Celebrity News November 04, 2017
Julia Roberts on Hosting 'SNL' Someday: 'We'll See If That Ever Happens!'
"Extra's" Mario Lopez was in London with Julia Roberts and her "Wonder" co-star Jacob Tremblay, getting the scoop on the buzzed-about movie.
Before diving into the topic of the movie, Julia revealed to Mario why she's always said no to hosting "Saturday Night Live," saying, "I grew up watching 'SNL' in the late '70s, early '80s... This was the perk of divorced parents. It was Land Shark and... John Belushi at his best. It always really intimidated me how funny and clever that show was, so when I was asked to do it a long time ago I always said no because I was too afraid, too afraid to blow it."
As for if she would do it now, Julia said, "I haven't gotten a call from Lorne Michaels — we'll see if that ever happens!"
Roberts plays Isabel Pullman in "Wonder," Jacob's character Auggie's mom, who is protective of him after he was born with a facial difference. Explaining how she handles watching over her own children, two of whom are nearly teens, when it comes to social media, Julia said, "We have very specific and strict rules... Talking about wanting to protect your children from things, and the slings and arrows of strangers, is something I still as a grown-up cannot comprehend, and the sport of negativity, I just don't get it. If it's something I don't think I can really explain well to my children, then it's not something we're going to get involved in."
When Mario asked the superstar what advice she would give her teenage self, Julia quipped, "Don't worry so much about your hair."
Sharing what drew her to her role in "Wonder" she said, "I was reading the novel, 'cause I bought it for one of my kids and I'd forgotten why I got it, so I read it myself first... I was so taken by it. I had been away for the weekend and I came home to my kids and said, 'This is our new nighttime reading book,' so we read it all together and we were all so moved by it and inspired by it and curious by it and they said, 'Do you think this is going to be a movie?'”
Julia called her agent to ask about attaching herself to the project. "We just put my name in a hat and it turned out one of the producers, David Hoberman, produced 'Pretty Woman' so we went out to lunch and had a conversation and here we are."
Julia and Jacob gushed over working with each other, with Jacob saying having Julia as his mom was "amazing." Julia said she felt when she saw Jacob as Auggie, "There's my boy."
Tremblay said he went through two hours of makeup to get into character, but also said, "It looked really realistic and it really helped me become Auggie." Whatever it took was worth it — Julia said having him as her son in the movie was a gift.