Since her performance in the 1990 movie "Pretty Woman," which is still one
of the parts she is best known for, Julia Roberts has been one of the top
leading ladies in Hollywood. Over the years, the celebrity has won various
awards for her performances, including three Golden Globes and an Academy
Award.
But in addition to her highly public climb to fame, Roberts also led a
colorful private life that involved dating quite a few of her co-stars—not
just one or two. She was actually quite the "Runaway Bride" in real life
since, before settling down with the right person, she was previously
married and engaged to a number of other guys.
It's noteworthy to note that despite being one of the most well-known
persons on the planet and dating nearly exclusively superstars throughout
the 1980s and 1990s, Roberts married photographer Daniel Moder in 2002.
Daniel is not a famous person even though he also works in the film and
television industry like her.
The two met while working on the set of the film "The Mexican," in which
Roberts played the major role and Moder served as cameraman. They are
parents of twins Phinnaeus and Hazel, all 17 years old, and Henry, a
14-year-old boy. Since they started dating, Julia has worked hard to keep
her family and herself out of the spotlight.
However, the actress opened up to Gwyneth Paltrow on her "Goop" podcast in
2018 to chat about her marriage, among other issues, demonstrating how much
she clearly loves her spouse of over 20 years. Her spouse, she claimed, is
her "favorite person," and she is more interested in his perspective than
anybody else's. Let's learn more about the adored spouse of Roberts.
The actress had to go through a lot of possible suitors before she finally
found the one, so her path to finding true love was anything from straight.
Roberts nearly always dated other actors, frequently her co-stars, starting
in the late 1980s when she started to rise in Hollywood. In fact, she was
engaged to a number of men before their breakups, which in retrospect lends
a whole new meaning to the phrase "runaway bride" (and her smash hit
movie)!
Liam Neeson, who she met after the two co-starred in the 1988 film
"Satisfaction," about an all-girl rock band, was her first celebrity lover.
They started dating and were together for more than a year before splitting
up. Roberts was 19 years old at the time, while Neeson was 35 and
well-established in Hollywood. This created a sizable age gap between the
couple.
According to "The Kitty Kelley Files: Julia Roberts," which was published
by The Irish Times, the couple had a passionate relationship that led to
them moving in together after just two weeks. Roberts's connection with
Neeson would be the first of many with other leading males.
In May 1988, not long after Roberts and Neeson called it quits, she started
dating Dylan McDermott. Funny enough, they played newlyweds in the movie
"Steel Magnolias," where the two first met. In a case of life mimicking art,
Roberts and McDermott were together for over two years, during which time
they were engaged — the first of Roberts' several engagements — but before
they could exchange vows, the actress called it quits in 1990. The actress
would go on to become engaged to several more guys after this one.
Roberts later met Kiefer Sutherland on a movie set when the two co-starred
in "Flatliners," much as she had done with Liam Neeson and Dylan McDermott.
April 1990 marked the start of their relationship, and less than a year
later, they announced Roberts' second engagement.
But once more, it wasn't meant to be, and Roberts called off her marriage
to Sutherland, just as she had done with McDermott before they ever made it
to the altar. Three days before their scheduled wedding date in June 1991,
she did it again, and this time it wasn't without controversy. When Roberts
was supposed to marry Sutherland, it was said that she instead took a flight
with actor Jason Patric, who also happened to be a close friend of his. The
two took out for Ireland and, although having a brief affair, broke up by
1992.
Roberts would eventually settle down and wed actor and musician Lyle Lovett
in 1993 after two unsuccessful engagements. When the two initially met on
the set of "The Player" in 1992, there are rumors that they clicked right
away. By June of the following year, they were married, making it Roberts'
first successful union. It wasn't meant to be, though, and the couple filed
for divorce in March 1995.
Between 1995 and 1996, Roberts was linked to "Friends" actor Matthew Perry
after her divorce from Lovett; however, nothing is known about their
relationship. According to rumors, Roberts' guest appearance on "Friends" in
1994 was the catalyst for their relationship, which is consistent with her
history of dating co-stars. However, the union didn't last.
Fans of Roberts will no doubt be aware of her friendship with actor
Benjamin Bratt; after all, she publicly praised him for helping her win the
Oscar for "Erin Brockovich" in 2001. They were together for over four years,
making it one of her longest relationships.
Before they were introduced via friends, it is said that the actress and
Bratt initially spoke in a restaurant in November 1997. Despite giving the
impression that they were together for the long haul, they ultimately broke
up in June 2001, which also happened to be the same month that Roberts'
film, which she co-wrote with Moder, was released.
Roberts spent years ending her own engagements and marriages, but when she
met her future husband, she realized she had finally found the one. Despite
not being an actor like the most of her ex-boyfriends, Moder and Roberts did
meet on a set. Cameraman Moder had contributed to the 2001 film "The
Mexican," which featured Roberts and Brad Pitt.
Moder was still wed to his first wife Vera Steimberg when he met Roberts,
so that was a slight problem before the two fell in love. Nevertheless,
Moder divorced his wife soon after, and their relationship proved to be
sincere. By June 2002, the couple had wed, and the bride had stopped running
away.
A few years after being married, the couple had twins Phinnaeus and Hazel,
now 17 years old, and a son named Henry, who is now 14. Despite her
propensity to keep her personal affairs quiet, Roberts has occasionally
spoken candidly about her relationship with Moder and the joy they
share.
Roberts, who is often very secretive in interviews, surprisingly spoke out
on how immensely amazing the connection she has with Moder during her
interview with Gwyneth Paltrow for the GOOP Podcast in 2018. She
uttered:
"I believe that meeting and marrying Danny was the first major "seismic
change" in my life. That was the first time I felt like my life will never
be the same in the most amazing manner imaginable.
She praised her spouse even more, calling him her "favorite human." Added
her:
He is unquestionably still my favorite person right now. More than anyone
else, I'm interested in what he has to say or his point of view. In that
regard, we are quite fortunate. We really adore one another and delight in
each other's company.
The actress continued by discussing her marriage and their decision to
co-parent their children. We've been together for 18 years, and we've been
married for 16 years, she remarked. It simply keeps getting deeper and more
complicated. She continued by stating that you can never truly know how
marriage would function until you actually enter into one:
"You don't know if you're going to like the same couch and you don't know
if he is going to want to get patterned towels," the author writes, "but
you're young and you fall in love and go, "Yeah, we're going to get married
and we're going to build a house and will have kids," and all these things
that we kind of dream of."
She went on to say that everything came together for them pretty
easily:
The greater questions are, of course, will you parent in a way that is
balanced and according to philosophy. These things can only be understood
when you are really performing them, thus it is a blessing that our methods
have some sort of harmony that can be explained.
If Roberts' entire adoration for Moder wasn't already plain, she made it
crystal clear when she said:
He was the wisest choice I've ever made,
Roberts has been speaking more candidly in recent years about her marriage.
Although they had previously kept their relationship private, she has
recently posted tributes on their wedding anniversary on her
Instagram.
When she commemorated their 19th wedding anniversary last year, Roberts
didn't hold back. When July 4, 2021, came around, the actress felt compelled
to publish something intimate. She posted an unguarded image of the two of
them on a beach, grinning. Moder, however, looked to have just come out of
the water since he was wrapped in a towel and had damp, disheveled hair. The
image appeared to be a selfie with Roberts' arm around Moder. She added the
following as a nice caption:
"Only just getting started after 19 years!"
Given that their wedding anniversary falls on Independence Day, the red,
white, and blue hearts look to be a tribute to the American flag. Rita
Wilson, the wife of Tom Hanks, wished the pair a "happy joyful anniversary!"
along with other famous friends and admirers. On the 20th, we've got to
party hard! Even so, Roberts responded to her friend's remark by saying,
"We're coming to your place!"
Roberts posted a heartfelt anniversary tribute to Moder in 2020, which
featured a picture of her kissing him on the cheek as he grinned for the
camera. "18 years #heckyes," she wrote as the caption.
Then, in 2019, on the occasion of their 17th wedding anniversary, Julia
posted a photo of herself wearing a T-shirt with a photograph of her husband
when he was a child performing a wheelie on a bicycle. She gave it the
hashtag #TheWheelieKingsWife.
For Mother's Day that year, Moder posted a memorial to his wife in May. He
said in his post, which featured a snapshot of their five members smiling
for a sweet image, "That gorgeous mom in the middle. You have our undying
love.
The couple's children have largely avoided the media, although Hazel, then
17 years old, made her red carpet debut by traveling with her father to the
Cannes Film Festival in France last year. For the film "Flag Day," on which
he served as cinematographer, Moder went there to promote it.
Hazel accompanied her father to the movie premiere even though she wasn't
in the movie, and it was very wonderful. Although she undoubtedly received
traits from her mother, such as her grin and nose, Hazel's innate beauty
still shone through. In addition, her smiling blue eyes are an identical
replica of her father's. At the event, Daniel was a very supportive father,
standing by Hazel's side the entire time and giving her a hug.
Moder is without a doubt the one Roberts has been looking for, and the two
of them have raised their children as a loving family. Roberts and Moder
"really feel like soulmates," an insider said in 2020, adding that the pair
is "determined to remain together for the long run, whatever it
takes."
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