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Julia Roberts doesn’t plan on making movies forever.
In a recent panel discussion about her latest film, “After the Hunt,” as part of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations series, the 58-year-old actress joked that she doesn’t have many movies left in her.
“Now that our kids are out of the house, I have been feeling myself, and have been for a while,” she explained. “Now that they’re out of the house, I really feel the compulsion to go back to theater, and that’s kind of what I’m really kind of trying to dig up right now.”
She went on to compare making a movie to “a really long dinner party,” saying that throughout the experience, “you want to be with people you are interested in” and who will bring something “unique” which “will enrich your experience.”
Roberts joked she only has a few movies left in her. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
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“I think I’m also at a place where I kind of joke, but maybe it’s true, where I think we only have a few destined performances inside of us,” she added. “And I kind of keep joking and saying, I maybe have three and a half movies left in me. Whatever they are, I feel they will find me. And I want them to be these beautiful experiences.”
Most recently, Roberts starred in “After the Hunt,” alongside Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebriri. In the film, she portrays a philosophy professor whose life turns upside down when her mentee, played by Edebiri, accuses her colleague and best friend, played by Garfield, of sexual assault.
When asked what drew her to the film, she said it was the director, Luca Guadagnino, who also directed Timothée Chalamet in his breakout role in “Call Me by Your Name” and Zendaya in her first leading role, in “Challengers.”
The movie stirred up controversy after it premiered at the Venice Film Festival, when, according to Variety, a reporter claimed audiences complained that the story “revives old arguments” about women believing other women when they make allegations of sexual assault, a central issue of the #MeToo movement.
Roberts, center, defended her latest film at the Venice Film Festival. (Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“Not to be disagreeable, because it’s not in my nature,” Roberts answered, “but the thing you said that I love is it ‘revives old arguments.’ I don’t think it’s just reviving an argument of women being pitted against each other or not supporting each other. There are a lot of old arguments that get rejuvenated that creates conversation.
“The best part of your question is that you all came out of the theater talking about it. That’s how we wanted it to feel. You realize what you believe in strongly because we stir it all up for you. So, you’re welcome.”
“And I kind of keep joking and saying, I maybe have three and a half movies left in me. Whatever they are, I feel they will find me. And I want them to be these beautiful experiences.”
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Roberts first gained attention when she starred in “Mystic Pizza” and then “Steel Magnolias,” but became known as America’s sweetheart after starring as Vivian Ward in the 1990 movie, “Pretty Woman.”
“We were really shooting from the hip for sure,” she said about “Pretty Woman.” “And when we finished, basically we all kind of thought, ‘Well, we just had the most fun making the worst movie in Hollywood.”
“Pretty Woman” was Roberts’ breakout role. (Touchstone Pictures/Silver Screen Partners IV/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)
She went on to star in a string of successful movies, including “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” “Runaway Bride,” “Notting Hill” and “Erin Brockovich,” which earned her an Academy Award win for best actress.
In a December 2023 interview with People magazine, Roberts imagined where her most iconic characters might be today.
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“They stay together. He doesn’t die in this one. They’re going to stay together,” she said of her character in “Runaway Bride,” after previously joking that Richard Gere’s character in “Pretty Woman” was probably dead and Vivian was now running his business.
Gere and Roberts starred together in two films. (Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC NewsWire via Getty Images)
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Gere starred as Roberts’ love interest in both films.