Julia Roberts had a tragic character in the 1989 film. steel magnolias. It turns out that the actress was also unhappy on set due to mistreatment by director Herbert Ross. Roberts played Shelby, a character based on Susan Harling, the sister of writer Robert Harling, who died in 1985 from complications of type 1 diabetes. The film stars an ensemble of talented actresses, including Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Dolly Parton and Daryl Hannah.
Unfortunately, the actors mostly had bad memories of the filming. steel magnolias due to the difficult work environment created by Ross. The actresses even bonded over their shared disappointment with the director, who constantly disrespected them on the set.
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Herbert Ross made Julia Roberts’ life hell on set
According to some reports, Herbert Ross treated most of the actresses poorly, often telling them they couldn’t act. His main target seemed to be Julia Roberts, a relatively young actress who had only recently landed her breakout film role. Mystical Pizza a year earlier. When Shirley MacLaine and Sally Field met during AFI Nights in Hollywood, they reminisced about the events that happened on the film’s set.
Sally Field said that Herbert Ross vindictively pursued Roberts for even the stupidest of reasons. McClain added that Ocean’s Eleven The actress came to her every evening in tears and said: “I think I’m terrible. What am I doing?”. They further shared that the director was very difficult to work with and that during filming everyone hated him.
Field even recalled that MacLaine and Dolly Parton would have compared the director since they were more experienced actresses. She said Ross even suggested Parton take acting classes. In his autobiography Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished BusinessParton said that Ross was always pursuing Julia Roberts and herself. Parton wrote:
“At first he didn’t particularly like me or Julia Roberts and he was very hard on us. Julia Roberts wasn’t the big star she is now, and I think Herbert Ross didn’t like using her. He told me I couldn’t play. This was not news to me, and I told him about it.”
Herbert Ross died in 2001 due to heart failure. McClain mentioned that neither she nor the band attended the director’s funeral, although they made peace after the film.
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Julia Roberts called the director “Sneaky and Wrong”
Julia Roberts was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the film steel magnolias. It was her first big film, in which she starred alongside a group of veteran actresses. However, in 1993, long after the speech, Herbert Ross again criticized Eat Pray Love actress, commenting that Roberts “looked bad and showed a very bad game” to the cinema.
Gaslit the actress answered and called the director “mean and abnormal”. She further added (via Far Out):
“If he thinks he can talk down to me like that without making me say anything about it, he’s crazy.”
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Ross was wrong in his assessment of Roberts, as she later won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film and as Erin Brockovich. She went on to become one of Hollywood’s most profitable actresses, and her films grossed $3.9 billion worldwide. Classic movie steel magnolias
is now available to stream on Netflix.Source: US Weekly, Far Out, Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business.