How JULIA ROBERTS and DANNY MODER got their marriage back on track.
Julia Roberts has been working hard to heal her troubled relationship with Danny Moder
They were struggling. Julia Roberts was working nonstop, shooting and producing multiple projects in late 2017 and early 2018. Husband Danny Moder, who had put his cinematography career on the back burner to focus on their family, felt resentful. The couple argued frequently and he often stayed at a property they own across the street, says a friend. “This spring, Julia and Danny were often at odds over his desire to wear the pants in the family,” the pal says, “and what he saw as her controlling ways.”
Friends feared Julia, 50, and Danny, 49, were headed for a split after years of escalating tensions. But she wasn’t willing to let that happen. Despite their differences, the couple love each other, and the Pretty Woman star decided the relationship was worth fighting for. In recent weeks, “She’s done everything in her power to fix their marriage,” says the friend. Leading up to their 16th wedding anniversary on July 4, “Julia pulled out all the stops to show Danny how much she values him and their relationship. It’s managed to pull them back from the brink.”
THE ULTIMATE GETAWAY
Julia’s most recent gesture was to plan a dream-cometrue trip for Danny. “Julia organized a healing surf trip to Fiji,” says the pal, zeroing in on something she knew her husband, a lifelong surfer, would relish. “She saw it as a chance to fix their floundering marriage and knew it would be a great way to thank Danny for being her rock.” In late June, the friend says, “They took off for a week to Tavarua Island, a family-friendly surf resort known for its worldclass waves, with some friends of Danny’s, their spouses and their kids.” Julia went the extra mile “and flew most of the group out on her plane,” adds the pal. “They had the whole island to themselves.”
She’d been working to smooth things over well before the trip. When she got home from filming her latest movie, Ben Is Back, she surprised Danny and the kids — Henry, 11, and twins Phinnaeus and Hazel, 13 — with a black lab puppy named Brown. “She felt like it would bring them together as a family,” says the friend. She also started shooting her new Amazon series, the thriller Homecoming, in LA, not far from their Malibu compound, “which allowed her to be home at night.” The getaway meant the most to Danny, though. Julia “is learning to give up the control that’s caused so many problems in their marriage. This has eased the tension,” says the friend. “She’s hoping that this trip will really help them strengthen their marriage after being so close to divorce.”