No nudes is good news, says Julia Roberts, who explained in an interview for her British Vogue cover debut why she avoids baring all on-camera.
The 56-year-old Roberts said to screenwriter Richard Curtis that she wants to champion other women who feel pressured to strip on camera.
“You know, not to be criticizing others’ choices, but for me to not take off my clothes in a movie or be vulnerable in physical ways is a choice that I guess I make for myself.”
It may be genetic. Roberts said she did her family tree with Finding Your Roots star Dr. Henry Gates and discovered, “I am DNA cousins with Gloria Steinem.”
She also revealed that she didn’t want to strip off for the sake of her children.
“You know, it’s not really what I do. So if you are going ask me to do it, you have to expect it to be toned down. You know, as a mum of three, I feel like that.”
Roberts also revealed that she almost turned down one of the biggest films of her career, the 1999 romcom, Notting Hill.
“Honestly, one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do was your movie [Curtis wrote Notting Hill], playing a movie actress. I was so uncomfortable! I mean, we’ve talked about this so many times, but I almost didn’t take the part because it just seemed – oh, it just seemed so awkward. I didn’t even know how to play that person.”
Roberts said she “loathed” dressing up as a Hollywood star and ended up wearing her own clothes for the iconic “I’m just a girl” scene with Hugh Grant.
“My driver, lovely Tommy, I sent him back to my flat that morning. I said, “Go into my bedroom and grab this, this and this out of my closet. And it was my own flip-flops and my cute little blue velvet skirt and a T-shirt and my cardigan.”