“Lots of kissing hello and goodbye” is a vital ingredient for a joyous married life, Roberts told PEOPLE and you better believe it. If the buzz of the plethora of celebrity breakups has been tormenting you, Julia Roberts‘ long and fulfilling married life might be just the refresher you need to believe in true love again.
The 56-year-old Oscar-winning actress has been one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars and her fame has stood the test of time. But beyond the glitz and glamour, the Pretty Woman actress‘ marriage has proven to be as resilient as her illustrious career, making her one of the rare Hollywood couples we can look up to for dating advice.
Though Roberts first found love with the country singer Lyle Lovett and married him in 1993 after merely three weeks of dating, the short-lived romance left Roberts with important lessons to make her next marriage an absolute joy. Roberts and Lovett divorced after 21 months of marriage in 1995 and fate brought Roberts to meet her forever love 5 years later.
In 2000, Julia Roberts met the talented young man Daniel Moder on the sets of the 2001 film The Mexican, where Roberts was playing Brad Pitt’s love interest, and Moder was working as the cameraman. Her future husband was back then married to the celebrity makeup artist Vera Steimberg while Roberts had been dating the actor and producer Benjamin Bratt since 1998. But soon, fate worked its way and brought the two together.
Here’s everything you need to know about Roberts’ husband, Daniel Moder, and their happily ever after.
Who is Julia Roberts’ husband Daniel Moder?
Daniel Moder is a successful cinematographer, having been in the industry since 1995. He was born on Jan. 31, 1969, in Los Angeles, California, and is two years younger than Roberts. Moder received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his cinematography in the 2014 television film The Normal Heart.
Moder began his career as a production assistant in the 1995 action film Crimson Tide and then worked on the set of the 1996 sports drama film The Fan the following year. After The Fan, Moder found success working in the Camera and Electrical Department on films like The Brave, Enemy of the State, The Big Tease, and Tuesdays with Morrie.
Moder debuted as a cinematographer in the 2000 short comedy film Kid Quick and then quickly worked his way up in this new position. His long list of credits as a cinematographer includes films like Grand Champion (2002), Border (2007), The Hit (2007), Fireflies in the Garden (2008), Jesus Henry Christ (2011), Highland Park (2013), Plush (2013), Secret in Their Eyes (2015), Ibiza (2018), Ezra (2023), and more.
As for what kind of a husband he is to Roberts, the actress has all praises for him. “Every day my husband walks in the door it’s like a recurring dream,” Roberts told People in 2017 (via USA Today).
How long have Julia Roberts and Daniel Moder been married?
Julia Roberts and Daniel Moder tied the knot on July 4, 2002, in Taos, New Mexico, after the two had separated from their previous partners. Roberts split from Bratt after nearly four years together in June 2001, and Moder’s divorce from Steimberg was finalized in early 2002. In the Dec. 2003 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, Roberts opened up about the whole scenario and said,
“He [Daniel] sorted his whole thing out, separate and apart from me, and I sorted my life out, separate and apart from him. I think that’s the only reason we were able to ultimately fall in love with each other and be together.”
Surely, destiny played out beautifully for the two love birds, who have been happily married for more than 21 years now. They share three beautiful children: a pair of twins, Phinnaeus and Hazel, born on Nov. 28, 2004, and another son named Henry born on June 8, 2007.
Roberts and Moder cherish their life together, and the actress makes it a point to express how she loves her life with Moder. On Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop podcast in November 2018, Roberts called her marriage to Daniel the best decision of her life,
“Getting married to Danny. That was the first [real seismic shift], like, my life will never be the same in the most incredible, indescribable way. The best decision I ever made in my entire life was to hitch my wagon to Danny Moder.”
Roberts and Moder’s 19-year-old twins, Hazel and Phinnaeus, are now in college, and son Henry, 16, will soon join them. The Roberts-Moder household seems like a huge bubble of happiness and love, and we’re loving every growing year of it.