Julia Roberts Was a Brat

Julia Roberts is on the cover of Harper's Bazaar UK ahead of her 50th birthday at the end of the month. Here's what she had to say in her accompanying interview:

On what she was like when she was younger:
"I was my priority, a selfish little brat running around making films."

She claims she changed after she met her husband (cinematographer Danny Moder) and becoming a mother to her two children:
"It was meeting Danny…finding my person. When I think about what makes my life my life, and makes sense and just shine inside of me, it's him. Everything has come from that for me."

On working on several films with her husband:
"There's comfort there, but also terror, which is a good combination. Terror because the person I want to impress most is looking right at me."

Insisting that most days she is a regular 'soccer mom' and housewife:
"If I wasn't here today, I'd be in the carpool lane ferrying my kids to school."

On turning 50 and preferring to look ahead rather than back:
"Too much thinking and pondering, it's exhausting me. Because we're still moving forward, aren't we?"

On always being selective when choosing her roles:
"Remember why you're doing what you're doing. That's your anchor. Cultivate your taste and decision making. I didn't work for a couple of years in my twenties, because I was being offered scripts and thinking 'Is it me or is this all just crap?' I figured I could cover my rent and wait for something good. I'd been spoilt with some great jobs already, so I was like, 'Why do that part with that person, when I was just doing that part with these people!"

On the gender pay gap in Hollywood:
"I put down my stone in a path that will keep going, and I'm proud of that, but I don't feel it's my place to bang the drum at this time. I just don't get all crazy over things. I have a maternal approach: 'OK, everybody settle down, we'll figure this out.'"

On feeling content about what she has already achieved in her career:

"Deep down, we all know you can't stand on the top point of a pinnacle on your tiptoes, and not at some point lose your balance, or get tired, or say, 'OK somebody else take over, I have to go to the bathroom.' There are great things I've accomplished and I'd be happy to accomplish more, of course, to impress my children and my husband. But you know what? I've been spoilt already."

EXCLUSIVE: Julia Roberts is our November issue cover star, photographed by @alexilubomirski and styled by @mirandaalmond. Hair by @sergenormant, make-up by @genevieveherr using @lancomeofficial, manicure by @lisajachno. Julia wears @victoriabeckham coat, @kalitaofficial dress, and rings from @chopard and @tiffanyandco on the subscribers' cover. #Bazaar150 #JuliaRoberts #NovemberIssue

A post shared by Harper's Bazaar UK (@bazaaruk) on Oct 2, 2017 at 1:12am PDT