There's Something About Julia
As a young girl, I’d always been enamored by the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. I can remember my six-year-old self sitting on the floor of my living room with my mother and teenage cousin watching celebs walk the red carpet on Access Hollywood, waiting for when it would be my turn to don a sparkly dress and take my place in front of the flashing lights. I wanted, then, so badly to be a movie star. The age of the movie star has long since ended, but in the 2000s there was Halle, Denzel, Leo, and Clooney; but none of those people captured my attention like a big-mouthed, wide smiling, loud laughing, voluminous redhead by the name of Julia Roberts.
I remember falling in love with her, as everyone who’s seen the film has, by the end credits of My Best Friend’s Wedding. Of course her other stand-out roles, Pretty Woman, Notting Hill, Runaway Bride, Mystic Pizza, and America’s Sweethearts helped solidify her place as the “unofficial” official queen of romantic comedies (sorry Meg Ryan). Her more dramatic roles Erin Brockovich, Sleeping with the Enemy, The Pelican Brief, Homecoming, etc. showed she had range as an actress. It wasn’t just smiles and big hair- she could also give you tears and despair.
It was everything about Julia’s presence on-screen; her smile, huge red hair, trademark laugh, even the mole under her eye that made me pay attention. She meant everything to me. I used to sit in front of my tv waiting for her movies to come on and all these years later, I still will.
So, because I love her so much, in honor of my favorite Georgia Peach’s birthday, I put together this video with a little help from some other Julia Roberts fans. We talked about our favorite films of hers, why we think people are so drawn to her, what we like about her, and overall her star quality, as well as the mark she’s made on Hollywood during her decades-long career.
After all, I’m just a girl standing in front of her computer, asking you to wish Julia Roberts, “Happy Birthday.”
Special thank you to LJ, Jesse, and Laurence for participating in this video.