The $20 Million woman

Julia Roberts, 33, first charmed Hollywood and filmgoers with her high-beam smile, tousled auburn hair and sparkling personality, playing alongside Richard Gere, in the hugely successful Pretty Woman. From that remarkable entrance, she’s had a rollercoaster career (see panel). However, she has grown hugely in stature and with the Oscar-winning success of Erin Brockovich, “America’s sweetheart” has become Hollywood’s only female player to demand $20 million per film. Her latest movie is the remake of Oceans Eleven, in which she stars alongside Brad Pitt and George Clooney, amongst other leading Hollywood lights…

BRUNO LESTER: Do you know why you are successful?

JULIA ROBERTS: No one can answer why they are successful in any field. I’m just a girl, and one aspect of what I am is that I’m an actor. But I’m loving what I do, and I’m really happy.

BL: Have you ever wanted to do anything else, other than acting?

JR: No. I’m not trained to do anything else. My parents ran an acting workshop when I was a child. In many ways I was raised to act. I have no other skills.

BL: Name one incident that had profound effect on you as a child?

JR: My father died (of cancer) when I was nine. When you lose a parent as a young person, it takes away that dreamy quality of life that kids should be allowed to have. I think you’re changed forever.

BL: As a girl in Smyrna, Ga., did you ever practise an Oscar speech in the family tub?

JR: No, I never even watched the Oscars on TV. The only thing I ever practised in the tub was being interviewed by (talk show host) Mike Douglas.

BL: How do you now regard the person you were at the beginning of your career?

JR: She weighed about 20 pounds more and she knew about 50 things less. So I’d say she is different.

BL: What would your ideal day-off be like?

JR: I’d wake up real slowly. If I’m in New York, I’d catch an afternoon film and go to a market. When I’m in New Mexico (on her ranch), I’d ride, play with my dogs and read.

BL: Who is your favourite author?

JR: Thomas Hardy. It’s a great luxury for me to be able to sit down with a whole day free, start a book, and like it enough to just barrel right through.

BL: And favourite singer and song?

JR: Bob Dylan and ‘Buckets of Rain’.

BL: Who do you admire?

JR: Susan Sarandon I admire greatly, in life as in art. I think she’s fantastic.

BL: Have you ever had a crush on a movie star?

JR: Yes, Anthony Hopkins. When I met him, I was beside myself. He hugged me and nearly broke my bones.

BL: What do you watch on TV?

JR: Biography is my favourite programme. To learn about someone’s life in an hour is incredible. That’s where I’ve got my knowledge of Hollywood.

BL: What do you bring with you on location?

JR: My books and pictures to make my rented accommodation feel more like home, and I always freak out the day before I leave. I stand in the middle of the room with a thousand things to do and I can’t do anything.

BL: Who are your best friends?

JR: My sister and some old girlfriends. We hang out and talk about boys and what’s happening.

BL: What makes for a great relationship?

JR: That they are open-handed and unconditional.

BL: What is your favourite makeup?

JR: I don’t wear make-up or dress up unless someone hires me. I hate to wear it because my mouth is crooked and I’m bad at putting on lipstick.

BL: How do you pick your clothes?

JR: Eighty percent of the clothes in my closet are from my movies. They clearly fit. I was never a snappy dresser. My brother, my sister and I grew up quite the little hippie children, running around with no shoes and flowers in our hair. I’m quite comfortable not being dressed up.

BL: What is a good hair rule?

JR: After two trips to the Oscars as a nominee, I learned one important skill. I got my hair under control. My hair doesn’t tremble as much anymore. I now know how to style it so it doesn’t give my emotions away as much.

BL: What’s your favourite perfume?

JR: I love classics, such as Jean Patou’s Joy. Everyone needs a little joy.

BL: How do you keep fit?

JR: By never missing my 8 am session in the gym. I work out four times a week with my trainer, for 45 minutes. I jump ropes and do lunges, pushups and strength exercises. Working out always boosts my energy level and getting my workout done early is best for me because my schedule is so erratic that squeezing it in is tricky.

BL: Do you exercise at home as well?

JR: I jog, do yoga, aerobics classes and work out.

BL: What kind of diet do you follow?

JR: I’m a vegetarian, so I’m big salad eater.

BL: Do you worry about your weight?

JR: No – though being in LA, I worry about the weight of other people.

BL: Favourite city?

JR: New York because I can live fairly normally there.

BL: What would you say is the greatest misconception about you?

JR: That I’m a bitch. It’s because I’m tall and really very smart. I have lots of ideas and I’m willing to share them. And I’m also willing to hear people say, ‘Not your best idea.’ But I think when you’re energetic and aggressive about things, that it can be intimidating to people that aren’t very smart themselves.

BL: What’s the toughest thing about living with you?

JR: I think I’m messy. I envy people who take off their clothes at the end of the day and put them away. Me, they go straight to the chair or straight to the floor. Also, it requires a special individual to understand the odd ways of the actor life.

BL: Are you sensitive to what people might think about you?

JR: What someone I have never met thinks about me isn’t too important. But I get hurt if it involves my family.

BL: Do you get angry often?

JR: No, I lose my temper rarely. And when I do there’s always a legitimate cause. Normally I have a great lightness of being. I take things in a very happy, amused way.

BL: How do you like being greeted by fans?

JR: I appreciate enthusiasm, and the only time it’s ever any kind of impairment is if the moment is completely inappropriate to being interrupted – say, if you’re peeing. I think that’s an inappropriate moment to approach somebody, and, incidentally, it has happened to me.

BL: Is it overwhelming to be called the most powerful woman in Hollywood?

JR: It’s not up to me what people say. So, for better or worse, it’s all fine by me. I believe in people’s opinions. If they can live with it, I can live with it.

BL: Having become the first woman to get $20 million per movie, has it changed the way you work?

JR: The salary hasn’t changed what I’m doing or how I approach my work, and it doesn’t make me a better actor. It’s just a reward. What changes is the fact that everybody wants to talk about how much you get paid. Which, where I come from, is an inappropriate thing to talk about. No offence.

BL: So what does money mean to you?

JR: Security, for yourself and your family.

BL: Is it true that George Clooney sent you the script for Oceans Eleven with a $20 dollar bill and a note that said, “We hear you get twenty a picture. How about doing this?”.

JR: That’s just George taking all the credit, as usual (laughs). That money was from George and Steven (Sodeberg), so he obviously only put in ten bucks. And I’m beginning to think I’m on an installment programme – $20 dollars over a year. Honestly, though, I don’t care about that money stuff. I just want a good part to play and fun folks to play with. Don’t tell (producer) Jerry Weintraub, but I would have probably done Ocean’s Eleven for $20 dollars, just for the chance to work with Steven again. We had such a great time on Erin Brockovich, I couldn’t wait to do another film with him. But, when I heard that it was going to be George, Matt, Brad, Andy and Don, too, I really couldn’t wait.

BL: OK, what about all these rumours that you and George fell for one another during the making of Ocean’s Eleven? Are they true?

JR: It’s not my place to confirm or deny something that’s said by someone I don’t know (smiles). George is what I call a real charm-monster. But just to show him that his charm wasn’t going to work on me, I spent a lot of the time pretending his smoothness had no effect on me. Of course, I’m probably the only woman in Las Vegas that didn’t swoon or faint when he walked by. But, I didn’t want him to think he was all that.

BL: As a major celebrity yourself, what are the movie star qualities you see in George?

JR: I don’t consider a ‘movie star’ the nicest thing you can call a person (laughs). George is this great, wonderful, goof of a guy. The fact he can make all that go away when the cameras start rolling is a pretty fine trick. He can become very charming and suave and that’s not how he really is at all.

BL: How did you endure being the only woman on the set of Ocean’s Eleven?

JR: I thought the guys would be a bit more happy to see me and act more reverential. But, it was like being the youngest girl in a family of boys. They picked on me, but I can’t speak of it (laughs). I’ve said this before, but I was like the stealth actor of Ocean’s Eleven. Basically, I came in, went out, all the guys said great things about me and they fought over me. How could you not love a role like that?

BL: Do you have any unfulfilled ambitions?

JR: I would like to learn to play the cello and to paint.

BL: Do you have a philosophy?

JR: Cover your tracks and accentuate the positive. I think that’s a good way to go about things.

BL: Finally, what do you want written on your tombstone?

JR: “No regrets”.