What’s the secret to a successful marriage? According to Julia Roberts: Kissing. Roberts shared the secret behind her successful marriage spanning nearly two decades during an interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
This summer, the beloved actress is gearing up to celebrate her 20th wedding anniversary with her husband, Danny Moder. When late-night host Stephen Colbert asked her what her secret was to a successful and happy marriage, Roberts was able to respond with one word.
For Roberts, the answer is “kissing.” Colbert, who has been married for 28 years, responded with “apologizing.” Frankly, both celebs shared some valuable advice. However, Colbert joked that his guest might be onto something. “Well, I would like to apologize to my wife for not saying kissing,” he said.
The Pretty Woman star teased him right back. “Well, or maybe you apologize, and then you just start making out,” she recommended. Based on a quick glimpse at Roberts’ Instagram, it’s pretty clear that she takes her advice very seriously. This Valentine’s Day, she shared a photo of herself and her husband smooching. The romantic but straightforward picture had a red heart drawn over it to showcase their bond.
Roberts and Moder met while working on the set of a movie and were married in 2002, according to Hello! Magazine. The couple shares three children. While Moder is not a fellow actor, he works as a cinematographer and camera operator. Aside from The Mexican, the film on which he and Roberts met, he has also worked on projects such as Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Mona Lisa Smile, Spider-Man 3, and Dead to Me, according to his profile on IMDb.
Fans will likely recall that Mona Lisa Smile starred Roberts alongside Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. How cool would it be to work with your significant other? Roberts has paid tribute to her husband several times on social media. The star shared a sweet pic to commemorate their 19th anniversary in 2021. “Just getting started,” she wrote in the caption.
Roberts and Moder have always kept the children out of the public eye, and the family relocated to northern California during the pandemic, Roberts told Extra.
“We always felt that we were kind of living outside of LA,” said the actress. “I think the move has been great. I think moving with three teenagers during a pandemic is not for the faint of heart, but we have pulled it off, and everyone seems good and happy.”
The two older children will be headed off to college in the fall, a development that Roberts said leaves her “lightheaded.” “I’m completely excited for them. It’s really thrilling, and I wasn’t lucky enough to have a college experience. And so to see how it’s happening for them is really fascinating,” she told Extra.
Roberts appeared on The Late Show to promote Gaslit, in which she plays Watergate whistleblower and southern glamour queen Martha Mitchell, alongside Sean Penn’s Attorney General John Mitchell. The series premieres on April 24th. Her first romantic comedy in twenty years, with George Clooney, Ticket to Paradise, hits theaters in October.