Julia Roberts, Named 'World's Most Beautiful' for 5 Years, Rose Over Her Difficult Childhood and Painful Past to Find Happiness

From surviving an abusive home to shooting to the top of the A-list celebrity status, Julia Roberts went through a lot to finally find happiness.

Source: Getty Images

By Esha Iyer

December 19, 2019

Posted December 19, 2019

When Julia Roberts starred in Pretty Woman, she might not have realized that the name wasn't just for the role she essayed in the movie but for her real-life persona as well. After all, she has been crowned People's Most Beautiful Woman five times! However, behind that beautiful face lies a heart that has been bruised and battered beyond belief, but one that has come out stronger and allowed her to rise above it all.

In 1991, at age 23, the year after she skyrocketed to success with Pretty Woman, she was chosen as People's Most Beautiful Woman for the first time. In 2017, when she received the title for the fifth time, she told People’s editor-in-chief Jess Cagle, “I am very flattered." And she believed that the best was yet to come: “I think I’m currently peaking.” However, she revealed that she had no idea how much of her life had changed.

So let's backtrack, shall we?

Roberts suffered through a terrifying childhood at the hands of her abusive stepfather. This was revealed when an old picture of her surfaced wherein while posing for a family photo, she had a pretty smile on her face as she stood in front of her stoic stepfather, Michael Motes. Eight months after 5-year-old Roberts lost her birth father, Walter Grady Roberts, her mother, actress Betty Lou Bredemus married Motes, the only father the actress had in her life, according to the Daily Mail.

But though she never spoke about him in public, she is said to have "feared and despised" the man who made their happy family home into one filled with abuse and violence until her mother divorced him. Despite that, the Notting Hill actress managed to find her way into a world away from the pain and suffering she went through at home.

Though she had achieved success in her professional life, her personal life was filled with heartbreak as well. Until she met Daniel Moder, the man who would love her and help her raise their kids in a happy home. Sharing three kids and 15 years of marriage together (and counting), the 52-year-old actress told talk show host Oprah Winfrey in 2003 about how her husband made her life more content. "I think it's not so much that I'm happier now than ever; it's that I'm more content. I'm in the harbor of my life," she said.

And then in 2015, Roberts was hit with another tragedy when her mother passed away from cancer. "I think about her all the time," the Smurfs star said. "And the kids talk about her a lot." She even felt like her mom was sending her signs from heaven, she told People. "It’s funny because her name was Betty and I feel like lately, she just crosses my mind, and I’ll turn and I see something that says ‘Betty,’ just unexpectedly," Roberts added. "In Africa, I saw the name twice when I was thinking about her."

But she has come out happier and stronger

Despite her life being peppered with pain and sadness, the Ocean's Twelve star hasn't let it stop her from enjoying her life and especially her family. In fact, it takes a really intriguing project for her to leave her family. "Otherwise I would be at home. I'm happy at home and really fulfilled, so for me to go out and tell a story, it has to be something I feel really passionate about," she told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Now, she's just happy to be where she is in life. According to Time, she said regarding her title of Most Beautiful, “If I can just grow gracefully-ish old and, you know, watch my kids grow up and realize their dreams and find ‘their person’ in life and hopefully have a family and little creatures for Danny (Moder) and I to spoil — that’s what the winter of life is supposed to be about."

And she tells People, according to Today, that a perfect day is "just to be with my family (with) everybody feeling happy and running around and playing. Just sharing time together." It's also her kids that keep her youthful by making her laugh which might actually be what helped her become People's Most Beautiful Woman so many times. "They all have a very keen sense of humor," she said. "They all have a sort of different style of humor, but I do think they are all pretty funny, and I really hope they get that from me because that's what I tell everybody."

So all things considered, Julia Roberts truly does set an example for those who are going through their own struggles — push through them and you might just find your true happiness.