Julia Roberts & Tom Hanks cover the June issue of W Magazine

w1

Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks appear on the cover of W Magazine for the June issue, all to promote The Movie That Will Save America, Larry Crowne. The shoot is mostly All About Julia (OF COURSE) because it would be TACKY to do a photo shoot that didn’t focus on Julia making her little “Blue Steel” duck-faces. Tom looks… he looks good, I guess. It’s weird seeing him in a fashion magazine, but as he’s aged, he’s gained some gravitas, so in at least one of the shots, he looks like he’s about to fire all of us from our jobs. The interview is kind of meh – Lynn Hirschberg interviews Tom and Julia separately, for some reason. I would imagine the interview would have been a lot funnier if Tom and Julia were in the same room together. You can read the full piece at W, here. Here are some highlights:

Tom Hanks on Larry Crowne, which he cowrote, directed and stars in: “The movie is about combating cynicism. People are naturally optimistic, but you have to choose to walk away from cynicism. You have to say, I am going to combat cynicism today. I had this idea about a unique guy who loses his job and then, at the end of the movie, realizes that it was the best thing that ever happened to him. He thought he was going to die, but it turned out great!… People are afraid of change. People say, I can’t do this or that. Why? Because I’d have to change something. Well, yes: You should change. The idea of change makes them nervous, but I think change is good. Always.”

Hanks on making the change from comedy to drama: “I told my agents that I wasn’t going to play pussies anymore. I was tired of playing, “Oh, boo-hoo—I was in love, but oh, boo-hoo-hoo.” There comes an age when you can’t do that anymore. I wanted to play men instead of boys. In your mid-30s, it’s time to start playing guys of compromise. And as you get older, men of bitter compromise [Laughs].”

Don’t say “bellhop” around Hanks: “Bellman. Bellhop and bellboy are derogatory terms. Call them “sir.” Terms of respect go a long way in that job.”

Writing a part for Julia: “I had some teachers [in junior college] who looked like Julia. I would see them and think, I love you. So there was never anyone but Julia. Still, even after she said yes, I was the boss. That meant I got to say, “You don’t wear this dress, you wear that dress.” And Julia’s Julia—she can be intimidating [Laughs].

Julia Roberts on how she didn’t go to college: “No. This was my first college experience. And the first time I had to speak in front of a classroom, I was apoplectic. All these faces looking up at me, thinking, What is she going to teach us? I needed to find my composure. It was very hard—it was terrible, in fact.”

Julia on what classes she’d take if she went to college: “I guess I’d take a class in homeopathy or psychology—something that I would use in my life. I did actually start taking sewing classes recently. I can wear what I’ve sewn, if I’m not in a strong wind. And I’m taking piano lessons with my kids. We can blame this new frontier on Tom Hanks. I sat next to a musician at a dinner party at Tom Hanks’s house, and I started thinking about piano lessons. In your 40s, you’re supposed to learn new things so your brain doesn’t turn to mush. So I’m practicing scales.”

Julia on being directed by Tom Hanks: “God, no. We knew each other socially. When I was in Rome, shooting Eat Pray Love, Tom sent me the script and said, “Tell me what you think.” I couldn’t stop smiling when I read it: It’s topical, but very positive. It contains this moment in history in a very interesting way. The movie says, You can lose your job and your way and still rescue yourself. Larry Crowne creates a self-excavated utopia, and I love that idea, that message. And Tom is so good at making fun of himself. In the beginning of the film, he’s wearing pleated khakis. No one should wear pleated khakis onscreen.”

On playing a character that likes her liquor: “I spend a lot of the movie woozy. Why did Tom Hanks think of me when he thought of a drunken schoolteacher? What does that mean? He has me chugging margaritas. It’s hard to chug a margarita! [Laughs] I asked why it couldn’t be straight liquor, and he said it was funnier if it was a drink made in a blender.”

Julia on not doing so many romantic comedies nowadays: “I think it’s called growing up. Light and funny has a more compelling quality when you’re younger. But I haven’t abandoned the genre: I love falling down; I love Lucille Ball. It’s just that a lot of those stories revolve around problems that I can’t convincingly portray at this age.”

Julia on whether she’ll ever direct: “No. I can direct breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I take pride in my kitchen, but I’m not going to direct a movie.”

Julia takes credit for Javier Bardem’s Oscar nomination for Biutiful: “Yes, I was the loudmouth on that. It was such a crazy travesty that the movie wasn’t getting attention. And it’s fun to throw your weight around. That’s one of the perks of what we do.”

Julia didn’t get to keep the red gown from Pretty Woman: “No, even though it was made for me, they didn’t let me keep anything from the movie. But I did get to keep the wedding dresses from Runaway Bride. They’re all boxed up in my garage. I’ve never opened them. It’ll be fun one day when Hazel [Roberts’s daughter] is taller. She can play dress-up with her friends.”

[From W Magazine]

Eh, what is there to say? Julia sounds so full of herself, but that’s nothing new. She’s a legend in her own mind, but I have to say, I kind of agree with her on a few points. I like that she’s self-aware enough to say something like “Light and funny has a more compelling quality when you’re younger… It’s just that a lot of those stories revolve around problems that I can’t convincingly portray at this age.” She’s saying that a smug look on her face, I know, and it’s very Gwyneth Paltrowesque: “I have a husband, children, a career and money. I don’t even remember a time when I didn’t have it all.”

Here’s the trailer for Larry Crowne. I know my mother is going to make me go see it.

w5

w3

w4

w2

Photos courtesy of W Magazine.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

58 Responses to “Julia Roberts & Tom Hanks cover the June issue of W Magazine”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. kasper says:

    Photo breakdown multiple choice edition: In the top photo Julia (a) looks like a lizard (focus on the lips); (b) looks like she’s shoving Tom out of the picture; or (c) both (a) and (b).

  2. Louise says:

    The cover looks awkward but the other photos look good. I do think she helped to get Javier nominated. If I recall he didn’t get nominated for any of the other award shows. Considering that they did a photoshoot together it doesn’t make sense they didn’t do an interview together.

  3. Susan says:

    BORING

  4. lisa says:

    I have gotten so bored with the W magazine spreads.. there best was about 5 or 6 years ago.hehehe..

    I have seen so many of them recently and they all look so forced. There is no chemistry in the pics when you have 2 actors together. It is just not working. Especially when they pair people in intimate poses that are not real couples. I don’t get anything sexy with Julia and Tom..nothing. He had more chemistry with Meg Ryan then anyone else. Julia just doesn’t hit the hot with anyone for some reason. IMO

    So to me the spread is a FAIL. She looks lifeless..

  5. Crash2GO2 says:

    Wow. This interview made me kinda like her, and I hate myself for it. “I can wear what I’ve sewn, if I’m not in a strong wind” made me lol.

    It’s nice to see her doing sexy again. We’ve spent years looking at frumpy Julia and I was starting to forget how beautiful she really is.

    Just watched the trailer. Looks like fun! Gotta love Tom Hanks! 🙂

  6. Samigirl says:

    Tom Hanks is my all time fave. I will go see anything he’s in. Julia…ehh…she’s definitely not my fave. Very full of herself. Whatevs, I can’t wait to see this movie 🙂

  7. flounder says:

    I like her. After years of making it in this business and being asked the same questions…anyone could come off as a little full of themselves.

  8. Buffy Wilson says:

    I will totally go see this just for Tom.

  9. shannonQ says:

    “Beauty and the Beast” should be the name of the cover. Julia looks beautiful in all the pictures.

    Even though Tom is a great actor, he has aged horribly; he is a very unattractive man….it’s hard for me to look at him.

  10. courtney says:

    They both lok great and have been involved in some of the same charities for years including the Hole In The Wall Gang Camps which has a bennefit coming up. plus Hanks appeared in films with both of the founders as in Joanne Woodward played his mother in the Movie Philadelphia his first oscar win 2nd nomination & Paul Newman played his boss John Rooney in Road To Perdition for which Newman was nominated for his 19th and final career oscar best supporting actor Hanks had actually beat Newman for his last best actor nomination on Monday March 27th 1995 and of course Newman had been nominated for best picture in 1969 for Rachel Rachel but best picture that year went to Oliver

  11. Lenore says:

    God, that cover image – she barely looks human in it. Tom looks like his photoshoot was hijacked by an alien – to judge from his expression, a foul-smelling alien. Look at his nose – he’s trying to figure out what the smell is. “Have you been eating feta cheese or something? Did you forget to brush your teeth today? What IS that?”

  12. MourningTheDeathofMusic says:

    I must be of that rare breed of person who has never found Julia all that attractive. I’ve enjoyed some of her movies, but just can’t see why people have flipped for her. I find her to be a mediocre actress at best.
    She does have great legs in that last picture though, I will give her that.

  13. MorticiansDoItDeader says:

    My 7 y/o cousin was just cast in the Tom Hanks and Sandra Bollock movie Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. She also just wrapped the new MIB with Will Smith, and Mr. Popper’s Penguins with Jim Carrey! I’m so proud of her, just had to brag for a minute. She’s shaping up to be a great little actor.

  14. Gigohead says:

    Love Tom Hanks!! He’s the greatest actor living today in my book!!!

    Not a big fan of Julia Roberts.

  15. futureperfect says:

    Talk about ‘rare’ in Hollywood — they both seem funny and smart. Self-aware even. WOW.

  16. LunaT says:

    MourningtheDeath—I’m with you. Don’t get it. I think she’s kind of a crap actor. Any movie I’ve ever seen her in she is so Julia throughout. It’s like she’s afraid to give in to becoming a character more fully(hello, her omg annoying laugh). Meryl Streep she ain’t.

    I think Tom Hanks is adorable. Seems like a nice guy.

  17. ruff says:

    she looks really beautiful in the cover. i love her bone structure. she looks like a model. i don’t get the hatred. i never have. is it because she is a successful woman? i mean, the hatred for someone like her seems to come from the same place the hatred for oprah comes from. jealousy. it’s sad really. a lot of you come off as pathetic fat bitches.

  18. zesty says:

    I’m with Mourning. Don’t get this woman’s appeal–it’s like we’ve been sold a bill of goods on her for years. She can’t even act any way other than herself…JULIA going to India, JULIA as a runaway bride. Waaaaay overrated. Nice legs though.

    And ruff–I guess if I’m expected to accept her as this monumental actress, she should do her job like one. I don’t think she does. And that’s not jealousy, and I’m neither pathetic nor fat! 🙂

  19. lucy2 says:

    Love Tom, would much rather have the focus of this be on him, rather than just him staring at Julia. She annoys me, and I don’t think she’s that great.

    It looks like they photoshopped off half of her face on the cover.

  20. LunaT says:

    Ruff—I’m not jealous. Just annoyed. I’m far from pathetic, am not fat, and I bet Julia would love to have an ass that looked like mine. Plus, I’m betting anyone you would consider “fat” doesn’t appreciate you using that term as a slam. I know, as a card carrying bitch, I’m offended by your use of the word.

    Ditto on Zesty’s monumental actress comment.

  21. e.non says:

    ugh .. what a horrible woman. how DARE she goof on herself, admit she’s in her forties and has outgrown the girlish roles she previously played. but mostly for recognizing her hollywood power and using it.

  22. REALIST says:

    Her mouth is HUGE-it always has been. When JR won the Oscar for Erin Brocovich, Juliette Binoche was also a best actress nominee. There are some similarities, except Juliette Binoche is not hindered by the quirks that JR has in her looks, nor is she an egomaniac as JR is (at least I don’t think she is). I’d like to think Juliette Binoche is the beautiful person, in and out, that JR could never (OMG, their names are similar, too).

  23. ruff says:

    zesty and lunat, thanks for taking the bait on the fat comment. i knew someone would get all defensive. and i’m sure those first to get defensive is… well, you know.

  24. ADS says:

    Tom looks good huh? Because they airbrushed him within an inch of his life. Julia IMO does not sound full of herself, she just sounds honest. Of all the Hollywood egoists you could pick from and you single out this woman. Strange.

  25. bluhare says:

    @LunaT: Totally agree that Julia Roberts plays Julia Roberts in virtually everything she’s in. The only movie I liked her in was Charlie Wilson’s War with Hanks. That was a great movie if you haven’t seen it.

    And I may be in the minority here, but I have pretty much always thought she does her lips. She’s got the overbite top lip and it has no definition, just like when you get them injected.

    @ADS (I think): Oh, I’ll pick on the rest of the egotistical and entitled as well, but this post was about Julia Roberts.

  26. Peachy says:

    I’d rather see pictures of Tom and “Wilson”. That ball was much cuter and far less annoying. And he knew when it was time to let go and disappear…..

  27. junipergreen says:

    I like Julia. I don’t find as insufferable as most people do. I think it depends how you read her interviews. if you read it thinking she’s a nice person then they sound fine, even funny sometimes. If you read them already thinking she’s a bitch, then yeah, they sound like she’s full of herself. Anyway, I like her. I’m sure she can be snotty and a bitch, but so can all of us. You may as well admit it. The difference is that we hate her for it because she’s famous and has money. I get that.

    I LOVE Tom Hanks.

  28. Aurelia says:

    I really like Julia R of recent years. Since I realised she was a real BROAD. I would like her as a friend.

  29. Mary Jane says:

    Gosh, how I LOATHE Julia Roberts.

    But, I really enjoy Tom Hanks and have for years (Bosom Buddies, etc.), but I’d be lying if I said it’s not disappoint­ing to see that he uses the term “p**sies” to describe his past characters (or anything for that matter). He always seemed like a pretty enlightene­d, down-to-ea­rth guy, but using slang for female anatomy to describe a sensitive man seems pretty freakin’ 8th grade. He made a valid point; I just wish it hadn’t been made in such a crass way. I know, “lighten up”. Sorry, can’t help it; my mom’s sense of decorum lives on in me.

  30. zesty says:

    Ruff…I did not “take the bait,” only wanted to point out that you can have an opinion without it being jealousy.

    FYI, I’m 5’5″ and am 120#. Interpret that as you will…fat, thin, whatever. Way to promote the friendly atmosphere between commenters.

  31. EdithP says:

    I have loved Tom Hanks since Bosom Buddies. He was hilarious the other week on 30 Rock.

  32. snapnhiss says:

    She’s looking a little bit like Gloria Swanson in Sunset Blvd.

  33. rerun delaney says:

    you know, i still like her. not always, but enough.

    i miss the girl from ‘mystic pizza’, but hell, who stays 20 and naive? ok, or two of my relatives, but aside from them?

    she’s been in a rare and priviledged place. all the same, do you really hear about her in the tabloids? getting drunk, stealing, crashing cars, racist rants…? yep, she married lyle lovett and left him pretty quickly, and it seems the start of her current marriage had some stuff on it, but really-what has the woman done that pisses folks off? i don’t think she sounds full of herself-i’ve heard that a lot about her and i disagree.

  34. lrm says:

    i fucking hate her.
    now i wont even go see her in a movie….
    she is beyond full of herself; she is worse than Goopy.
    and that photo on W is idiotic.
    they both look awful. and neither of them is ‘edgy/artsy’ enough for a W cover mag.
    give me a break.
    she’s so ridiculous.
    i did not even read the comments, but hopefully they all agree she is full of it, and herself.
    I’m in my 40’s, and I still love light and bubbly or whatever she called it.
    It’s called escapism and it has it’s merits. Though what I have found myself drawn to as I get older, is Duplicity, ,Ocean’s 11,etc old school caper crimes with a bit of romance and a little suspense, but nothing really graphic or disturbing. Old school type movies that are alot of fun.
    Intolerable Cruelty is another example. Love it.

    Anywho….over JR. so much.

  35. Jo 'Mama' Besser says:

    As I see it, there are so many celebrities of all ages, sexes and…and that’s it–that it’s impossible to like or dislike all of them and unrealistic to attribute those feelings to physicality or jealousy. Someone is going be attacked either reasonably or fairly in our estimations and others will be lionized deservedly or bafflingly if we’re asked how we feel about it. That a tall and slender white woman is worshipped by Hollywood or any of the arbiters of styles and its rewards isn’t so shocking and offensive to our expectations that we collapse altogether, it’s called ‘the expanse of human history’. So, why would one person’s dislike of Hollywood Human Widget 1 prove something sinister when approval of Hollywood Human Widget 2 doesn’t? Popularity may well be accompanied by valuable assets that validate its existence, but that’s a best case scenario and not always the case. And sometimes you just don’t like people and it’s just the plain truth. Sometimes you know why, sometimes you don’t and denying that just to avoid a drubbing from fans is a lot of work to put into something that doesn’t really matter. Sometimes you can end up giving something another look–something I read on a forum of kind got me to give Parks and Recreation another chance. I still think that show is a sink of dishwater, but not because its presence highlighted one of my character flaws and now people know to throw me off a bridge, but because it just doesn’t do it for me. I know I sound like a scold but eviscerating a stranger for having different tastes doesn’t prove the legitimacy of a cause and honestly, it’s just mean. I don’t understand why we do this.

  36. ZenB!tch says:

    The cover looks creepy. They photoshop Julia to look 25 and almost beautiful and they leave Tom more or less alone, giving him a pervy, dirty old man vibe.

    The inside photos are better.

  37. Lynda says:

    She looks awful and he looks his age.

  38. June says:

    @ RUFF: Sounds like a lame plan for the worst villain ever. “I will call people fat in order to trap those stupid people who think they are not fat! They have taken the bait! Muahahaha!”

  39. HotLatino says:

    She’s very ugly and a legend in her own mind! and she’s box office poison!

  40. Chris says:

    This was the has been addition of W. Apparently Henry Winkler and Molly Wingwald were approached first but had other commitments.

  41. vanessa says:

    Love Tom Hanks, he’s a terrific actor and in his younger years, he was very handsome and manly looking.
    I like some of Julia Robert’s movies and while I think she’s cute, she’s not stunning as some people would like to believe. She was pretty in Sleeping with the Enemy though…

  42. Pirouette says:

    #38, that was really funny!

  43. originalgracie says:

    @MorticiansDoItDeader: Wow, congrats to your cousin! That is awesome to be in so many films!

  44. B says:

    E-X-C-U-S-E ME?

    “Bellman. Bellhop and bellboy are derogatory terms. Call them “sir.” Terms of respect go a long way in that job.”

    You find bellhop and bellboy “derogative”, but it’s perfectly fine to throw around the term “pussy” as way to describe a weak-willed man-in the very same interview, no less! And I quote: “I told my agents that I wasn’t going to play pussies anymore.” You know, because women are weak, as is that special part of the female anatomy. Sexist a$$hole.

  45. Ur Favorite Bartender says:

    @June LOL she’s very crafty! 😛

    Anyhow, JRs mouth area is just… wrong. Hmmm

  46. Granger says:

    I don’t get her comments about her “college experience” on set. She says she was freaked out about speaking in front of the class, because there were “All these faces looking up at me, thinking, What is she going to teach us? I needed to find my composure.” What? Wasn’t she acting? What exactly did she think the extras/other actors in that classroom thought? That she was actually going to teach them something? Seriously. I don’t get it.

    She grows on me more and more as the years pass. I think she’s funny (the wearing-her-own-sewing comment had me laughing out loud). But I still think she’s probably a royal bitch.

  47. Shay says:

    That cover is airbrushed to the max: for both of them.

  48. june says:

    Julia was in another movie where she played a teacher ‘Mona Lisa Smile’ so I don’t understand her comment about being in front of a class, like it was some kind of new experience. Also, without makeup she looks like a bumpkin from the Ozarks.

  49. LunaT says:

    @Ruff—-Um, yeah, don’t think you’re as successful (using the term soooo loosely) as you think you are. Sitting here at 5’7″ 132 lbs. Ditto on what Zesty and June have said.

  50. Nancy says:

    I honestly can’t stand Julia Roberts anymore I think her appeal went out the door as soon as she started aging, that horse mouth of hers just seemed to get wider and wider and she has no chemistry with Tom.

  51. UrbanRube says:

    Just cannot stand her. Love him. Still waiting for her to learn her life lessons and bag a little humility.

  52. Kim says:

    What a terrible cover. Its just a bad photograph period. Who took this?! They are at extremely unflattering angles, Toms expression looks like he is perving at his daughter and she looks like she is afraid. Terrible magazine cover! Worst ive ever seen for W for sure.

  53. Becca says:

    These photos are proof that it’s okay for a man to age naturally in Hollywood, but women have to be injected or pulled & stretched to be accepted. If Tom Hanks was a woman, his looks wouldn’t pass.

  54. dj says:

    The cover shot is unflattering for both actors. Julia Roberts should not ever have her hair styled away from her face again. Yikes.

  55. crtb says:

    I hate this horse face looking woman. And I don’t understand why she isn’t given the same nasty treatment as Leanne Rhimes? She was 1,000 time nastier and ruder when stealing her husband from another woman. I would never pay to see one of her films.

  56. shirls says:

    Her face looks younger than it did 5yrs ago. Not just photo-shopped smoother but kinda pulled back and taut … a little strange

  57. eljeran says:

    Dear Tom Hanks,
    Please stop working with Julia, she sucks. I know Hollywood has been telling us that she is beautiful and she a fabulous actress…they gave her an Oscar and everything. But, we the people DONT BUY IT ANYMORE. Please get over thinking she is what we want and what we want to see. She is nasty. If you need a leading lady, got for Sandra, or Halle, or Jennifer A, Laura Linney (you would be great with her), or Diane Lane, or Kyra S. Please get over suck ass Julia Roberts. We love you, but cant watch the self absorbed hack be all arogant over getting to work with you, again.

  58. eljeran says:

    JEALOUSY?????
    why does everyone claim jealousy is how people must feel about JR? Uma Thurman, rich as hell, married, gorgeous, uber talented…LOVE HER. And Minnie Driver, soooooo beautiful, doesnt get as much work but far and away more talented, and what a body she has…..damn, Sandra….the queen of awesomeness, so much class, way better actress, doesnt ever treat people like she is too good to speak to them or be in the same room. I LOVE THOSE WOMEN! and there are tons more who I love. The thing that I CANT STAND about JR is that I have been told by the media for YEARS that she is the most beautiful, talented, nicest, girl next door, blah blah blah. And based on the fact that I have eyes and I went to acting school and I can read about her sick selfish love life from Liam to Danny, all of the BS Hollywood has been feeding me is a stupid lie and I am sick of it. If anyone else wants to believe she is talented just cuz People mag said so, go right ahead. I watched Steel, Pretty, Sleeping, Flat, Oceans, and she sucked miserably EVERY SINGLE TIME! I wont watch her ever ever ever again. and it is sad that actor like Tom, who KNOW WHAT GOOD ACTING IS still work with her thinking we all LOOOOOVE her so much and will rush to see her in a movie. It hasnt worked in years but I guess that is no reason to not keep trying.