Julia Fiona Roberts was born on October 28, 1967, in Smyrna,Georgia, the youngest of three children and surrounded by creative individuals. Her parents were both actors who ran a workshop for aspiring writers and performers until their divorce in 1971. After graduating from high school in 1985, Roberts moved to New York City to live with her sister, Lisa, who, along with Roberts’s brother, Eric, was pursuing an acting career.
Her first major film role came in 1998. She portrayed Daisy in the indie cult hit, Mystic Pizza. The following year, Roberts cemented her status as a rising star in Steel Magnolias (1989), appearing alongside Shirley MacLaine and Sally Field, and earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. As the new rising star inHollywood, she briefly dated some notable leading men, including Liam Neeson and Dylan McDermott.
Little did Julia know, a career-making role was just around the corner. Who would have thought playing a hooker with a heart of gold would be a career turning point, but 1997’s Pretty Woman was just that. For her convincing performance, Roberts received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Around this same time, Roberts called off her wedding to actor Kiefer Sutherland, her co-star in 1990′s Flatliners, just days before the ceremony was scheduled to take place.
She then surprised fans with a quickie marriage to country singer-songwriter Lyle Lovett that same year. The union proved to be short-lived, with the pair divorcing after only 21 months of marriage.
The following year, Roberts starred in the independent film The Mexican with Brad Pitt and James Gandolfini. While making the movie, she met cameraman Danny Moder.
‘Fortunately, I am a hearty eater, which I told my husband 13 years ago when he asked me out on a date. “Prepare yourself. I won’t just have a salad,”‘ she remembers telling him. ‘But that’s worked out for us,’ –Julia Roberts
Moder was a psychology major from the University of Colorado. He moved to Hollywoodand landed his first job as a production assistant on the Gene Hackman, Denzel Washington suspense, Crimson Red. Discovering a real joy for photographic storytelling, Moder worked his way up the Hollywood crew ladder. He transitioned from P.A. to Camera Loader, to 2nd Assistant Director to full fledged Director of Photography. His most notable film credits include The Mexican, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Spider-Man 3.
On July 4, 2002, Roberts married Danny Moder at her ranch in Taos, New Mexico. The couple welcomed twins Phinnaeus Walter and Hazel Patricia in November 2004. Their third child, son Henry Daniel, was born in June 2007.
Roberts has given her time and resources to UNICEF as well as to other charitable organizations. On May 10, 1995, Roberts arrived in Port-au-Prince, as she said, “to educate myself”. The poverty she found was overwhelming. “My heart is just bursting”, she said. UNICEF officials hoped that her six-day visit would trigger an outburst of giving: $10 million in aid was sought at the time.
Roberts is currently starring in the film adaptation of August: Osage County and has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, and she won a Spotlight Award for the performance. Her work has slowed down however, as August: Osage County was her only film released in 2013.
“I believe that two people are connected at the heart, and it doesn’t matter what you do, or who you are or where you live; there are no boundaries or barriers if two people are destined to be together.”—Julia Roberts
