Julia Roberts, 56, makes rare comment about raising three children during Graham Norton Show appearance

Julia Roberts made a very rare comment about her family and raising her three children while making her debut on The Graham Norton Show this week.

The Pretty Woman star and mother of three was appearing on the popular chat show to discuss her new movie when she revealed that becoming a mother led to her putting her acting career on the back burner.

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After the BBC host asked Julia about taking a step back from leading roles, Julia responded: “Well I was raising a family,” before wryly adding that her children needed her around more.

The American actress generally prefers to keep her family life private, but the star also revealed that she and her three children, twins Phinneas and Hazel, 19, and 16-year-old son, Henry, are huge soccer fans and vehemently support Manchester United Football Club.

Julia told Graham, the studio audience and fellow show guests, Tom Hanks, Cher and Timothée Chalamet, that her children became obsessed with soccer at a young age and Manchester United became the team of choice. The star even revealed that she has visited the famous Old Trafford stadium on more than one occasion and has met a number of players including Marcus Rashford.

The Erin Brockovich star shares her three children with her husband, Danny Moder, who worked as a cameraman. Julia and Danny married in 2002, two years after meeting on the set of their 2000 movie, The Mexican.

Meanwhile, the Academy Award-winning actress was in town to promote her new movie, Leave The World Behind, which also stars Ethan Hawke and Mahershala Ali, when she explained that although she’s extremely proud of her new role, the story itself was hard to digest.

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“I was sent the book by the director who told me I would love it and to read it as fast as I can, but I just couldn’t because it was scaring me,” she admitted, adding: “And as soon as it got dark, I had to get away from it. The film is spooky and frightening but so good.”

Leave the World Behind tells the story of a family who go on vacation to Long Island but are interrupted by two strangers who inform them of a mysterious blackout. “As the threat grows more imminent, both families must decide how best to survive the potential crisis, all while grappling with their own place in this collapsing world,” explains the synopsis.

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Although Julia was there to promote her latest endeavour, host Graham couldn’t resist asking the Hollywood A-lister about her time on the film that helped her reach stardom, Pretty Woman. And it turns out the film almost ended up being a completely different movie entirely.

“It was going to be a much darker film called $3,000 [the price for Vivian to spend the night with Edward]. Vivian was a drug addict and the movie ended with him leaving her in a side street, throwing the money at her, and driving away. I got that part in that movie and felt really proud, but when the production company folded and the film disappeared, I was crushed. But then Disney picked it up, which seemed so unlikely, and made it funny.”