Julia's Juggling Advice

Why The Star’s Best Choices Involve Putting Family First.

- Jenny Cooney Carrillo

When Julia Roberts is asked to list three turning points in her life, she doesn’t include her 1990 role in Pretty Woman, which catapulted her to overnight stardom. She also ignores her Oscar-winning role in the 2000 drama Erin Brockovich or other films including Notting Hill, My Best Friend’s Wedding and Eat Pray Love.

“You might be disappointed with my list as it’s not very sexy,” she teases, “but my greatest hits list is being born, getting married and having kids.”

The 51-year-old has carefully arranged her career for the past two decades to fall in line behind personal priorities, including her husband of 16 years, film director of photography Danny Moder (49), and children – twins Hazel and Phinnaeus (13), and Henry (11).

“Isn’t it incredible?” she jokes when asked how she makes it look so easy to juggle. “I never fail – I’m perfect and I’m the only one, I hear!”

Getting more serious, she admits, “You are the juggler as soon as you consider that you are responsible for any other person in the world. Figuring it out, I’ve learned the best way to make that work for everybody is to remember to make it work for myself first. Out of that comes my love of everything else for everyone else.”