Julia Roberts Gained Weight for New Film, Loved It

One of the most anticipated movies of the summer – by women, at least – is “Eat Pray Love,” based on the best-selling novel of the same name and starring none other than Pretty Woman herself, Julia Roberts. While shooting for the film in Italy, the actress got to do what few other female stars can boost of: eat to her heart’s liking, as she reveals for People magazine.

For the movie, Julia gained about 10 pounds or so but she’s not yet to a point where she regrets gaining weight, she says. On the contrary actually, since she got to pack on the pounds by eating all those treats that women are usually told to shun, like pizza and pasta, she enjoyed every single pound she put on. She also got to go home with fun memories, like the morning when she had to eat 8 or 10 slices of pizza to get just one single shot done.

“Filming all over the world, and Italy, for the ‘eat’ portion of the film Eat Pray Love may sound like heaven to most, but the task of eating plate after plate of pasta wasn’t the easiest thing to get used to for Julia Roberts. ‘They did go to great elaborate pains to make great food that I had to eat. Endlessly eat – in the heat,’ recalled the actress at a press conference for the film Thursday at the Bardessono hotel in California’s Napa Valley,” People writes. It wasn’t an unpleasant experience, though, the mag further reports.

“‘But it was delicious. Ryan [Murphy, the film’s director] keeps telling people I gained 10 pounds,’ quipped Roberts. ‘It was a little less than that. And I loved every pound.’ Between the pasta, pizza and other Italian delicacies, the endless stream of food did get a bit tiresome after a full day of filming. So, did she swear off Italian for good since completing the film? Not a chance. ‘[I’ve eaten] tons, tons. It can’t slow me down’,” People also says.

As also noted above, “Eat Pray Love” is based on the best-selling book by Elizabeth Gilbert and is directed by Ryan Murphy, whose work also includes “Glee.” The film arrives in US theaters on August 13, so expect more interviews and details from and with Julia Roberts until that time. 

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