Julia Roberts: “I live with a sense of joy”

She is very tall and thin, not thin, but thin, although the smell of hamburgers clearly comes from the kitchen, although in the hallway I see a basket with small shoes-sandals-shoes, although she deftly puts the breast pump in the closet. No, she hasn’t put on makeup for a long time, because with two three-year-olds, a baby and a visiting nanny, she would have time to wash herself. No, they rarely go out because they like being at home. And then, for 18 years before the birth of children, she was constantly in public. Now she wants to be at home.

And she’s doing well. A small house in Vinis, perhaps the most comfortable area of ​​Los Angeles. No interior splendor. No pompous driveway. Except for a nanny, no servants – no gatekeeper, no butler. “We cook our own food. We clean ourselves. In general, we live by the principle: everyone cleans up their garbage, ”the hostess answers in my opinion. “And yet it is the most peaceful place in the world!” she smiles again. And he looks at his collection of teas on the kitchen shelf, asking me to choose. Boasts homemade cookies. She brings the baby out of the room and seriously introduces us to each other: “Henry, this is Gemma. Gemma, this is Henry.” Henry isn’t particularly interested in me. He, like many on the planet, is interested in Julia Roberts. But with him, here, she is different.

Domovita, serious, practical. Not romantic at all. On the contrary, it seems to be down to earth. Even rooted. And I can’t help but feel paradoxical about what I see: this woman, mother of three, in a T-shirt and plain sweatpants, with a baby in her arms, is Julia Roberts. Which we know is very, very different.

In my role

In the life of Julia Roberts, other people’s children occupy no less space than her own. And now, rather than on the set, you will meet her at the US Congress, where parents of girls with Rett syndrome demonstrate for the adoption of a law that alleviates the lot of their children, or at meetings of the American Stuttering Foundation. Roberts helps both with his fame. “Because the time has come to repay Destiny,” the actress admits.

Psychologies: In the eyes of the public, you have always been a girl. Resolute – in “Erin Brockovich”. Intimidated – “In bed with the enemy.” Brave – in the Case of the Pelicans. “Beauty”, “Runaway Bride”. And suddenly such a change in fate, image … You do not feel inconsistencies: your image says one thing, but you live a completely different life?

Julia Roberts: It is unnatural that they expect me to create some kind of image there. That people are interested in me personally, that some even consider me extraordinary. It’s not that I was a very interesting person. I just have an interesting profession … Stupid! She’s all pretend. And I do this every day with my children – I pretend. I pretend to be patient. I pretend not to be angry. And then I go to the shooting and pretend again, but for a lot of money! It’s funny. Well, it’s stupid, in my opinion. Silly profession.

It’s hard to believe that you don’t respect what you do.

D. R .: No, that’s not the point. It’s just that there is this paradox in acting, and I haven’t been able to come to terms with it to the end. Therefore, it becomes funny to me every time they talk about me in excellent tones. I am a completely ordinary person, and the noise around me, as if I were looking at oil wells in a storm … You know what … About ten years ago I was in Venice. God knows how many times. And then one morning I went out into the lobby of the hotel and … as if I woke up as a child the morning after Christmas – when it snowed at night and everything changed overnight. So then: I go out, and the lobby is filled with water. And the streets, and lanes, and knee-deep bridges in the water. The Italians call this phenomenon “aqua alta” – “high water”. A winter flood, not so rare in Venice, but I saw it for the first time … And then I had such a feeling … a feeling of my own … modesty, or something, – the modesty of the place in the world that we all occupy, ours, in general something, insignificance. And our – equal for all – vulnerability. It seems to me that we all live the same life. The difference is in the details, but I’m not sure how big it is.

But people are fighting just for what you call details – for success, prosperity, love. You didn’t fight?

D. R .: I never felt like I was fighting. No tension, no aggression… I have always lived in the moment and just followed my daily schedule. I did not think and did not go to any goals … And at the same time I do not consider myself frivolous at all. I just lived my way.

About what is typical for you … At one time, after graduating from school, you did not try to get a higher education. Not for money?

D. R .: Well no. We really didn’t have much money, but I think if I decided, my mother would strain herself. I just felt like it wasn’t for me. I could no longer study in this simple, direct sense of the word. I wanted some other lessons.

Do you feel like you missed something in life?

D. R .: Then it was after school. My best friend went to university, and every time I talked to her on the phone and she told me something about herself, about classes, about friends, about the campus, I thought: “This is life! What am I? I sell tennis shoes, I ride the subway from the suburbs to work at dawn, and that’s it. Emptiness and meaninglessness ”… But it turned out later that my friend experienced the same thing! I couldn’t scrape together enough money to pay the rent and make ends meet, and it seemed so grown-up, so worthy, so romantic to her. It’s not like she’s a half-child student… Ridiculous, right? I’m telling you, we’re all really the same.

A few years ago, you donated $50 to a school near your New Mexico ranch to build a gym. The only condition for the donation was that the school would not be named after you in the future. Is it connected with your attitude to your own limbs, to death?

D. R .: Phew… question… Well, here’s the thing… A few years ago, I did a documentary about wild horses in Mongolia. There, in Mongolia, I learned very important things for myself. Do you know why the ancient Mongols left very little evidence of their culture? Because they were convinced that the best thing a person can achieve is for his life to go unnoticed by the world. A peculiar concept of existence, isn’t it? People came into the world and left it, trying not to deform it in any way. And already death is not death, but dissolution in the world, and you are an integral part of it … All this is very, very close to me. I went green for the same reason: I try to produce less waste. I use only the most organic, XNUMX% recyclable baby diapers, I never buy cellophane-wrapped ones from the supermarket, and we even built our house in Malibu from recycled building materials. I, like the ancient Mongols, do not want to die, but simply return to nature. As they said – “hug the bush” …

Was 40 a milestone for you?

D. R .: The very idea of ​​getting older and, if you like, getting older in the circle of close people means for me many more adventures ahead, cheerful, joyful and beautiful. Getting old is a new adventure for me. But to be honest, I consider myself still young. I’ve only just grown up. With the birth of children. Only with their appearance did I finally and irrevocably become an adult.

And you never visit the desire to be younger?

D. R .: What I definitely would not want is to start a career now. When I started, I had the opportunity to act in many films. A lot to do, a lot to play and spend years with meaning in this way. Now you’re doing one movie, tons of money are pumped into you and tons of attention is pouring on you. Your environment makes you, not yourself! You become out of yourself! Even before you understand who you are, would you like to do this at all and, most importantly, why do you need to do this. PR replaces the true meaning. And the meaning of your life too. Therefore, I do not regret either my age or the fact that I took some break in my career – “for pregnancy and childcare.” And before, too: in my opinion, it was the wisest decision of my whole life (not counting, of course, the decision to marry Danny) – not to act for a couple of years in the early 90s. I was then offered a lot of roles. But I didn’t see any point in any of the films. And they told me: well, how do you miss so many opportunities? But I was not embarrassed – my films were not. It is these two years of “starvation”, it seems to me, that became the key to my rather long film life. If I didn’t pause then, you would have forgotten me and didn’t come to me for an interview.

And only the role of a married woman did not seem boring to you?

D. R .: No, I have a special relationship with Danny and my marriage. When I first got married and we settled here in California, a New York friend asked me: “So what are you doing there in Los Angeles?” And I answer: “What? I’m married to Danny!” Like being married to Danny is a big deal and great fun in itself! But it is! For me, this is a big, important and joyful thing.

But not everything and not always in your family relationships was so blissful, right? Coming into the acting profession you owe to your brother Eric, with whom your relationship later …

D. R .: …completely messed up. It’s true. You see, in life sometimes you have to choose what you are really serious about at the moment. And the situation was like this. Eric and his girlfriend Kelly were breaking up. A lawsuit began to determine which of them daughter Emma would live with.

I sided with Kelly, because Eric was drinking, drugs were used … And Emma was close to me then, and now, we spent a lot of time together, I often took her with me to the shooting. I was scared for her. Eric could not accept my decision, considered it a betrayal. But now everything is different – the brother is still a generous person.

When you were already talking about your own family, you used the word “joy” twice…

D. R .: I generally love him. More than that … now I will say something immodest … I consider joy to be my destiny. Fate. No, really. I believe that we all, each of us, have what I call a Master Purpose. Mine is joy. Even in the most difficult moments, since childhood, when dad died … yes, and then I knew: somewhere there is joy. Surely there is, and I will get it. You just have to live with the feeling of this joy, albeit distant, but definitely existing. And if you live with this feeling, then you already live happily. Even if the circumstances are not very good.

Does this mean that you are not afraid?

D. R .: No one who has children is free from fear! Of course, I’m afraid too. And, of course, for the children. Danny helps them – to be brave, courageous, not afraid. And I keep thinking: my God, they can get hurt, they can also be hurt … It hurts in the broadest sense of the word. They will surely hurt. Someday, for sure. And so I learn from Danny: I try to show the children that I believe that they can do everything, that they can overcome, overcome, win. But these parental fears of mine … yes, it’s funny! I often think about my mother now. How did she cope, how did she manage? How did you manage to raise children, buy food, clothes, do everything you need every day, day after day … and with the insignificant amount of money that we had? How she counted cents, how – I only now understand this – was not always sure that next week she would have something to buy food … What was she afraid of? .. So I’m stupid to complain.

Did this childhood experience affect your relationship with money in any way?

D. R .: So Danny laughs at me. He says: “Every time we go to the supermarket together and stand in line at the checkout, I read columns of numbers in your eyes.” And he’s right. I calculate how much the contents of our cart cost. But not out of thrift, I’m just never sure that I have enough cash, that I have a checkbook with me, that I have not forgotten the card in my backpack …

Julia Roberts unsure of her actions? Who will believe!

D. R .: Do you think that self-confidence depends on the fee rate? Or on the number of viewers who watched your film?

What then does it depend on?

D. R .: Now, if I knew, I would not be afraid for my children, but simply would teach them self-confidence – the surest remedy for pain. But there is no recipe. And this is perhaps the only thing I am absolutely sure of: life is not “cooked” according to recipes. No matter what they write in the magazines…

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