Mona Lisa Smile, Julia Roberts
Image credit: Mona Lisa Smile: Bob Marshak

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Mona Lisa Smile

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Maybe the patchouli she's wearing is going to her head, but Roberts believes that there's an unseen force that guides her career. That the right parts come to her precisely when her psyche needs them. In the case of ''Mona Lisa,'' she says, ''I'm finally comfortable being the older one. I enjoy it. I don't know if I'm the mother or the big sister or whatever. But I'm just the one kickin' around the longest. Not that I gave these girls advice -- they know more about the business at 21 than I did at 30. Plus, I think we all kind of figure it out by ourselves.''

And in that way, maybe there's more to the timing of ''Mona Lisa'' than even Roberts lets on. Or even knows. After all, both she and Leonardo's muse have been endowed with famous smiles -- each of which never stops being studied and scrutinized for its secret meaning.

''You know what it is? There's a strange thing where I'm not allowed to...like, everybody goes home from work, right? And when they're at home, they're not a banker anymore, they're at home. You don't go to a banker's house and ask them to count money. I want to go home from work too.'' Roberts stops there and seems stumped for something to say for the first time all afternoon. She looks down and starts fiddling with her toe ring and begins to crack up. ''Look, I'm cool with everything. I just want a little respect is all.''

(This is an online-only excerpt of Entertainment Weekly's Nov. 14, 2003, cover story.)

Originally posted Nov 05, 2003 Published in issue #737 Nov 14, 2003 Order article reprints
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