Julia Roberts has been married to her husband for 20 years – inside their relationship

Julia Roberts is arguably one of the most famous actresses globally, with her films dominating the box office in the 1990s and maintaining her status as a Hollywood powerhouse to this day.

However, her personal life saw some turbulence until she found the person she considered “the one.”

Julia Roberts often portrayed characters hesitant or fearful of marriage, similar to her role in Runaway Bride. In real life, she had difficulty settling down and was engaged to several high-profile actors before finally committing. Among those she was famously engaged to were Liam Neeson and Kiefer Sutherland.

Her first high-profile relationship was with Liam Neeson in 1987, but they split a year later. She then dated and reportedly got engaged to Dylan McDermott, but that relationship also ended. Next, she was involved with Kiefer Sutherland, but they, too, eventually broke up.

Following these broken engagements, Roberts surprised everyone by marrying Lyle Lovett in 1993, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1995. She continued to date various Hollywood actors until she met Danny Moder on the set of The Mexican.

Unlike her previous partners, Moder was not a celebrity, which didn’t bother Roberts at all. The primary complication was that Moder was still married to his first wife, Vera Steimberg, when he met Roberts. After his marriage ended, he and Roberts began their relationship.

The couple married in 2002 and have since welcomed three children: twins Phinnaeus and Hazel, and their son Henry.

Although Roberts is typically private about her personal life, she shared insights with Gwyneth Paltrow on the GOOP podcast in 2018 about how Moder impacted her life. She said, “I think that first kind of real ‘seismic shift’ was meeting Danny, getting married to Danny… that was the first ‘my life will never be the same’ in the most incredible, indescribable way.”

Roberts gushed about her love and appreciation for Moder, saying, “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. Really, we’re so lucky in that way. We just really, really like each other and we just enjoy each other’s company.”

Reflecting on their relationship, she said, “We’ve been married for 16 years, we’ve been together for 18 … It just gets deeper, it just gets more complex.”

Roberts also acknowledged that marriage can be unpredictable, “… you’re young and you fall in love and go, ‘Yeah, we’re going to get married and we’re going to build a house and have kids,’ and all these things that we all kind of dream of, but you don’t know if you’re going to like the same couch and you don’t know if he is going to want to get patterned towels.”

“You just don’t know these things until you are right there doing it and we are so fortunate that there is some kind of inexplicable harmony to the way we do things,” she added, concluding, “He’s the best decision I’ve ever made.”

In 2020, an insider revealed more about their relationship, stating, “[Roberts and Moder] truly feel like soulmates,” adding, “The chemistry between them is crucial. After all this time, Julia still finds Danny incredibly sexy, and he adores her still.” The couple is “committed to staying together for the long haul, whatever it takes,” they finished.