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Are Julia Roberts and Husband Danny Moder ‘Living Separate Lives’ Amid Marriage Woes?
The temperatures in England were near freezing. But that didn’t stop Julia Roberts from sporting shorts — a tailored pink pair by Gucci, topped with a matching blazer — as she arrived for a screening of her new psychological thriller, Leave the World Behind, at London’s Curzon Mayfair theater on November 29. She flashed her trademark smile alongside director Sam Esmail and co-star Myha’la Herrold on the red carpet, but her husband, cinematographer Danny Moder, was nowhere to be seen.
That’s been a common theme over the past year. In fact, the couple haven’t been photographed together in public since December 2022. Now, five months after marking their 21st wedding anniversary, Julia and Danny are at a crisis point in their marriage, multiple insiders exclusively tell Life & Style. “They seem to be living separate lives,” says one source, who believes the pair could be headed for a $250 million divorce. “Friends fear that after years of ups and downs, this is finally the end. It feels like they just gave up.”
HOW THEY GOT HERE
Problems are nothing new. Back in 2018, Life & Style revealed the Oscar winner, 56, and the cinematographer, 54 — who may or may not have signed a prenup — were fighting over everything from her controlling ways to their different approaches to parenting to Danny always feeling like he’s in Julia’s shadow. Though Julia has at points stepped back from acting to focus on her family, “Danny was always of the belief that Julia [still] put her career ahead of his and he resented it,” an insider tells Life & Style. In 2020, Julia pushed to try something new. After years of raising their three children in Malibu, she bought a century-old house in San Francisco. “She overruled Danny’s objections and ran with it. She was passionate about renovating and moving the family there so the kids could go to school with the children of tech tycoons, not entitled Hollywood kids,” explains the insider. “Danny resisted the move. His career is in LA, plus he wanted to be in Southern California to stay closer to his family. He did move, though, but it was to appease Julia, who pretty much put her foot down on the matter.”
It was a disaster, the insider tells Life & Style. “Danny was never happy about living in San Francisco. He felt it was hurting his career being so far from the action. He missed his surfing buddies. He didn’t like the vibe or the weather. It put strain on their marriage and wasn’t getting better, no matter how nice Julia made their home,” shares the source, who says Danny was ready to head back to Malibu “whether Julia came with him or not.”
Julia, adds the insider, “knew she was beat. He gave San Francisco a shot, she had to give him that. Her dream didn’t work out the way she intended.” They were facing a reckoning. “They had to take a good, long look at their marriage and decide what they were going to do,” the insider reveals to Life & Style. “In the end, they moved back to LA together.”
In October, they sold the San Francisco house. But issues remained. This year, son Henry turned 16, and twins Hazel and Phin- naeus rang in their 19th birthday. “The kids are older and more independent,” says the source, “and Julia and Danny are having to figure out this new phase of their relationship.”
DISPARATE INTERESTS
They’re also very different people. “Danny’s a creature of habit. He works, he has hobbies like photography, surfing and skateboarding,” the source shares to Life & Style, “and a huge circle of the same friends he’s had for years and sees often.” Julia, however, “really doesn’t spend time with a lot of friends,” says the source. “She enjoys staying home, and if given the choice, she wouldn’t be in LA.”
On top of that, notes the source, “Julia is not close with Danny’s friends or family. She doesn’t hangout with them, so he’s usually without her.”
Indeed, Danny was sans the actress when he traveled to Fiji to surf with buddies this fall, the source tells Life & Style: “Even though she doesn’t want to go, Julia’s been known to get jealous of all the time he spends away with the boys.” But there’s tension with his loved ones closer to home, too. Danny’s sisters “remain friends with his first wife,” Vera Steimberg, says the source. “It’s a point of contention.”
Combined with all of their other issues, it’s a lot. “Julia loves Danny, though,” the insider insists to Life & Style. “Deep down, she doesn’t want this marriage to fail.” However, adds the source, “it’s not only up to her.”
