BEHIND THE SMILE

She is Hollywood's brightest light, both onscreen and off - and for Julia Roberts, the secret to it all is love

- ALISON EASTWOOD

Some stars reinvent themselves in midlife.

But Julia Roberts is in her renewal era. Wearing a favourite fuchsia Greta Constantine gown (which, like its wearer, was dazzling upon its reemergence), the Oscar winner arrived at a Los Angeles screening of her new movie, After the Hunt, looking every bit as radiant as the reviews she's been receiving.

As she turns 58, Julia's inner light is shining more brightly than ever. And that luminosity doesn't come from her glam squad or the work she's so proud of – it stems from the quiet joy of building life on her own terms with the man she loves, husband Danny Moder, and their three children: 20-year-old twins Phinnaeus and Hazel and their brother, Henry, 18.

REAL-LIFE LOVE STORY

Julia first met Danny, a cinematographer, while filming The Mexican in 2000 – she recently joked on the podcast SmartLess that he was so friendly with her costar Brad Pitt, she had to fight to get a word in. Eventually, “we had a conversation, and he has not gotten me to shut up in 25 years!” Their friendship grew into something deeper, and two years later – on July 4, 2002 – they exchanged vows in an intimate ceremony at the New Mexico ranch that they still call home.

“He's my best friend, but also the only person I want to make out with,” Julia said of the secret to her happy marriage. “I just think, 'Gosh, my life could have gone off the rails a hundred different ways in the last 25 years, were it not for finding my person. I don't know how, I don't know what small nation of people I saved in a former life [to deserve him].”

But it hasn't all been smooth sailing. When Julia met her future husband, she was still in a long-term relationship – with