Pretty Woman, Pretty Epic: The Julia Roberts Deep Dive

hi I'm Beth and I'm Jimmy and we're the talk to the hand podcast hi Jimmy hello Beth how you doing I'm good we're doing a episode today on someone that you're quite keen on in fact yeah would you say that one of her lines in one of her films is one of your favorite lines ever yeah favorite line ever but I'll share that later on okay we're going to do an episode of Julia Roberts the suspense oh keeping everyone on ttin hooks we're going to do an episode on Julia Roberts amazing actress and of course there was that romantic incident yep no didn't know about that until we did this podcast so that was very interesting but the listeners will he about that as well they're so exciting they got so much to look forward to we're going to go straight into the episode but for now we wind to the 90s so Julia Fiona Roberts was born October 28th 1967 her parents Betty Lou and Walter raised her and her two siblings as Catholics her older brother Eric and older sister Lisa are also actors Julia Roberts parents former actors and playwrights met while performing in Theatrical productions for the US Armed Forces they eventually co-founded the Atlanta actors and Writers Workshop in midtown Atlanta during Julia's mother pregnancy they also ran a children's acting school in Georgia which was attended by the children of ketta and Martin Luther King Jr with Walter Roberts serving as an acting coach for their daughter Yolanda in gratitude for his contributions to the only racially integrated theater group in the area and due to the Robert's family financial struggles Coretta king paid the hospital bill for Julia's birth wow that is a a story yeah I wow so Martin Lu the king's wife paid the hospital treatment for Julia Roberts to be born wow and fair play to her parents as well it sounds terrible saying it but they must have been very brave at the time to have an interracial group at a time where it wasn't the norm no fair PL yeah Julia's parents separated in 1971 and divorced the following year her mother later married Michael Moes in 1972 a period that proved challenging as Moes was often unemployed and abusive the couple had a daughter named Nancy who tragically passed away at the age of 37 that was in 2014 from a parent drug overdose Betty Lou ultimately divorced Moes 1983 on grounds of Cruelty describing the marriage as her biggest mistake meanwhile Julia's father Walters come to cancer when she was just 10 years old it's quite a lot of upheaval for such a young child at the time as well is if you think her parents have divorced yeah and while she's dealing with that her mother gets with an abusive man while her dad dies of cancer I mean wow my gosh after leaving school Julia headed to New York and enrolled in acting lessons and she'd already had quite a good start a grounding a ground for the acting though I mean because of her parents yeah so after her television debut in 1987 as a juvenile rape victim in the crime series Crime Story Julia Roberts transitioned to the big screen with a role in the film satisfaction in 1988 she had previously shot a minor part in blood red alongside her brother Eric but the film where she only had two words of dialogue wasn't released until '89 even though it was recorded the year before our debut film that same year she appeared in the fourth season finale of Miami Vice and gained critical Acclaim with the Indie romantic comedy Mystic Pizza Robert's breakthrough came with steel Magnus in 1989 where she portrayed a Young Bride with diabetes the film was both a critical and Commercial hit earning her first Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress and winning her first Golden Globe Award in the same category building on this success Roberts captivated Global audiences in pretty women in 1990 starring alongside Richard Gear her performance as a vivacious and kind-hearted sex worker garnered her a second Oscar nomination this time for best actress and a second Golden Globe win for best actress in a motion picture Roberts was paid $300,000 for her role in Pretty Woman which which became the highest grossing romantic comedy in the us at the time earning [Music] 463.3339 after she ditched out and he walks in and flashes the plastic yeah but then she goes back to the shop with the bags to the shop that didn't want yeah here here showing the bags big mistake oh my God that is amazing following Pretty Woman Robert starred in the Supernatural Thriller flatliners and across 91 Robert Starling Sleeping with the Enemy hook and dying young despite mixed reviews these films performed well at the box office Julia sparked a tabloid Frenzy 91 though and this is what I was referring to at the start yeah she broke off her 10mon long engagement to Keith for Southerland and jetted off with his best friend fellow actor Jason Patrick on what would have been the day of their wedding oh my God I know him Jason Patrick he did um Speed 2 cruise control he's quite goodlooking oh him and he that's mean oh my God so Keith the what was that big 24 do you remember that PR before so she was with him yeah and they were they were together 10 months they were going to get oh hang on they were together 10 months but they were getting married yeah but that's very quick engagement anyway not in Hollywood no that's true okay so they 10mth engagement let's backtrack a bit so Julia and kefa first met in 1989 when they co-starred in flatliners okay yeah they quickly struck up a relationship soon after Julia's engagement to her co-star Dylan mcder ended and ke's divorce from Chamilia cath was finalized in August 1990 kefir and Julia announced they were engaged and were set to tie the KN on June the 14th 91 in a grand ceremony held at 20th Century Fox's Sound Stage 14 surrounded by Alias guests however Julia allegedly broke off the engagement 3 days before the wedding and this is where there's some confusion some say it's the day of the wedding some say a few days before she kind of insinuate long but allegedly 3 days before the wedding and the day of the ceremony and Kea was seen moving out of his ex- fiance's bever Hills home it was also reported on the same day and this is where it gets really naughty yeah this is bad she was spotted flying to iseland with Jason kef's close friend and co-star in 1987's the lost boys so you cancelled your wedding one day or three days or on the day whatever so she had a b m she had a dress here had his suit she canceled the wedding he's picking up her stuff his stuff from her house while she's spoiled going on holiday with his best M like you're laughing but you wouldn't imagine that from her she seems soome yeah she does so Jason and Julia eventually were recognized as a couple when they returned to the states Days Later although they ended things shortly after in ' 92 Julia was branded The Runaway Bride a full eight years before the movie of the same Name opposite she was in that film with Richard g r Away by that's so funny The Firestorm surrounding the trio remained for a few years with Julia first breaking her silence in 94 in an interview saying of her broken engagement I've read days before hours before minutes before and the fact is it doesn't matter how many times you say it he wasn't waiting at the order it wasn't the day before somebody else didn't tell him he didn't see it on TV people just don't want to know the three remains quiet on the matter for years to come but have since made amends A Roberts took a 2-year break from acting appearing only briefly in the player in '92 and she made a strong return in the Thriller the Pelican Brief in '93 good film yeah however her subsequent films including I love trouble in '94 Preta Porter in 94 and something to talk about in '95 did not farewell critically or at the box office in '96 she guest starred in Friends and appeared in the historical drama Michael Collins with Liam n as well as the poorly received Mary Riley Liam n's film with her Michael Collins that was a good film good film good film by the late 1990s Roberts found renewed success in romantic comedies she starred in My Best Friend's Wedding yeah that was have you even seen it I don't need to see it like it's an all right film okay it's not pretty woman or the other one that we're going to talk about in a minute but it's all right yeah well it was followed by conspiracy theory in 98 she appeared on sesy Street with Elmo and sted in the drama stepmom stepmom yeah in 99 Robert starred in Notting Hill with Hugh G playing a famous actress who falls in love with a bookstore owner Notting Hill that Rings about I mean have you ever seen it I've seen not Hill with you oh yeah did you we watch it yeah that's where your favorite line comes from Goan yeah no no the film was a massive success becoming the highest gross in British film at the time and she also reunited with Richard Gear for running way byde playing a woman notorious for leaving fiance at the altar so that's not a great fil yeah not in hill so it used to be my favorite film okay and it does have that favorite line I'm just a girl standing in front of a boy asking him to love her pathetic that's just so sweet it's pathetic no it's not desperate no it's not desperate she bought him a really expensive painting and he still didn't guess oh buying buying his affection that's romantic see even man did that and just bought his way into a woman it wouldn't be viewed quite the same the film is funny because you've got the fact that she's the star and then she bumps into this ordinary person like he's a bit of a bumbling fool and the funniest one thing is when he can't find his glasses and he ends up he ends up wearing his prescription goggles to the cinema that's quite funny but yeah no I just love it well Roberts made history as the first actress to earn $20 million for a film for her role in Erin Brockovich which also earns her the Academy Award of Best Actress among other accolades the same year she became the first actress to be listed among the Hollywood reporters 50 most influential women in Show Business Evan bovic that was a good film have you seen it you like you just do you even want to be here I don't know I just sometimes a lot of her films seen chick flicky yeah that is true okay so robbert's next film in 2001 was road comedy the Mexican which was followed by American sweethearts in 20 1 later in 2001 she reunited with erovic director Steven Soderberg for Oceans 11 a remake of the 196s film featuring George Clooney Brad Pit Matt Damon I like the yeah Roberts played Tess ocean the ex-wife of Clooney's character and the film was a critical on box office hit becoming the fifth highest grossing film of the year so then she's away from Chip flicks now she the one she's been away from Chip flick I've enjoyed the Pelican Brief was a good film I like that even pretty woman I liked Roberts then received a record $25 million for the movie Mona Lisa's smile in 2003 a year later she stting closer before reprising her role as Tess ocean in Oceans 12 Roberts consistently appeared on the Hollywood reporters list of the 10 highest paid actresses from 2002 to 2005 in 2006 she lent her voice to characters in two animated films a nurse an in the Ant Bully and a barn spider in charlott web she made her Broadway debut in 2006 despite nearly $1 million in ticket sales during its first week and Commercial Success throughout its run her Performance Based criticism Roberts gained her sixth Golden Globe nomination after starring in Charlie Wilson's War and she starred in independent drama fireflies in the garden and then in the comic Thriller duplicity in 2010 Roberts who converted to Hinduism that year played an army captain in The Ensemble romantic comedy Valentine's Day and starred in a film adaption of Eat Pray Love she then starred opposite Tom Hanks in Larry Crown in 2011 before a criticized performance in Mirror Mirror Roberts co-starred with meil stre and Yun McGregor in 2013 black comedy drama August oage country which earned her nominations for the Golden Globe Screen Actors Guild Critics Choice and academy awards for best supporting actress marking her fourth Oscar nomination and in 2014 she played Dr Emma Brookner in HBO's adaptation of Larry Ker's AIDS era play the normal heart and in 2005 she featured in secret in their eyes which struggled at the box office Roberts reunited with Jerry Marshall for the romantic comedy Mother's Day earning $3 million for Just 4 days of filming however the movie was not well received critically or commercially she next appeared in Jodie Foster's Thriller money monster which performs better she got3 million for 4 days recording y 34 of a million a day as a daily rate yeah that's not bad going is it isn't at all I'd like to be on that go in the 2017 film Wonder based on RJ palasio novel robberts played the mother of a boy with Treacher Collins syndrome Wonder became one of her most widely seen films grossing 35.9 million globally that same year she voiced a nurturing Smurf leader in the animated movie Smurfs the Village robertt starred in the 2018 drama Ben is back she then took on her first regular television role in the psychological Thriller series homecoming playing a case worker at a secret government facility her role earned her a Golden Globe nomination for best actress in a television series drama Roberts teamed up with George Clooney again for the romantic comedy ticket to paradise and Starling political TV Thriller gaset in 2023 Robert starred as Amanda Sanford in the film Leave the World Behind which was produced by Barack and Michelle Obama's Higher Ground Productions during a 2023 episode of Finding Your Roots Roberts discovered that her biological paternal great great grandfather's surname was actually Mitchell and not Roberts Roberts also learns that her ancestors own slaves she said you have to figure if you're from the sou you're on one side of it or the other it just seems very typical of that time unfortunately you can't turn back on History even when you become part of it in a way that doesn't align with your personal Compass I thought that was really interesting because if you remember back to the start of the podcast her parents had actually being the first in the area to open an interracial drama group but skip back a few generations and they were slave owners so an interesting contrast yeah it is Roberts met her husband cameraman Daniel Moda on the set of the film The Mexican in 2000 while she was still in a relationship with brat oh she's getting a bit of a reputation here Beth it's so different isn't it to what you expect yeah but then again hug Grant is not the bub so she's she's definitely got an edge that you don't know at that time Moda was married to Vera Steinberg he filed for divorce just over a year later and once it was finalized he and Roberts married on the 4th of July 2002 at her ranch in New Mexico they have three children together twins a daughter and a son born in November 2004 and another son born in 2007 as we wrap up our exploration of Julia Robert's remarkable life and career it's clear that her journey through Hollywood has been nothing short of extraordinary both on set from her breakout role in Pretty Woman to her Academy award-winning performance in Aran Brockovich from advocating for Unicef to raise awareness about climate change Roberts has used her platform to Champion causes is close to her heart the commitment to giv him back combined with her Talent has made for a beloved figure both on and off the screen unless you're one of her ex Partners who she cheated on or a woman whose husband she stole yeah okay otherwise you're so black and white I'm just I'm just stating the facts as they're there I like Julia Roberts by the way this isn't an anti- Julia Roberts thing but let's just say what what happened she ditched a fiance went on holiday with his best name in and around the time they were supposed to be getting married and then later on met a guy who was married got with him while he was married he divorced his wife and then they got married I've just repeated the facts that we we' stated in the in the episode so I'm sorry if your little Julia robbert's bubble has been burst but just remember she's just an actor standing in front of someone else's husband asking him to love her as we look to the Future Julia Robert's Legacy continues to inspire young actors and filmmakers alike whether she's lighting up the Silver Screen or working behind the scenes Julia's impact on the entertainment industry and the World At Large is undeniable and that is the story of Julia Roberts yeah you've got a funny look on your face ma no I enjoyed it and there's still there's loads of films there that oh yeah I should watch that um ticket to Paradise is on Netflix at the minute so I'm going to try and watch that I'm guessing it's not going to be my George no you no no I think they're a divorce couple that have to meet again for their daughter's wedding sounds great yeah now you know how it goes it is I think it's one of those things though that you only know someone through their films and it's like I really like her but it's it's that part yeah the past and the the background that I didn't know about to give full balance she seems to have stayed with that guy for quite a while they got married in 2002 yeah yeah as far as I know they're still together they together yeah they're doing cuz she cuz she's sort of scaling it back a bit now isn't she I think I I'd love to be in a position if you were making films to be in a position where you can take it or leave it and you only then act in the films that you really like the sound of yeah it's like if you look at someone like Robert dairo you never know what film how good to film he's in is going to be because he kind of accepts everything he's in yeah he's in some terrible films and he's in some of the best films I've ever seen so a real mix but you've got some who are far more Discerning I would say someone like Johnny Depp is pretty Discerning in the films he's in yeah he wouldn't accept just anything no and even Leonardo DiCaprio I have to say I haven't seen many bad films that he's in either no good well we hope you've enjoyed the episode that was the tales of of Julia Roberts life on and off screen we'll be back next week with another episode but until then to the hands [Applause]