Oscar winner Julia Roberts describes working on writer/ director Tony Gilroy’s romantic caper Duplicity, which reunites her with her friend and former co-star Clive Owen, as a ‘dream scenario.”
You worked with Clive on Closer. Did you both decide then that you wanted to work together again?
They paid me loads (laughs) No, I’m kidding, if we can do a movie like Closer and do those scenes together and still be friends I think we deserve to be able to revisit that professional relationship with a bit more fun dialogue.
You’re a working mother. Do you plan work around your family?
I still get to pack mine up with me. Duplicity was an ideal situation because we filmed most of it in New York so my older kids were in school and my baby was with me - it was really a dream scenario.
It’s the 20th anniversary of Pretty Woman..
Really? I’m well preserved (laughs)
What would the Julia of 1990 make of the career she has subsequently had?
I wouldn’t have believed it. I still barely do, truthfully. I’m so continually fortunate that I keep coming across these smart, interesting, creative people who pick me - it’s just stupendous.
Is there any advice you would give your younger self?
No, I think I made really solid decisions; I would stand by them all over again.
Tony Gilroy said that he was a little nervous about working with you…
He seemed very intimidated and he still does! (laughs). No, I don’t think he was ever nervous, I think somebody has re-interpreted his words. If I know Tony as well as I think I do, he wasn’t nervous.
Is it preferable to act with someone you know and trust like Clive Owen?
I prefer to act with friends, I mean you start of as strangers always with someone, but to really find a relationship that you enjoy personally and creatively, it’s fantastic.
You haven’t made too many films in recent years. Do you feel like you have been away?
I don’t but I guess a lot of you do. I think it’s sweet, I think you missed me.
The film features some incredible locations and the sequences in Rome are especially striking. What was it like filming there?
It was amazing filming in Rome. That was the end of the road for us on our shooting schedule and it was so beautiful and cinematic, you really kind of feel you are in the middle of a dream. The people were really accommodating and nice and we didn’t really draw huge crowds. The people in Italy seemed to have places to go – and we started at 4 o’clock in the morning so we were wrapping early.
You’re one of the biggest film stars in the world and that brings a lot of attention. Has your level of trust shifted?
No it hasn’t. I’m a really trusting person and I always have been. I think I’ve cultivated a very keen skill of recognising someone I shouldn’t trust, pretty readily. A person has about 15 to 27 seconds before I’m pretty sure whether or not I can trust them.
You’re back in London for the premier of Duplicity. Does that make you think of when you made Notting Hill?
I loved (writer) Richard Curtis, I loved making Notting Hill, it was such a sweet movie and when I come to London I guess I think of all the fun things that we did, and Roger Michell (director, Notting Hill). That whole time was lovely so I have great feelings when I come here - and I love the rain (laughs).
You’ve talked before about how George Clooney likes to play practical jokes when you worked with him. Were there any pranks on the set of Duplicity?
We laughed a lot. When we were shooting we were always being so silly, almost to the point of Tony (Gilroy) being annoyed with us because we wouldn’t get serious and be our serious selves in the movie. Clive and I have a very similar sense of humour but we’re not really pranksters together - we’re more mature than that! (laughs).
Duplicity switches back and forwards between different time frames. Was it hard to keep track of where you were when you were filming?
That’s a good question. Tony made us a special script (chronological script) and that really helped.
Do you have a favourite scene from Duplicity?
The Rome hotel! Oh the Rome hotel! Give me a scene with no wardrobe and watch me cook (laughs). I’m going to get called for all the sexy parts now. I’ll say the Rome hotel (scene) and stick with that. It’s a great scene and we covered a lot of ground with the characters. You know, these scenes are really impressively written, truly, they were all such fun to perform and navigate and try to find our way through the truth and non-truth.
Your characters are professional liars, but do you think they tell the truth to each other at the end?
I want them to! (laughs).
The dialogue is so sharp. Is that easy or difficult to do?
I love good banter. It’s my favourite kind of way of giving information, with that sort of rhythm. And Tony is a master at it.
Is it hard to separate work from your family life?
No, they’re just not separated like that, they’re both truly ingrained in my spirit and who I am so it’s all one thing to me – life.
What’s next for you?
I have a movie coming out called Fireflies in the Garden with Emily Watts and Willem Dafoe.
If you were being thrown a tribute evening, if you had a choice of five clips to put up on the screen what would they be?
God, we would be here all night if I had to catalogue that (laughs). I don’t think I would be a good judge – I would rather Garry (Marshall, director Pretty Woman) and Mike Nicols (director Closer) and Tony (Gilroy) or Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s Eleven) did that, I think that would be a more comprehensive and enjoyable assessment of what I’ve been up to.
You’ve worked with both English and American actors. Is there a different approach?
I quite like them both, it depends on the person, I don’t think English makes the man nor does American but I like Clive. He’s nice and tall which means I never have a double chin, lots of shots of me looking up – in every scene I’m a swan. Well, we all laugh but it’s so true.
Is it easier working with a director who is also the writer as Tony is on Duplicity?
Tony’s a dream. And it’s true, because he has all the answers. And he really does have all the answers, as the writer and director, and if there is a problem he can fix it and it’s just one stop shopping.
When it comes to bedroom scenes, does it help that you have worked together before?
I don’t do them as much as Clive - let’s just say that (laughs). It helps but for me it really has more to do with the fact that we laugh at the same things. We didn’t have all of our clothes off either! Come on, it’s a movie.
You get to wear some fantastic clothes in Duplicity. Did you raid the wardrobe?
(laughs) These shoes in fact. You never know how stylish a movie is going to be and I think this movie has a great sense of style, the way that it is shot and our costumes and everything, It was just terrific.
Check out what Clive Owen had to say about the film and his co-star here
FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison
Oscar winner Julia Roberts describes working on writer/ director Tony Gilroy’s romantic caper Duplicity, which reunites her with her friend and former co-star Clive Owen, as a ‘dream scenario.”
You worked with Clive on Closer. Did you both decide then that you wanted to work together again?
They paid me loads (laughs) No, I’m kidding, if we can do a movie like Closer and do those scenes together and still be friends I think we deserve to be able to revisit that professional relationship with a bit more fun dialogue.
You’re a working mother. Do you plan work around your family?
I still get to pack mine up with me. Duplicity was an ideal situation because we filmed most of it in New York so my older kids were in school and my baby was with me - it was really a dream scenario.
It’s the 20th anniversary of Pretty Woman..
Really? I’m well preserved (laughs)
What would the Julia of 1990 make of the career she has subsequently had?
I wouldn’t have believed it. I still barely do, truthfully. I’m so continually fortunate that I keep coming across these smart, interesting, creative people who pick me - it’s just stupendous.
Is there any advice you would give your younger self?
No, I think I made really solid decisions; I would stand by them all over again.
Tony Gilroy said that he was a little nervous about working with you…
He seemed very intimidated and he still does! (laughs). No, I don’t think he was ever nervous, I think somebody has re-interpreted his words. If I know Tony as well as I think I do, he wasn’t nervous.
Is it preferable to act with someone you know and trust like Clive Owen?
I prefer to act with friends, I mean you start of as strangers always with someone, but to really find a relationship that you enjoy personally and creatively, it’s fantastic.
You haven’t made too many films in recent years. Do you feel like you have been away?
I don’t but I guess a lot of you do. I think it’s sweet, I think you missed me.
The film features some incredible locations and the sequences in Rome are especially striking. What was it like filming there?
It was amazing filming in Rome. That was the end of the road for us on our shooting schedule and it was so beautiful and cinematic, you really kind of feel you are in the middle of a dream. The people were really accommodating and nice and we didn’t really draw huge crowds. The people in Italy seemed to have places to go – and we started at 4 o’clock in the morning so we were wrapping early.
You’re one of the biggest film stars in the world and that brings a lot of attention. Has your level of trust shifted?
No it hasn’t. I’m a really trusting person and I always have been. I think I’ve cultivated a very keen skill of recognising someone I shouldn’t trust, pretty readily. A person has about 15 to 27 seconds before I’m pretty sure whether or not I can trust them.
You’re back in London for the premier of Duplicity. Does that make you think of when you made Notting Hill?
I loved (writer) Richard Curtis, I loved making Notting Hill, it was such a sweet movie and when I come to London I guess I think of all the fun things that we did, and Roger Michell (director, Notting Hill). That whole time was lovely so I have great feelings when I come here - and I love the rain (laughs).
You’ve talked before about how George Clooney likes to play practical jokes when you worked with him. Were there any pranks on the set of Duplicity?
We laughed a lot. When we were shooting we were always being so silly, almost to the point of Tony (Gilroy) being annoyed with us because we wouldn’t get serious and be our serious selves in the movie. Clive and I have a very similar sense of humour but we’re not really pranksters together - we’re more mature than that! (laughs).
Duplicity switches back and forwards between different time frames. Was it hard to keep track of where you were when you were filming?
That’s a good question. Tony made us a special script (chronological script) and that really helped.
Do you have a favourite scene from Duplicity?
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