It’s kind of crazy to be as famous as Julia Roberts, and still have a spouse whose name I—a professional celebrity busybody—have to google, but that’s the beauty of the relationship between Roberts and her husband of 24 years, cinematographer Danny Moder. The couple, who met on the set of the 2000 film The Mexican and share three children, celebrated their anniversary over the weekend, with Roberts posting a rare selfie of herself and Moder as well as one with her daughter and twin sons.
The way Roberts talks about Moder—when she does talk about him, that is—is particularly sweet. “I think that first kind of real… ‘seismic shift’ was meeting Danny,” she told Gwyneth Paltrow on the Goop podcast. “Getting married to Danny. That was the first, like, my life will never be the same, in the most incredible, indescribable way… He truly, to this day, to this minute, is just my favorite human. I’m more interested in what he has to say or his point of view just more than anybody.” Sob! Roberts has also credited the success of her and Moder’s marriage to “two bathroom sinks and a lot of kissing,” which honestly sounds like it would prevent a lot of dumb fights. (The bathroom-sink part, specifically, but sure, the kissing part too. I mean, who wouldn’t want to make out with minty-fresh breath that you created by brushing your teeth at your very own sink?)
Whenever I ponder Julia Roberts’s romantic life, I can’t help thinking of Curtis Sittenfeld’s excellent 2000 short story collection The Man of My Dreams, in which a lonely teen named Hannah and her aunt throw an at-home wedding party to celebrate the planned nuptials between Roberts and Kiefer Sutherland (remember that iconic ‘90s pairing?). Hannah’s spending the summer with her aunt to avoid the tension of her parents’ divorce back home, and having her fascination with Roberts’s life not only acknowledged but actually shared gives her something to hold onto when she’s struggling to find a toehold in life.
Of course, I fully get Roberts wanting to keep the relationship after that one—her one with Moder, as it happens—out of the spotlight. When you’ve already done the It-Couple thing, maybe it’s more satisfying to just…enjoy your privacy, with a few well-timed selfie breaks to remind us all of just how well you’re aging.
