Julia Roberts wouldn’t “survive” in show business if she were a young actress starting out today. The modern age of Instagram, Facebook and Twitter would drive her back to Mystic and that little pizza place, or anywhere but Hollywood. She told Matt Lauer on the TODAY show that the social media environment is “just too nasty–it’s the sport of ugliness.”
Roberts was on the TODAY show to promote the film version of Larry Kramer’s gut wrenching AIDS play, The Normal Heart, which she starred in with Mark Ruffalo and a giant cast. (The DVD comes out on August 26.) Despite a glamorous life, Roberts is familiar with tragedy of the kind The Normal Heart explores. Roberts’ half-sister committed suicide six months ago, overdosing on prescription pills.