Julia Stiles Shares Julia Roberts' Advice On Set
Warning: Discussion of eating disorders.
You know Julia Stiles.
The 10 Things I Hate About You actor recently revealed that she once struggled with body image and how a co-star (with the same name) helped boost her confidence — Julia Roberts.
On a May 20 episode of How to Fail with Elizabeth Day, Julia explained how the other Julia was a mother figure and inspiration on the set of their 2003 film Mona Lisa Smile.
The actors starred in the Mike Newell drama alongside Kirsten Dunst, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Ginnifer Goodwin.
Julia Robert played Katherine Ann Watson, an art history teacher at Wellesley College in the 1950s who helped intellectually liberate her young students' minds. Think Dead Poets Society meets Steel Magnolias.
"She was an amazing example for us, and she was so maternal with all the young women on that set," Julia said. "She was coming from a lot of experience of being not just a woman, but also a woman where your appearance is focused on so heavily."
"Julia said to us, 'You're going to look back on these photos of you in your 20s and be like, I was beautiful — why didn't I see that?' And she's totally right."
This echoes what Julia said about the Pretty Woman star earlier this year. On a Jan. 13 episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, she said, "She took care of all the girls on that set in a way she didn't really [have to]."
"The movie hinged on her — she's a huge star; everything was riding on her performance in this movie," she added. "And yet she took the time to be really kind and generous to all the young women that were in it."
In the How to Fail with Elizabeth Day podcast, Julia further explained how she struggled with "restrictive" eating in her 20s and early 30s as a Hollywood actor.
"I'm not talking about an eating disorder — it was just restrictive, regimented, stressful. I always worried that it was going to be out of my control. Like, what if I gain weight?" she said. "I couldn't help but have a disordered relationship with it all."
"There was stress around what your body looks like and trying to mold your body into a certain size," Julia continued. "As an actress, we go and promote on a red carpet, and we have to wear sample sizes from fashion designers. So it's always, 'Are we going to fit into the sample size?'"
Now, as a mother of three children — Strummer, Arlo, and Henry — whom she shares with filmmaker Preston Cook, Julia acknowledged that negative perception was "a waste of fucking time" and everything that mattered "fell into place."
"I've moved on," Julia said. "I've learned to be kinder in the way I think about my body and look at my body — to be kinder to myself but also trust your body ... I would be running on fumes, like, no sleep having just had a five-month-old baby. I didn't have time to think about, am I going to get back in shape to fit into those sample sizes?"
Watch the podcast episode here:
The National Eating Disorders Association helpline is 1-800-931-2237; for 24/7 crisis support, text 'NEDA' to 741741.
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