She has that laugh. You know the one—the kind that sounds like a symphony of unbridled joy and a little bit of trouble. It’s the laugh that launched a thousand magazine covers, but none hit quite like the images of Julia Roberts on Rolling Stone.
It’s easy to forget now, in an era of filtered Instagram grids and carefully curated TikTok "GRWM" videos, how much a single magazine cover used to matter. Back in the early '90s, being on the cover of Rolling Stone wasn't just a PR win. It was a coronation. For Julia, it was the moment she transitioned from a "pretty woman" into a global icon who could hold her own against rock stars and renegades.
The first time she graced the cover was August 9, 1990. Issue #584.
She wasn't wearing some high-fashion couture gown that cost more than a Honda Civic. She was in a simple white tank top. Wild hair. That massive, 100-watt grin. At the time, Pretty Woman had just obliterated the box office, and everyone wanted a piece of her. But Rolling Stone didn't want the polished Disney version. They wanted the girl from Smyrna, Georgia, who was suddenly the highest-paid actress in the world and barely twenty-two years old.
The 1990 Coronation: Beyond the Smile
When people talk about Julia Roberts on Rolling Stone, they usually point to that 1990 shoot. It was photographed by Herb Ritts, the man who basically invented the "supermodel" aesthetic of the decade. Ritts had a way of making celebrities look both god-like and incredibly human.
The interview inside was... revealing. Honestly, it’s kinda fascinating to look back on now. She was so young. So green. She talked about the suddenness of it all. Imagine going from being a kid working at an ice cream shop to having the entire world track your every romantic move. She was dating Kiefer Sutherland at the time—a relationship that would later provide enough tabloid fodder to power a small city—and the profile captured that lightning-in-a-bottle energy.
But here’s the thing: Julia wasn't just a face.
She was a pivot point for the industry. Before her, female stars were often categorized. You were either the "serious actress" or the "rom-com girl." Julia broke that. She was doing Flatliners around the same time. She was weird. She was intense. In that 1990 feature, she wasn't just playing the ingenue; she was asserting her right to be complicated.
Why the 1994 Return Was Different
Fast forward a few years. July 14, 1994. The world had changed, and so had Julia.
By this point, she had survived the "Runaway Bride" headlines (the real-life ones, not the movie). She had married—and was in the process of navigating a very public life with—Lyle Lovett. If the 1990 cover was about the birth of a star, the 1994 cover was about the survival of one.
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The vibe was totally different. She looked more mature. Still has the hair, obviously, but there’s something in her eyes in those photos. A bit of armor. The 1994 issue (a double issue, no less) featured her alongside a piece on Hunter S. Thompson. That tells you everything you need to know about where Rolling Stone saw her. She wasn't just "celeb news." She was culture.
In the interview, she famously addressed the "felony" of her personal life. People were obsessed with her dancing with Ethan Hawke or who she was seen with in a bar. Her quote from that era still rings true: "I danced. Is that a felony?" It was her way of telling the world to back off.
The Evolution of the "America’s Sweetheart" Brand
There is a weird misconception that Julia Roberts has always been this beloved, untouchable figure. Not true.
If you go back and read the archives, the media was often quite brutal. They called her difficult. They analyzed her "box office poison" years before My Best Friend’s Wedding brought her back to the top. What Rolling Stone did—and why those specific issues are so collectible now—was give her space to be a person instead of a caricature.
Basically, they treated her like a rock star.
- The Look: Natural, messy, unpretentious.
- The Tone: Direct, sometimes defensive, always authentic.
- The Impact: It shifted the way we viewed "movie stars" in the grunge era.
She wasn't trying to be perfect. In fact, her imperfections were her greatest selling point. That’s why the 2001 era, around the time she won the Oscar for Erin Brockovich, felt like a victory lap. By then, she didn't need the cover to prove she was a star; the cover was just a record of her dominance.
The Lasting Legacy of Those Interviews
What can we actually learn from Julia Roberts on Rolling Stone today?
For starters, her career is a masterclass in boundary setting. She’s one of the few stars from that era who managed to transition into a "private" life while remaining incredibly famous. She stopped doing the constant press circuit. She moved to a ranch. She chose roles that interested her rather than roles that kept her "relevant."
There’s a specific kind of power in that.
The Rolling Stone features capture the exact moments when she was deciding who she wanted to be. In the 1990 interview, she’s trying to please everyone. By 1994, she’s starting to realize she can’t. By the 2000s, she simply doesn't care if she does.
Actionable Takeaways for the Julia Roberts Fan
If you're looking to dive deeper into this specific pocket of pop culture history, here is how you do it without getting lost in the weeds:
- Track Down the Physical Copies: Don't just look at JPEG's online. The 1990 issue (#584) is a piece of history. You can usually find them on eBay for under $30. It’s worth it just to see the ads and the other articles—it’s a time capsule of a world that doesn't exist anymore.
- Watch "The Pelican Brief" Again: This was the era of her 1994 cover. It's Julia at her most "Rolling Stone"—smart, slightly frazzled, and incredibly capable. It’s a better movie than people remember.
- Read the Herb Ritts Biographies: If you want to understand why those photos look the way they do, look into Ritts' work. He didn't just take pictures; he created the visual language of the 90s.
- Ignore the "Tabloid" Noise: When researching her past, stick to the long-form interviews like those in Rolling Stone or Vanity Fair. The weekly gossip rags from the 90s were mostly fiction. The long-form stuff is where the truth (or at least Julia's version of it) lives.
Julia Roberts didn't just land on the cover of a magazine. She defined an era of celebrity that was raw, messy, and undeniably magnetic. Whether she was defending her right to dance or laughing off the latest rumors, those pages caught a woman who was always one step ahead of the people trying to define her.