--- In [email protected], Sal Sunshine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On Mar 10, 2007, at 9:51 AM, TurquoiseB wrote: > > > THAT is the thing that Julia Roberts does in some of > > her roles. Her forte is those moments of *vulerability*, > > in which she reveals those deep, private places that > > very few other actresses are capable of revealing or > > willing to reveal. It's exactly *why* directors cast > > her in roles that have one or more of those moments > > in the script. > > Well if you say so, Barry. Maybe I'm just deluding myself, > but I'd like to think that I can recognize depth when I > see it, and what I mostly see there is fairly obvious > superficiality and virtually no recognizable talent. > But maybe it takes a certain depth to be so shallow-- > anything's possible.
I'm not saying that she's as good an actress as Isabelle Adjani (who is?), only that they share that ability to be completely vulnerable onstage. I find those moments the best part of her work. As for "superficiality," well, I think it's good to remember that she is playing *roles*, the vast majority of which are written by men, and that portray women who...uh...*are* superficial. So if you bought her as superficial, she was doing her job. I have never met her, but I had friends in Santa Fe who knew her well, because Julia has a ranch next to theirs near Taos. They describe her as anything *but* superficial off camera, especially when the subject turns to literature or poetry. They were the ones who turned me onto the soundtrack CD of "The Postman," on which she recites some of the poetry of her favorite poet, Pablo Neruda. Great stuff. She's far from my favorite actress, but I have enjoyed moments in her work. I'd like to see her play someone really BAD, the way Helen Mirren got to as Morgana in "Excalibur." I'd be willing to bet that she's always wanted to play a heavy villain, too, but that as with Robert Redford, no one ever allowed her to.
