When she was profiled in the September issue of Elle Magazine, Julia Roberts announced that she was “definitely a practicing Hindu.” She said that the whole Roberts-Moder household would go to Hindu temples to “chant and pray and celebrate.” Then last week, the National Enquirer ran a “Oh My Vishnu, Julia Roberts Is a Hindu, Isn’t That Scary?” story all about how Danny Moder was really upset because Julia “forced” the kids into Hindu temples. The Enquirer claimed Danny was and is a practicing Catholic, and that Julia is battling him and her own parents because Julia “renamed her youngsters after Hindu gods while they visited India and took them to worship services – which include meditation and the teaching of reincarnation…Danny can’t stand the thought that she seems to have turned her back on the Christian faith to raise their youngsters in the Eastern religion, say sources, and their differences erupted in a fiery confrontation at their Malibu home in early August.” SO SCARY.
Anyway, Julia went to Japan to promote Eat, Pray, Love, and she got a lot of questions about the whole “practicing Hindu” thing. But Julia didn’t take the bait, instead telling journalists, ““I’ve realized something my mother told me 22 years ago. You’re an actor, act. Don’t talk about politics or religion.” Um… good for her. Seriously.
Oscar-winning actress Julia Roberts isn’t planning any more spiritual journeys now that she is done making a film based on the hit book “Eat Pray Love.” The movie, inspired by Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-selling memoir, follows the story of a frustrated divorcee who decides to take a long trip oversees in search of some peace in Italy, India and Bali.
Roberts, a happily married mother of three, said she read and enjoyed the book long before it came across her desk as a proposed movie script and jumped at the chance to play the leading role. But she added she isn’t looking to make any big alterations in her own life.
“No, no changes,” Roberts said Wednesday in Tokyo, where she is promoting the movie’s release. “I’m good.”
Roberts, who was raised a Catholic but is a practicing Hindu, said the film offered her a chance to draw from her own experiences, but said she had been interested in Hinduism before she came across the book and that she did not convert because of the shooting.
Beyond that, she said she would keep her beliefs to herself.“I’ve realized something my mother told me 22 years ago,” she said. “You’re an actor, act. Don’t talk about politics or religion.”
One departure for Roberts, 42, does lie ahead.
Since her box-office breakthrough in 1990’s “Pretty Woman,” Roberts has done little TV work, but she is now working as a producer of a documentary series called “Extraordinary Moms” set to debut in January on Oprah Winfrey’s new cable network.
Roberts’ next big-screen project is “Larry Crowne,” which has been shooting in Southern California in recent months and is set for release next year. The movie reunites her with leading man Tom Hanks. On her work – and her longevity as one of Hollywood’s most sought-after stars – she said her inspiration has never waned.
“Loving what you do is the secret to everything,” she said. “I really do love the creative part of making movies.”
[From Huffington Post]
I kind of like how Julia shut it down so quickly, because it could have been a mess. Half of my family is Hindu, and I know how completely un-scary and un-disturbing the Hindu faith is, and the idea of Julia’s remarks becoming some kind of international religious controversy was not something I was looking forward to. So… I give Julia a pass today. Well done, Jules. I won’t even talk smack about this hideous dress:
Her shoes are cute though.
The dress-so fug, like the shoes though. That’s cool about your family’s Hinduism, Kaiser, I’ve visited a temple, and it felt pretty serene.
“I’ve realized something my mother told me 22 years ago. You’re an actor, act. Don’t talk about politics or religion.” Wow! If all of Hollywood would follow this rule I’d be a happy camper.
Well…but…(sputtering). She’s the one who brought it up.
To promote a movie.
ditto, lilred.
I was going to write…yes, the dress IS hideous…but the shoes are AWESOME.
yea, julia don’t talk about religion or politics, when there is more important topics to speak about, which is julia.
danny? it seems he’s been reduced to being her errand boy…lol…
love those shoes…dress not so much….the earring are cute too!
Her mother is a wise woman.
So, she spends a couple months on a movie set, and now she’s a PRACTICING Hindu? I love and respect the religion, and wouldn’t stand in her way if she wanted to follow it, but it seems flaky, much in the same way celebrity Kaballahists put a red string on their wrists and announce they’re Jewish.
Um, isn’t Hinduism the religion that spawned Yoga? Like, the least scariest religion EVER. Good for her for hitting the breaks on that shizz.
But didn’t she just proclaim to the world, or readers of Elle, that she was a practicing Hindu?
How can you both announce it and not talk about it?
Now I like her mother’s advice don’t get me wrong. It’s, er, very sage. And she resverves the right to keep her/family’s life private, too. But don’t get all snooty when someone asks you about something you just basically proclaimed.
What’s going on with her lips in that bottom photo??
horseface homewrecker snooty bitch can’t dress to save her life, and who the freak cares about her religion or politics
I dont’ blame her for not discussing politics or religion, things always go left really quick.
YEah, well, she talks politics all the time – slamming Republicans ‘cuz heavens knows the world imagined that some Hollywood star mightn’t be a Democrat (insert eye roll here)
I’m quite tired of so many celebs picking random religions to partake of. I have no issue with Hinduism per se, but do we actually believe that Julia truly follows the tenets of that faith and has learned about it in a deep and meaningful way? My guess: she just wants to look cool.
The dress is ugly and Im sure if you get her drunk she’s hog the mic and talk about her new religon ALL NIGHT LONG!
omg shut up- she talks politics constantly thus why i don’t like her (why do these uneducated morons think they are suited tospeak on everything?), so that comment is total bs to hide behind because the questions are uncomfortable, apparently. i bet she can’t name a single hindu holiday.
She realised something her mother told her 22 years ago… hmmm… when did she realise this? A few days ago when she received flack and/or further enquiries into her “practising hindu” claim?
If she doesn’t talk about politics or religion then how come we know (predominately from the horse’s mouth and in this case it’s quite appropriate) exactly what her politics are and now her religious bent?
wth is up with her lips in that last pic? I hope she didnt do the lip injections on her mouth since she had full lips to begin with.
In Bali, hordes of tourists would come to temple a couple of times and then announce that they were Hindu and proceed to walk around the streets wearing almost nothing. She strikes me as someone who would do this in a very surface way.
Also, I agree with those above who said, SHE’S the one who brought it up to try to hawk this ridiculous navel-gazing piece of crap film. She wouldn’t have shouted it from the roof-tops and posed on the cover of ELLE with her son, wearing the garb, if she wanted to protect the sanctity of her beliefs.
It annoys me when any one speaks with close-minded arrogance, but just because you’re an Actor, Mechanic, Nurse does NOT mean you should never talk about politics or religion. Unless of course, your understanding is so shallow, you’re afraid of revealing yourself as a big, loud fraud, which seems to be the case here.
Maybe her handlers told her to STFU before she ruins whatever dubious cache her supposed ‘spiritual transformation’ earned her with moviegoers.
Julia praticing Hindu? Oh please. I have a feeling that she would have become a Jew, Muslim, Baptist or a Atheist, if it was something to promote her movie. Julia has no real beliefs that do not involve being a shallow bitch. Hinduism is just her flavor of the moment.
I was under the impression that it wasn’t possible to convert to Hinduism – that you had to be born one. Or so I was told by a Hindu acquaintance of mine a few years ago.
I don’t like her … not sure why. Nobody could get me to sit through her new movie … the thought of it makes me cringe. But I wish her well nevertheless.
uh…moms should’ve told her to just stfu period.
*eyeroll*
To bad her mother didn’t teach her basic morals, such as you don’t go after other women’s husbands or fiances.
Can not stand her… will always remember her stealing Vera’s husband (Danny Moder) and wearing that tee shirt that said A Low Vera.. cuz she wanted to save her marriage.. she is a cu#t!!
I don’t think her mother ever said any such thing. More Julia invention. And let’s see how long it takes before Hinduism falls by the wayside (like Madonna and her little red Kabbalah string).
Was her upper lip always that big?
Btw, she said she was a practicing Hindu BEFORE the movie. And another thing, just saying what religion you practice to a mag & then saying you don’t want to discuss it any further is a far cry from going on about said religion ad nauseum. Yeesh people. She hardly does any publicity except for when her movies come out, I for one appreciate that. And this is coming from someone who doesn’t even like her movies.
I’m in agreement with those questioning how sincere she is about it (and why she felt the need to announce it at all). It does come across as more trendy than serious spiritual beliefs – funnily enough this is exactly how I felt about the woman who wrote EPL, rambling on and on about yoga and her guru.
why exactly is her errand boy/husband filming her at the airport? were there no paps there to fawn over her? smug bitch.
I agree w/her mom. She shouldn’t have brought it up in the first place. Looks like she done messed up and is now making amends. Whatever.
She has disastrous taste in clothing. I mean–really. Does she look in the mirror after she puts clothes on, or does she let the “force” guide her? 🙂
She’s lost the vulnerability & softness she used to convey in her earlier work.
I admire her longevity in the business; every other actress in Hollywood has been trying to take her place.
Her face is becoming weird with age though. Now her lips are deformed, & her nostrils are huge. She looks like a rabid dog when she smiles.
Too distracting in a bad way to concentrate on her acting. I hope this doesn’t happen to AJ.
“…do we actually believe that Julia truly follows the tenets of that faith and has learned about it in a deep and meaningful way? My guess: she just wants to look cool.”
I concur.
My mother had a tablecloth that matched that dress, in 1974.
Hands up who else is surprised her marriage lasted this long? *raises hand*
Hinduism doesnt necessarily conflict with Catholicism.
Since Hinduism can embrace ALL gods, one could actually include all the Christian deities as well.
At the heart of Hinduism is the principle of ahimsa, or no-harm, so its basically a very tolerant, nonviolent religion/culture.
Hinduism is a whole lot better than some other religious ideologies which insist that others who dont agree with a particular point of view should be attacked and even killed.
*my hand’s up*
i saw the movie. julia baby does look super pretty in it and her acting is FINALLY starting to improve, kind of, despite that lame, old horsey laugh she was probably directed to trot out every 20 minutes or so.
i did find myself staring at her upper lip a lot. (collagen?)
and her zaftig upper arms, which i found somehow redeeming on a star of her wealth and stature. she is an aging woman, after all. still has the killer legs, though – gotta give her that.
didn’t know she is a hindu (if this is true)…