This Week's EW Has The Delicious Dish On Julia Roberts' New Film, 'Eat, Pray, Love'

July 29th, 2010 5:22pm EDT

EW Julia Roberts An adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir "Eat, Pray, Love" is about to hit theaters, thanks to another intrepid woman: Julia Roberts. In a funny, frank interview, the actress speaks with this week's Entertainment Weekly about her family, her career, and learning how to give peace a chance.

Though she's worked steadily since marrying cinematographer Danny Moder in 2002, Roberts has become known for turning down as many blockbusters as she's starred in, a development that stems from her desire to spend as much time with her family as possible. But the appeal of "Eat, Pray, Love" was too strong for her to pass up.

Portion of the Q&A, running in this week's issue of Entertainment Weekly:

EW: Did you have a spit bucket by your side for all of the food scenes?

Roberts: Well, first of all, that grosses me out. But the truth of the matter is, there probably would have come a point when I would have used it. If you look at any of the scenes of eating, by the end of the scene, I'm done eating. Like in the scene with the pizza, by the time the scene is over, I've eaten the entire piece. When we were in Naples, we started shooting at 8 in the morning, and I think by 8:45 I'd eaten 8 or 10 pieces of pizza. Pizza was what I ate all day.

EW: Did you want it to look like you had gained weight after the Italy portion of the film?

Roberts: You know, we talked about that. Because I didn't want people to say, "Well, she's supposed to go to Italy and eat all this food, but she looks the same in the whole thing." So I talked to [director] Ryan [Murphy] about it. And one of the things I love the most about Ryan is that he has a real legitimate answer for everything. There's nothing that he hasn't considered weeks before I've thought of the question. When it came to that, I said, "What do we do?" And he said, "By the time Liz got to Italy, she was so under-weight that the weight she put on really got her back to normal and then a little bit more." It wasn't like she [became] a tub. So because I started at normal weight for me, by the time we left Rome and I was 7 to 10 pounds heavier, that was probably the truth of what she was dealing with. I could've used a bigger pair of jeans when I went off to India!

EW: Have you ever been in such a dark and sad place as Liz finds herself in the movie?

Roberts: As a younger person, [with] problems that are more unformed and immature, I'm sure. There's a moment where you're hitting the compass and it's just not giving you the way to go.

EW: When was that for you exactly?

Roberts: Well, my whole 20s was like that: trying out this idea of things, working a lot, and moving away from home at 17 and being away from my mom. So there are times when you're figuring out those puzzles where you really do feel lost. "Do I really want to be an actor? Is it really going to work out?" You want to talk about a series of breakdowns? Talk to any actors in their 20s. You just never know if it's going to click.

EW: You're in literally every scene of the film. Was that a lot of pressure for you?

Roberts: This is the first time where I've traveled so much, worked every day, and had my family with me. This was, like, the big full-meal deal. The last time that I worked every scene of every day on a schedule was "Erin Brockovich". It definitely has its own challenges, definitely has its own set of magical comforts that you find at the end of the day. I mean, the day never ends [when you've got kids]. As opposed to coming home from work and thinking, "Hmm, should I make a drink and take a shower and put my feet up?" it's, you know, "Mommy!" But there's a beauty to that that I was very attached to. And I certainly had a village of support to make it all happen. That's the thing too - so much of this movie is about finding a place of gratitude to really dwell in, to build a residence in. And the experience of making this movie allowed me to open my eyes and see all the people and elements of my life coming together that make me so - I could start crying right now - but really, humbly grateful. So I couldn't trade that for anything.

EW: What was your family's favorite location?

Roberts: Well, my kids could really make a party in a cardboard box. It's not hard to please people under four feet tall. They have a great spirit of adventure. EPL was for us the WPT: We called it the World Pool Tour. Everywhere we went, it was so hot, we were just looking for a swimming pool. The fact that they never got sunburned and no one's hair ever turned green was pretty much my maternal triumph of the summer.

EW: It's hard to believe, but this year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Pretty Woman. What advice would you give to your younger self if you could?

Roberts: Nothing. The funny thing is, I'm still so much that same person, really. I think that you're born that person - becoming famous doesn't make you crazy. I just don't believe any of that crap. Twenty years is, first of all, a drop of water. It's all still kind of hilarious and unbelievable to me. And I have so many places to put the big weight of identity of my life that movies just will never have that. They just fulfill me in a different place.

EW: Do you obsess over your appearance? Do you like the way you look today?

Roberts: I'm human. Sometimes I, like anybody, wake up in the morning and go, "F---. Really? This is the starting point?" Haven't you ever picked up a picture of yourself from, like, five years ago, and you look at yourself and you just go, "And I had no appreciation for how lovely I looked, how fit and healthy I looked." So now I say, "Now listen. Ten years from now, you're really going to think you should have appreciated yourself more." And I'm raising a daughter, and I really want to empower her by example.

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