Candid confessions. Julia Roberts has gushed about the way becoming a mother has changed her outlook on life.
After meeting Danny Moder on the set of The Mexican in 2000, the pair started dating and tied the knot two years later. In 2004, Roberts gave birth to twins, daughter Hazel and son Phinnaeus. The couple expanded their family again with their son Henry three years later.
The Mystic Pizza star later reflected on how motherhood inspired a step back from acting. “It wasn’t by design,” she told The New York Times in 2017. “So much as not finding something that I was interested in. I was surprised how quickly the years seemed to go by.”
The Georgia native added: “It’s also the math equation of my husband’s work schedule and the kids’ school schedule and summer vacation. It’s not just, Oh, I think I want to do this. I have a sense of great pride in being home with my family and considering myself a homemaker.”
A source later told Us Weekly that Roberts’ kids were her top priority, saying, “Julia just loves watching [Danny] with the kids. It fills her heart and makes her love him even more.”
As her children got older, the Ticket to Paradise star recalled the moment she realized she wanted to be a mother. “I met [Danny] when I was ready,” she shared during an interview with Today in October 2022. “And then we call these children into our lives when we’re ready to best partner with them.”
For the Academy Award winner, growing her family came with its own set of challenges. “Sometimes I get gripped with fear of blowing it,” Roberts admitted at the time. “And sometimes I’ve just said to my kids, ‘So today, me as a mom? Can we just take that off the board because I blew it.’
That same month, the Eat Pray Love star praised her strong connection with her husband for enriching her life. “[Writing handwritten notes is] something Danny and I have always done,” Roberts said on CBS Sunday Morning. “The first letter he ever wrote me, which was seven pages long, I still have it tucked away. One day I’ll show it to [my daughter] Hazel and say, ‘That’s what you’re looking for.’”
The Pretty Woman star noted that her youngest had become her “breakfast buddy” while her daughter was a “one-of-a-kind” girl. “I always think that they all look like me, and then Danny comes home from work, and I go, ‘Oh, you, that’s who they look like,’” Roberts quipped.
Scroll down for Roberts’ most candid quotes about being a mother:
