Julia's new lease of life

At 36, Julia Roberts is a curious mixture. There's the open, emotional, lovestruck Julia Roberts, who couldn't keep her hands off her cameraman husband Danny Moder on the set of the upcoming

And then there's the Julia Roberts I'm meeting today at the Regency Beverly Wilshire Hotel - coincidentally, the same hotel where she enjoyed her liaison with Richard Gere in her 1990 breakthrough film Pretty Woman. This Julia Roberts remains transluscently beautiful, but wears head-to-toe black with her newly blonde hair scraped back. This Julia Roberts is brisk and business-like.

Ask her if she's happy and the question is parried with a skill that most politicians would envy. 'If I say yes, it means that I was unable to find happiness before. But, overall, yes, I am very happy. I've been through some pretty lean times, despite what might appear to the contrary. It has not always been easy to wave and smile at the cameras. I had some time off a few years ago and I think I've come back stronger. I've had to grow up under the kind of scrutiny which would drive many people insane. I now refuse to let it worry me.'

Friends give Moder credit for Roberts's newly relaxed state. Since her second marriage - her first, to Country & Western singer Lyle Lovett barely lasted two years - displays of girlish abandon and public affection have become almost commonplace. 'The caravan they shared moved - and so did their house,' Roberts's Mona Lisa co-star Dominic West cheekily reports, 'which was good for our scenes. The scenes were supposed to be after sex - post-coital - which was easy for her. She spent most of the film post-coital. That smile was genuine.'

Roberts rolls her eyes when West is quoted back at her. 'Well, film sets are quite simple. You get up before dawn and people see you at your worst and most vulnerable throughout the long day. There's no point in putting on a front or acting differently from how you are. Otherwise, you'd have to keep up the act for 15 hours every day.'

And Roberts refuses to keep up any kind of act with Moder. Not after the flak she took when he divorced his first wife, make-up artist Vera Steimberg, to be with her in the wake of her own surprise dumping by boyfriend Benjamin Bratt. In the past, Roberts's relationships ended by mutual consent - Liam Neeson and Dylan McDermott come to mind - or Roberts herself doing the walking.

She famously pulled a Runaway Bride and left Kiefer Sutherland days before their wedding when she discovered he'd been unfaitfhful with a stripper. 'Danny shines the light for me,' she says with touching sincerity. 'He does not hide, and he tells me both the good and bad things about myself.

'He's a great listener and a great talker. It was a great luxury to be together day after day, both at work and at home. I've never had that before. I can't say whether it helped the work or not, but it certainly helped make Mona Lisa Smile a happy experience.'

In the film, set in 1953, Roberts plays lecturer Katherine Watson, who is new to prestigious all-girl Wellesley college. Liberated before the word became a catchphrase, she expects her students to take advantage of the new mood towards working women, but is dismayed to discover that lessons - which include elocution, home-making and poise - are aimed at securing the girls engagement to the right sort of rich men.

Roberts fights to open the eyes and minds of a group of students, played by rising stars Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

'I loved it, because it's all about young women thinking for themselves,' says Roberts. 'I've had to do plenty of that in my own career, and to take advantage of the opportunities. There's nothing wrong with ambition. It was a dirty word among certain women back then.'

The movie gives notice, however, that Roberts's own ambition may be sated. Though she's the name above the title, she generously stands back and lets the younger actresses strut their stuff, particularly Gyllenhaal as a vixen who likes booze and boys.

It's Roberts's first real ensemble piece since 1989's Steel Magnolias, back when Roberts was the hot new talent and older co-stars Sally Field and Shirley MacLaine showed her the Hollywood ropes. The subtext of both Magnolias and Mona Lisa Smile is sisterhood and striking the balance between professional satisfaction, family and personal happiness.

Roberts is aware of the irony. Here she is, the world's No.1 female star, with films that have grossed more than $2.5 billion, an Oscar for Erin Brockovich, and a fee of $20 million per picture, yet she's still driven by a desire for security and a family of her own.

'Happiness takes different forms as you get older and smarter, make more friends and get deeper into relationships,' she says. 'I'm in a fortunate place where I have had time to dedicate myself to a job, like this particular movie, and time to dedicate to my friends, because I only do a film once or twice a year.

'As for children, I probably will have some. I can't make grand statements when I am not a mother yet. I don't know how that feels or what the experience is like, other than through my friends. I don't know how many children, either. I would like several - but it is easy to say that right now. I may have one and say, "That's enough". As for the future, maybe I will stay home with my children for ever. I just don't know. Let's see what happens and how I feel.'

In the meantime, there's Moder and he's The One. Roberts has even named her film company, Red Om - Moder, backwards. She knows where her heart lies and isn't about to apologise. 'Women have made huge steps forward in their lives and careers during the last generation But we still need love. At least, I do.'
Mona Lisa Smile opens Thur 11 Mar.