Julia Roberts is trying to get her career back on track and isn’t above sending personal gifts to top stars she wants as costars. She hand knitted sweaters for Johnny Depp’s two children, Lily-Rose, 8, and Jack, 5, and sent them along with a note that read “I would love to work with you.” Maybe she should have written “Have a great holiday,” or something, because when you send a gift like that isn’t it obvious that you’re trying to get in the person’s good graces for some reason? I don’t know, I usually go for the indirect approach, like talking about other stuff and hoping they get the hint.

Julia Roberts is laying it on thick with Johnny Depp in a bid to revive her career. Noted knitter Julia knocked out sweaters for Johnny’s kids… sending them with a note saying “I would love to work with you.” Julia doesn’t like being knocked off her throne by Reese Witherspoon, a source tells Star…

“Julia’s a big fan of Johnny and wants to work with him before she gets too old, so she’s pouring on the charm.”

[From Star Magazine, print edition, December 24, 2007]

Johnny Depp and his longterm girlfriend and mother of his children, French singer Vanessa Paradis, are quite protective of their children’s privacy and are likely to relate to Julia’s recent rant at a paparrazo who tried to take pictures outside her kids’ school. (Roberts still remains annoyed at the paparazzi and is shown in a recent video arguing and trying to reason with them as they follow her around NY City as she does errands. Maybe she didn’t want the news of her Christmas presents to get out.)

Johnny Depp recently told Esquire Magazine that “There’s no limit to the possibilities of what I could do to the paparazzi if I catch them photographing my children.” Maybe Roberts should have written him a note relating to how outraged she is by photographers bothering her children instead of asking directly for a job.

Meanwhile there’s a new interview with Vanessa Paradis in The London Times in which she refuses to even give a cute anecdote about her children when asked:

An inquiry about whether her kids have done anything that made her laugh recently leads to a stern rebuke. “This question is way, way too personal,” she declares, her huge round eyes flashing. To us it may seem odd, but then the French expectations of privacy from the media are much higher

[Times.co.uk via Huffington Post]

So it seems unlikely that we’ll ever get confirmation whether this story about Julia making sweaters for the little Paradis-Depps is true.