Julia and Javier

by Erica Blumenthal

How did I get so lucky to attend the world premiere of Eat Pray Love in NYC? Let’s get straight to the miraculous point: I brushed shoulders with Julia Roberts last night, a serious OMG moment. She’s luminous. Her body and hair, perfect. Her wardrobe, elegant and classic. She wore a black Stella McCartney jacket and black, short Diane Von Furstenberg
shorts and gold Coomi bangles.

Before that, the night was off to a shaky start because my dear friend Kelley, who held my ticket in, was caught in a brutal battle with NYC traffic. So for a while I loitered around the Ziegfeld Theater in the heat and humidity, all dressed up with a place to go but no way in. Then Elizabeth Gilbert, the book’s author and film’s reason d’etre,  emerged in a long ruffled floral frock looking red carpet ready and all  smiles. As much as I tried to keep my excitement in check, that was the moment the night kicked into high gear. Then my ravishing date finally arrived and the night was ready to get started!

Author Elizabeth Gilbert

The movie itself is wonderful– fans of the book will feel indulged. Naturally, some things have changed with its screen adaptation, but I felt they stayed true to Liz Gilbert‘s emotions– from feeling depleted and lost to gaining control of her life and feeling blissfully happy. The male supporting performances by Billy Crudup, James Franco, Javier Bardem, and Richard Jenkins are all incredible.

But enough about the cast. All I can think about after this movie is Italian food. If I could drop everything and go to Italy tomorrow to become a professional pasta and pizza eater I would happily say arrivederci.

After the movie we walked to the Metropolitan Club on 60th St and 5th Avenue for the  celebratory afterparty. Flower pedals everywhere, mountains of pasta and desert, and a quickly moving open bar. We scoped the scene and went into a back room with tables reserved for Roberts, Bardem, Murphy, Jenkins, etc etc. We saw Javier Bardem at his table eating pasta. He is absolutely stunning and watching him eat for a moment was heavenly. In real life, he’s all that more amazing. We kept exploring and stopped dead in our tracks at the sight of Eddie Vedder, who penned a song for the film. Kelley and I found a corner to talk by a grand staircase and I looked up to see Julia Roberts and her husband, Danny Moder. Again, radiant perfection. That’s when our shoulder brush happened. She mingled in the main room and ordered a drink from a very delighted bartender before making her way to her table. There were tons of Food Network personalities in the room and we saw Gail Simmons which all seemed very appropriate given the film’s intense adoration of food.

After hanging around for a couple more glasses of wine and passed appetizers– like mini pizzas (Italy!), samosas (India!), and shrimp fritters (Bali! I think) we sailed out of the party. And in distinctly non-moviestar fashion, I took the subway home, blasting Florence
and the Machine‘s “Dog Days are Over” (the song from the trailer)  all the way to my apartment door.

Eat Pray Love is in theaters this weekend. Do yourself a favor and “let yourself go.”



The Cullens come in together, minus Kellan Lutz, who plays Emmett and was mis-cast in my opinion so I’m not much missing his presence. The remainder is here: Peter Facinelli, who is chatty and loves to answer questions; next to him is Nikki Reed, who surpasses her blonde character Rosalie in the looks department; then Elizabeth Reaser (again, why is she in this); Jackson Rathbone, also much cuter in person than as a vampire; and Ashley Greene, who whispered with Jackson during the interview.

Ashley’s hair is newly lightened. “I randomly get these bugs and I haven’t had my hair light since I was 14 and I was at the salon and just did it.” And what about her outfit today? “Stella McCartney.” She said she’ll also pick a British designer for the UK premiere. Elizabeth, wearing Etro, said, “I finally broke down and got a stylist, which was the smartest thing I could’ve done — I have no innate fashion sense.” Nikki, also in an Etro dress, said, “I like clothes and like when people direct me and tell me what to wear.”

The fashion isn’t just left to the girls. Peter droned on about how he thought Carlisle Cullen should wear scarves in the movies and if you watch, there are some symbolic moments with the scarf in Eclipse.

What helps the other Cullens get into character? Nikki: “There’s such a physical transformation that I go through—I have to put on a wig and it takes quite a few hours. We all have to spray paint our entire bodies. We get there at 4:00 in the morning and four hours later you wake up and you’re a different person.”

Elizabeth: “Being on location in these forests and the weather and you’re dropped into the world.”

Jackson: “I start with the boots and get the walk right and I’m good. Yah the boots.”

Ashley: “Contacts, wig, white makeup. Alice’s voice is higher than mine and she moves differently than me. That coupled with the four hours in the chair has an impact and being surrounded by other vampires.”

Taylor Lautner is confident in front of a crowd but he also comes off as less sincere than Kristen Stewart or Robert Pattinson. He doesn’t seem to mind the attention or compliments about his body. Does he ever crave junk food? “Occastionally you really want some ice cream. When you have a photo shoot you have to stay strong and cut it out.” Such control for a teen. Does he have a guilty pleasure? “American Idol. I haven’t missed an episode in eight, nine years. I can’t believe I just said that. I can’t sing. Maybe that’s why I like watching it–because I know there’s no way I could do that.”

He finally gets some scenes with Robert/Edward in Eclipse. How was that? “Usually I have to hate him in the scenes and it’s difficult — he’s such a funny, nice guy.” Are they friends? Yes. “It means everything. I can’t imagine filming this franchise if the whole cast weren’t such close friends. Rob and Kristen and myself are close friends. You can be honest and open with each other. And when we hang out on the weekends, it’s great, they’re incredible people–very talented. We will maintain friendship past this franchise.”

Weirdest fan encounter? “I wouldn’t say they’re weird, but they’re definitely passionate. I was just in Australia and we’re at a big fan event and I was walking down the line on the red carpet; fans like to hold out their arms and this arm had a wolf pack tattoo. And she asked me to sign underneath it.” The next day he heard that she had his signature permanently added to the tattoo. Can he go out in public? “Definitely. It’s a matter of choosing where you go and when you go. A mall, probably not; a movie, probably not. I have my hangouts and restaurants.

What on-set item holds the most significance? “Probably those little jean shorts. I’m going to miss those shorts.”

Kristen Stewart shares cars with her family—a Toyota Tacoma and a Mini Cooper, which she calls “a little flashy” for her taste.  For this press conference she’s dressed in a pale gray, light-weight, scoop-neck sweater, tight-fitting dark jeans and very high black heels.

Does she worry that Bella Swan will define her career? “This is a unique situation—I get to play her for a really long time. I feel sad after I lose a character after a short shoot, which is typically six weeks and what I’m used to. It’s the one role that has put me in this epic position—it doesn’t matter if you’re doing a studio movie or an independent movie, I really don’t think about my career and planning it out. This is a part I really wanted to play.” How stoked is she for the next movie, Breaking Dawn? “I can’t wait to see Renesme and have a kid and get married.” Has she thought about what Bella’s wedding dress should look like? “Stephanie [Meyer, the author] is in charge of that and I’m sure she has specific ideas. I feel like Bella would want something classic and beautiful, but simple. It would be cream and classic–the idea of what a wedding dress is. She doesn’t want to get married and since it means so much to Edward, she’ll give him everything. It’ll be a beautiful, monumental wedding because he wants it so badly. It’s cute because it’s usually the other way around.”

Does she herself believe in marriage? “Sure, yah, whatever you want to do. I’m not ready to get married. And I have a great family and I’d like that too some day.”

I love Kristen Stewart. She gets picked on for being awkward in the media, but she’s utterly relatable and beautiful to boot. You can tell that she wants to say something profound and ends up tripping over her words, much like she tends to physically trip in public, and that is charming. She’s flawed and it’s a shame that people see that as a negative—I think it’s one of her endearing traits.

Check back tomorrow for more Twilight!

He talked a bit about upcoming projects other than Water for Elephants, including Bel Ami: “It’s about a broke ex-soldier and he has no drive, he’s just jealous of everything. It’s like kids these days–everyone’s entitled. He’s completely talentless. He finds this guy in the army in a brothel. And he seduces all these women and ends up screwing over the entire society. It was really fun–it’s a completely amoral character. It’s about how the shits can win sometimes.”

RPatz fans know that he’s a musician (guitar, piano, composing) and had two songs on the Twilight soundtrack. Does he still find time to play? “I’ve always been playing around. As for the soundtracks, it was nice to be involved in the first one and I just saw Twilight on TV for the first time” – that’s right, he’d never seen the movie before! – “and my song came on and it’s so bizarre that I have a song in the movie. I’m amazed Catherine [Hardwicke, the director] did it.”

Does Robert own a car? Nope. “I don’t have a car. I drive rental cars.”

(Got it–I’ll keep an eye out for a Hertz outside to pick me up for our date!)

Check back tomorrow for more on Twilight, as we get ready for the premiere on Thursday and the movie’s release on the 30^th!