„It Was a Hard Lesson to Learn”. Renowned Director Assured That He Will Never Work with Julia Roberts Again
Julia Roberts in the “unfortunate time” had the opportunity to work with an renowned director who appreciated her acting, however, assured that he has no plans to work with her again.
Success has been both a salvation and a curse for Julia Roberts, because while it has helped her spread her wings, it has also drawn attention to her, which has become troublesome for the actress. Anyway, not only for her, but also for those who worked with her. Since the actress gained popularity after Pretty Woman, her private life began to be scrutinized, and there was a lot happening due to the breakup of her relationship with Kiefer Sutherland.
At the time, the actress was involved in work on Steven Spielberg's film Hook, where she played Tinkerbell. Roberts was reportedly under a lot of pressure due to troubles in her private life and media attention, which affected her work, as well as the atmosphere there. In addition, there were rumors that working with the Pretty Woman star was hard, as a result of which she earned the nickname Tinkerhell.
The production of Hook itself was quite a challenge, including to Spielberg. Everything came together in a truly troublesome mix, as noted by the director himself, who said that his collaboration with Roberts came at an unfortunate time.
It was an unfortunate time for us to work together, but I think that Julia’s a really, really good actress.
However, when he was later asked during a 1992 60 Minutes interview whether he would be interested in working with Roberts again, Spielberg replied “no”.
His words affected the actress, who commented on them and other issues related to her work on Hook, including the nickname someone on set invented for her, during an interview with Vanity Fair in 1999. Roberts was hurt that no one stood up for her.
Hand to God: not a thing I read about that was truthful, and it really hurt my feelings. Because not only did it make me sound mean, but it was a situation where people who knew the truth talked about it in a way that wasn’t untruthful […] I saw that and my eyes popped out of my head.
I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that this person that I knew and trusted was actually hesitating to come to my defense […] It was a hard lesson to learn. It was the first time that I felt I had a turncoat in my midst.
Spielberg and Roberts have indeed not worked together again since Hook. It is not known what their relationship is years later and whether they have clarified the matter, however, for now all indications are that the director is sticking to his resolve. Roberts, on the other hand, had problems on set not only with Spielberg, but also with the producer of another production, from which she eventually left.
