Julia Roberts: Leggy Legend

She hasn’t really changed since we swooned over her in Pretty Woman. Her hypnotic energy, natural cheekiness and an empathetic face remains the same. After working in heart-wrenching film Wonder, playing a mother to a child with Treacher Collins syndrome, Julia is currently filming for Ben Is Back, a film written and directed by Peter Hedges. We caught up with the actor at the Calzedonia Fashion Show in Verona, Italy, where she talks about her upcoming film and her legs that are ambassadors to one of the most renowned Italian hosiery companies, Calzedonia.

Acceptance of differences is what your last film Wonder is about. Young people, these days, seem to have less and less patience to know themselves and others. What’s your take?

L’Officiel India DigitalRead L’Officiel India in the digital libraryEvery issue and every cover story, on TCG Media.Read now

I think everything is happening too quickly around us. Children are being bled out, in a manner of speaking, by their gadgets. It is a lovely idea to say that take your time. But, we need to have a discussion and then decide.

What do you think about the impact social networking has on human interaction?

My opinion isn’t exactly severe. I love the idea of being able to keep in touch with people we rarely see or who are far away. But, the virtual world also creates a separation, a barrier between human beings. Nothing can ever replace the pleasure of sharing the same physical space with someone.

Since you are also the face of Calzedonia, let me ask you, what is a legendary scene involving good cinematic moment and great legs?

It has to be the scene between Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate by Mike Nichols, when Dustin says, “Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me. Aren’t you?”

What has changed since that film released in 1967, in the manner in which legs or as Truffaut would call them des compas is filmed?

A lot has changed, and not just in cinema but in real life as well. Today, people are a lot more comfortable with their bodies. They reveal that on the streets and it is a good thing. But, at the same time, I find that with cinema — and I don’t mean to sound like a grandmother — the banal manner in which nudity is readily depicted. It reduces the impact of the subtle art of being suggestive. Today, directors have more trouble to incite the viewer unlike the ’60s and ’70s when just a simple brushing together of the legs would suffice wonderfully.

Being the ambassador for a line of stockings makes absolute sense since you have perfect legs. Was this just a way for you to play with your image?

In part, yes. This entire story of the legs and the smile, all of that was nothing but a roll of the dice. My sisters and I were physically very different, and it was a matter of chance that I inherited these legs (laughs).

From the February 2018 issue of L’Officiel India.