotions of shame, anger, your lust, your joy, those are sort of like your watercolors…and, Tracy Letts, his writing, I was so floored. You’ve seen the state of cinema today. This was something that comes once in a while. His characters are so strong. They just leap off the page. I understood Karen and her delusion and denial and all those things.”
Is Julia a realist? “I’m always struggling between being a realist or an idealist. Somebody said you can be both, but it depends.”
She loves Dermot Mulroney: “I would like to speak about Dermot. Dermot and I have been friends since My Best Friend’s Wedding. We became great pals then, and when he called me that he had gotten a part in this, we squealed like little girls, both of us, and were so excited for each other and to be back together. And, with everybody, but in particularly Dermot, even when he had a day off, would come run lines with me before I went to work at six o’clock in the morning, which he traded for a cup of coffee. And, just the whole time feeling so supported by my old friend. He would come to work and watch scenes that I was in and just kind of support me in that way. It was beautiful to have each other in that way, especially when we were all away from our families and forging new relationships. It was just nice to have my rock steady there. It was great.”
On Meryl: “We hugged a lot. I always had to look her right in the eye before we parted ways. We’re all good? Just kidding, right?”
I still feel like there’s something shady between Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts. Perhaps that’s wishful thinking, or maybe… maybe they just didn’t care for each other that much. Maybe Meryl is pissed off because Julia had the film re-edited to include more JULIA. Or maybe they’re just saving all of the kissy-touchy “girlfriends forever” stuff for later on in their respective Oscar campaigns. We’ll see.
As for Julia’s friendship with Dermot – I remember when Dermot and his then-wife Catherine Keener were BFFs with all of the A-listers. After Dermot and Catherine split, it did feel like they split up their A-list friends a bit too. I think Catherine got Brad Pitt and Dermot must have gotten Julia. I also think it’s interesting that in a cast with so many women (Meryl, Margo Martindale, Julianne Nicholson, Juliette Lewis), Julia still gravitated towards a dude. Because deep down, I’ve always thought (and I really believe this) Julia is not a woman who plays well with other women.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
