'Gaslit' Star Julia Roberts on Her Kids Going to College and Her Family’s Major Move

Julia Roberts is headed back to TV, playing Watergate whistleblower Martha Mitchell on her new Starz show “Gaslit” with Sean Penn.

“Extra’s” Adam Glassman spoke with Roberts about the role, moving out of Hollywood, and her kids!

Julia’s twins Hazel and Phinnaeus are about to go to college, so how does she feel? She answered, “I mean, it makes me a little lightheaded. You say that, I mean, I'm completely excited for them. It's really thrilling and I wasn't lucky enough to have a college experience. And so to see how it's happening for them is really fascinating. And yeah, I'm just, I'm excited for them.”

Roberts also gave an update on her family life after they moved to northern California. She commented, “We always felt that we were kind of living outside of LA… I think the move has been great. I think moving with three teenagers during a pandemic is not for the faint of heart, but we have pulled it off and everyone seems good and happy.”

On “Gaslit,” Julia portrays the first person to alert the public about Watergate, but who was made to look delusional.

Julia wore prosthetics to transform her into Martha Mitchell, even wearing a piece to change the shape of her mouth. Recalling a mishap during a kissing scene, Julia shared, “Sean and I had a scene where we're supposed to be kissing and then he kind of knocked me off the couch and he jumped on top of me and you can't even see, just see the couch in the frame and, and I was laughing so hard that this thing popped out of my mouth… It's in my mouth while Sean's trying to kiss me and I thought, ‘We might kill each other making this show.’”

Penn plays her husband Attorney General John Mitchell in “Gaslit.”

Julia and Sean have been good friends for years, but it’s the first time they’ve worked on a set together. As for why it took them so long, she explained, “It’s just the stars have never aligned in that way… They came together for this, for something that we can be so entrenched in these characters in this great time period.”

“We’ve kind of get to be all squiggly-wiggly, lovey-dovey,” Julia added, “then beat each other up.”

She noted that they “covered” all bases in the series.

Roberts said she has kept herself “so busy” during the COVID-19 pandemic, filming “Ticket to Paradise” with George Clooney, “Gaslit,” and now she’s working with Mahershala Ali and Ethan Hawke on “Leave the World Behind.”

While promoting “Gaslit,” Roberts has also filmed scenes with Mahershala. She said, “We just had my first day shooting with him yesterday. It’s going really well… It’s been really exciting to get it going.”

Roberts is working with Sam Esmail on "Gaslit" and "Leave the World Behind." They previously worked together on "Homecoming."