Julia Roberts just turned 50 years old in October. Nicole Kidman also turned 50 this year, only in a twist of fate, I feel like Nicole got all of the difficult sh-t out in her 40s and she entered her 50s with a lot of grace and dignity. Julia, on the other hand, seems out of sorts and… sort of like she’s jealous of how much work Nicole is getting these days. Anyway, Julia has several new projects to promote, which is why she’s on the cover of the new issue of InStyle. She has that new movie, Wonder (which seems like the kind of half-churchy, feel-good family film that Jennifer Garner would normally do) and a new TV series called Homecoming. Some highlights from InStyle:
On beginning a career in TV: “I don’t want to go against my peoples, but it sort of is. There’s a lot of really good content and a lot of diversity.” She considers the project, “a total experiment… I don’t even know what it really requires. I just know how to watch a TV show. I don’t know how to make one.”
On seeing herself in the tabloids: “I do believe that I don’t need to know every weird, mean, untrue, odd [tabloid claim]. I only eat popcorn or my husband doesn’t love me unless I wear blue…There is an odd occasion where I’m waiting, and I’m looking around and” – seeing a tabloid about herself – “I’m like, ‘What?!’ And turn around to the man behind me and go, ‘Not true, sir!’ ”
Turning 50: “There’s nothing different about this birthday than any other one. Really, people? Are we still in that space? Did anyone ever go over this with George Clooney or Brad [Pitt] before their 50th birthdays?”
Her advice for a fulfilled life: “Marry the right person, give birth to a redhead, and have great girlfriends.”
Her life as a wife & mother: “There’s no way to describe it without sounding sappy or ridiculous because everything in my mind ends with an exclamation point,” the icon says in the December issue of InStyle, while also gracing the fashion monthly’s cover. Specifically, she’s talking about life with her husband of 15 years, cinematographer Danny Moder, and their three children: Henry Daniel, 10, and twins Hazel Patricia and Phinnaeus “Finn” Walter, 12. “The thing is, we have these three human beings who are just a complete reflection of the affection we have for each other.”
Her 12-year-old daughter Hazel donated her hair to an organization that makes wigs for kids with cancer. “That’s a big deal for a girl who’s about to be 13 and has this cascading blond hair that gets commented on a lot. But she’s so good and brave. She sees it as something else.”
Actually, people did make a big deal about George Clooney turning 50 and Brad Pitt turning 50? Where was she? Us Weekly and People Magazine and many media outlets made Brad and George’s 50th birthdays into huge deals. So, she comes across as slightly… jumpy? Like, she doesn’t want to be reminded of it. She doesn’t want to break the facade that she has the most magnificent life ever and that all of her life decisions were completely right and she’s been vindicated by living the dream. The more she tries to convince us of that, the less I believe it. There’s no shame in saying “damn, I have some regrets” or “I didn’t realize this or that when I was 30-something.” That’s human nature. But not for Julia. Julia always has to be right and true and the best at everything!
Photos courtesy of InStyle.
Marry the right person, even if he’s already married, and wear a tacky t-shirt dissing his wife.
We are supposed to believe they were soulmates who fell into each other’s arms. No calls to his house while married, or tacky t-shirts exist in this reality.
Ok. I have stories. I’ve mentioned in passing here that my older sister works in the film industry (25 years). She has seen a lot. Julia Roberts is a delusional, bitchy, liar. When she met the husband she came out and said he was some superstar cinematographer. In fact, he was the guy who brings the magazines of film from the camera truck to set. They called him “Moder The Loader.” Nothing wrong with that in the least…why publically lie? After she stalked his wife and almost drove her crazy with intimidation, she created stories that she was “saving him.” Nevermind sitting in Beverly Hills in a juvenile t-shirt. Shortly after they married, she went on some show and talked about their incredible honeymoon around the Greek Islands. They never went anywhere. She just lives to bully and boast. She is a c*nt. The end.
Came to say those exact words, that was hilarious coming from a woman who married multiple times and very publicly helped break up a marriage just so she could marry the “right” person. I’m ready for the karma to get back to her on that one.
I just don’t really believe her and her husband are as happy as she would have everyone believe because she keeps insisting that they are so happy.
That said, she could never take how happy their split would make people who were troubled by how she got him so I assume she will ride that relationship until the wheels fall off.
Its silly advice anyway: Just make the right life decisions!!!
just what I was going to write, but checked to see if someone else did first.
TOTALLY agree.
Yeah..that’s EXACTLY what I immediately thought when I read her quote. She hasn’t done everything right…at least not with regard to the people affected by her choices…and actions.
I call bullshit. I think she was a horrible actress in Pretty Woman…the movie that basically landed her the title of Hollywood’s Sweetheart. She’s no sweetheart from stories I’ve read.
Anyhow…glad she’s sitting on top of the world. I can’t wait til her wrinkles take over and we don’t have to see/hear her stupid horse toothed laugh. I’ve never been a fan.
+1, MINX.
Yep. This is good shade.
I did both of those things. I have the Julia stamp of approval on my life!
I’m really winning.
me too!
Me three!
Me four!
I didn’t. Going to stick my head in a toilet bowl now.
I’m winning like Charlie Sheen right now. Married the right person and gave birth to TWO redheads.
winning like Charlie Sheen. Thank you for that.
Does it count if I married the wrong person the first time around, gave birth to a redhead, and then divorced and managed to marry the right person the second time around?
Me Five!
I don’t know if you can call whatever Nicole Kidman has done to her face ‘entering her 50’s with grace’. The last time I saw her on a red carpet her face, sadly, looked completely frozen. She is a beautiful and talented woman, sure, but I wouldn’t really consider her someone entering her 50’s with grace – rather someone who has compromised her looks (and career?) to hold on to youth.
Agree completely about Kidman. Julia looks much more natural. I think she looks beautiful in these photos.
I don’t really mind what she says, except the part about her daughter being brave because she cut her hair to donate. It’s selfless, I guess, but compared to what many kids have to face, it’s not brave.
No.
LOL! Indeed.
My five-0 is coming up soon, and I sincerely hope I am closer to Nicole than where Julia seems to be (which is retaining middle school/bragging mean girl vibes).
Life is not all happy exclamation points. She always portrays her life just a bit too idyllic and as if she still brings in the audience. Today’s teenagers have no recollection of when she was a box office draw.
I have to agree with her on giving birth to a red head…. only good things come from that.
I’ve got to say, Julia looks great, and I wish I knew who was her derm….
Dr. Photoshop.
I can’t believe she actually looks like this in real life, she looks exactly the same in these photos as she did at 30.
Kidman and Roberts are interesting contrasts. I don’t know how Roberts chooses scripts but considering when she was the #1 star in the world she rarely took any risks, banking on her goose honk laugh, big hair and inability to walk in heels, and appearing almost entirely in light, middlebrow fare. The director she’s probably worked with the most is Garry Marshall.
Kidman, on the other hand, was never America’s Sweetheart and has a filmography littered with flops and very few hits, but she has always taken risks and worked with new directors and challenging material. I’d rather watch her than Roberts in anything.
That said, I was never a fan of Roberts until I saw DEVIL WEARS PRADA. Watching Anne Hathaway’s self-conscious attempts at comedic naturalism made me appreciate what Roberts did bring to the screen in her heyday and what so many younger actresses lack.
Great points all around.
She’s just so damn unlikeable. She is the anti-Bullock.
This is hilarious. (anti-Bullock)
I’m an old – younger than Jules though, ha, 😉 — so I recall her being snippy about Bullock when she hit the scene and made such a huge immediate splash circa 1994-95. Suddenly Roberts was jockeying for position when she had been the sole American Sweetheart crown wearer for years. Sandy appeared and just ripped it off her head.
What’s funny is those were the days before Internet coverage, social media, 24/7 news cycles. So the way someone got famous was seen as more merit based. Usually work related only,so it was quite possible that the biggest movie star going had seldom appeared in public in any other context besides her movies or award shows. You didn’t really know them.
That’s why so many people thought Julia Roberts was as nice, sweet and funny as her character in Steel Magnolias, or as relatable as Vivian in Pretty Woman.
Then something happened and Roberts started appearing more on talk shows, and doing interviews on tv and print and people were just like……Ugh, what were we thinking. Lol
She really is! The epitome of the mean girl who TRIES to come across nice bit just can’t fake it well enough.
I never, ever liked her. I remember the year after she won the Oscar for Erin Brockovich and she hogged Denzel Washington’s spotlight when he won. She couldn’t relinquish the moment, couldn’t be gracious.
My nickname for her has always been Pretty Evil Woman. and that Denzel moment (‘I love my life’), ugh so smug.
I’m married to the right person but I’m BLACK. Not sure what my hubby would say about me having a red headed kiddo or if that even possible… 😂🤣😂🤣
It is! Signed a black woman who was born with bright red hair! It’s darker (more schestnut with red highlights) now unfortunately but I will always be a redhead in heart and spirit
Yes having a red head when you are black is possible..sigh. There are plenty of black red heads. History.
I have never heard a nice or charitable thing about this woman. I have never seen a picture of her husband or children where they looked remotely happy or where the picture didn’t scream look at me – My husband loves me and my children love me and we are a regular old family but happier than you can imagine. Not buying it.
I have finally figured out the movie character she sounds like. Remember the once popular girl in Romy and Michelle’s HS Reunion? The one who had married THE guy, had THE kids and THE perfect life (according to her)?
To quote the truly successful fashion editor character in the movie, “Keep telling yourself that, Christie (Julia).”
I actually feel differently. She does not use her children for photo ops, so they are not trained to smile and appear at ease in front of the cameras. I didn’t even know her daughter had blonde, flowing hair. Not a fan, but I think she does a good job of keeping her children out of the limelight.
I’ve never liked her. She’s just not a good actress at all, so I always failed to see why she got so much praise. She’s one-note, and she always just plays herself.
I married the right person, had a redhead (who became blonde as she grew up) and I have fantastic girlfriends. She’s so dumb–of course those things don’t guarantee a fantastic life.
Shallow hypocrite. And I say to her: how you got him is how you’ll lose him.
Oh one more thing: I love how she was all “tee hee, I don’t even know how TV shows get made, because I’m a huge MOVIE star…” Give me a break.
One of the most awkward Julia Roberts scenes was at the very end of Oceans 11 in the car after George gets out of prison. Their kiss was so incredibly cringe worthy I shudder thinking about it.
If you want to see hot watch the bathtub scene with Clooney and Jennifer Lopez in Out of Sight. Great movie all around.
That’s a good cover shot of her. I love her hair.
The anti- Bullock. Perfect! LOL
Damn, in that last shot I thought she was Elle MacPherson
Let’s be real here: Julia was never going to have the kind of career in her 50’s that Nicole has had. Nicole has ALWAYS been the better actress. Julia made a few half-hearted attempts to step outside the box but she simply doesn’t have the range to do so. Nicole has always made braver bolder choices and has shown what she is capable of. I honestly think that Hollywood doesn’t know what to so with a 50 year old Julia Roberts. Not saying that’s right but Hollywood isn’t known for having imagination with casting.
Especially with someone like Julia who doesn’t have talent.
Actually, over the years I’ve seen actors talk about turning 50. Most admitted it was hard hitting the 5-0 number. Jonn Corbett discussed it at the time he hit 50 and was honest. Even the amazing John Slattery of Mad Men, married to Clooney’s ex-wife, admitted that it was hard.
John Slattery:
Perhaps surprisingly, he is most frank on the subject of ageing. “I don’t like it,” he says bluntly. “In the production office there are pictures on the wall of the early seasons of Mad Men and we all look so young. You watch yourself getting older and it’s weird and unpleasant. I never used to care and then you get to critical points where things start falling down and sliding away and you think ‘That’s not good’, no one likes that. You see why people do crazy things to themselves.”
Like many Julia really irks me and this article does not change that. Great if she is in a happy marriage but do NOT suggest to all women that that is the only true source of happiness and fulfillment.
Both her and Nicole do this ridiculous show of their husbands that feels really retro and anti-feminist, there are ways to celebrate love but the worship of their husbands (who are no doubt not perfect) stinks to high heaven for me.
Julia has always been over-the-top in the adjective department when describing her current love. Normal expressions of love are never good enough.
Nicole is even worse, just because she gives so many interviews in a given year, and it has become grating with her descriptions of her marriage and/or Keith.
I cut Nicole a tremendous amount of slack regarding her marriage to Keith because of what I imagine her marriage to Cruise was like. She probably had PTSD and feels relief that she was able to find love again. Plus, they have been very open about Keith’s alcoholism – so it at least seems “real.”
I hate her personality and her acting. She’s soooo overrated. I’ve never once seen her really inhabit a character. It’s just always Julia. She sucks.
Out of all of her movies, right now I can only remember two that I felt she was the character. I have to say Pretty Woman. There was a real vulnerability she captured playing her character.
The other one was the one where she had an abusive husband. I really bought into her fear of him in that first half before she faked her death. The other half of the movie didn’t live up to the first half as far as the script.
Has anyone else read Wonder? Don’t you remember the mom as specifically NY Latina? Am I misremembering this bc no one seems to have an issue with this white-washing.
I have read Wonder and highly recommend it to anyone who has kids, works with kids… just to everyone actually. It’s a genuinely moving, enjoyable and special book
The mom in the book is Brazilian I believe
Yes! I’ve been annoyed with this website’s insistence that Wonder is a sappy, churchy book. It’s a best-selling book about a child with a facial deformity that has received multiple literary awards. (And taught my fourth grader a lot about compassion and inclusion.)
It almost feels like CB is pushing that narrative to prove that Julia’s star has fallen. (Which may be true, but this is a highly anticipated film adaption that could easily win awards.)
The mom is Brazilian, so I do question the casting. I know there are many European Brazilians, but Julia seems like a stretch.
I actually could totally buy her mannerisms and looks as Brazilian. But that is a separate question from whether or not this is a missed opportunity for non-WASP casting.
She cheats on that husband.
does she really do tell
Julia reluctantly does press, but understands that when she has a couple of projects she needs to publicize it is a necessary evil. She rarely comes off as warm and fuzzy, who cares. I think she is relatively happy in her marriage which has its normal ups and downs from what I have heard having worked on two projects she was involved in now. She strongly guards her privacy, has a close group of girlfriends that she seems to act really jolly and light around. Her kids don’t act like brats and Danny isn’t a doormat-he has an artistic eye as a cinematographer and an active successful career. As much as a couple working in the film industry can be “normal” they seem to keep things as close to normal as possible. So I don’t think she is worried about turning 50, being right all the time, and I don’t think her marriage is on the rocks. I think she just wonders why you care. Just go see Wonder, already and catch her television series when it airs–she’s just a good actor for goodness sake; nothing more, nothing less.
I think she is a good actress but a snarky, mean, delusional person. She was haggard in the film she did with Streep, although I thought the movie was funny and good. She is a mean girl who has a say in some things she should keep quiet on just like most of the world. We can’t see the forest for the trees. She may be happy with Moder, she isn’t a baby anymore to keep bed hopping like she has done in the past. He strikes me as a yes ma’am person to her.
She isn’t very warm or relatable in her interviews which speaks volumes to me. She seems fake and unlikable. I thought she was great in Steel Magnolia’s but to be honest that is the only film I’ve watched besides Eat,pray, love and Closer. Sorry. I try but I can’t connect. Mainly for those reasons. I don’t know her but I say these things from watching her speak on tv shows, red carpets, and interviews.
Nicole is work obsessed and I don’t know why she is estranged from her adopted kids. Did not like her leaving them out of her latest award speech. But I do like her as an actress. I loved her in Big Little Lies on HBO. She has a penchant for sex, being naked, and difficult roles which I like. I’ll take Nicole anyday, she needs to stop messing with her face tho.
she is always trying to convince us she is a nice, happy, content, loving person. and no one believes her. why? she reeks of mean girl energy. and she broke up a marriage and tortured poor Vera. people remember Julia!!!!