“I’m just an ordinary person who has an extraordinary job.”
Julia Roberts at 58 is having a moment. Her children are grown—twins Hazel and Phinnaeus are 21, Henry’s 18 — and she’s treating her newfound freedom like a dare she can’t resist taking.
The evidence? A collaboration with Luca Guadagnino on After the Hunt, playing a philosophy professor so cold she required an ice-blonde bob and Gena Rowlands levels of severity to pull it off. It’s the sort of morally murky character Roberts might have avoided a decade ago, when one foot was always planted firmly at home. Not anymore.
Then there’s Ocean’s 14, which reunites her with Clooney, Pitt and the rest of that improbably charming crew — a cast of friends who genuinely delight in each other’s company.
Twenty years with cinematographer husband Danny Moder taught her something crucial about saying yes only when fully committed. Now that the nest is empty, she’s chasing discomfort instead of comfort, complexity over charm.
It’s the kind of pivot most actresses dream about but few actually get to make. Roberts isn’t just getting interesting roles — she’s becoming more interesting herself.
“I’m just a girl from a little town in Georgia who had this giant, absurd dream.”
Photos Courtesy Of: Getty Images, Starz, Sony Pictures
