Julia Roberts makes up one half of one of Hollywood’s longest-lasting unions with her husband Daniel Moder. The couple first met in 2000 on the set of the film The Mexican, when she was still dating Benjamin Bratt and he was still married to Vera Steimberg. They started dating soon after her breakup from Benjamin and once Daniel’s divorce from Vera was finalized in 2002, the pair tied the knot. They’re still together and continue to gush over each other on social media and at public events as well.
Julia, 58, and Daniel, 56, share twins Hazel and Phinnaeus, 20, and younger son Henry, 18. But it wasn’t just Daniel who had a marital history before finding his love with Julia, but so did the Oscar-winning actress, who was married once before meeting the cinematographer. Although, that’s not all!
Julia had also been engaged twice before her first marriage, the first to her Steel Magnolias co-star Dylan McDermott (they were together reportedly from 1988-1990), and the second time to Kiefer Sutherland in 1990 (they called it quits just three days before their 1991 wedding, following which she briefly was in a relationship with his friend Jason Patric).
But only once before Daniel did Julia actually walk down the aisle. Read on to learn more about her romance with country music star and actor Lyle Lovett, their whirlwind romance, marriage and eventual divorce…
Who is Lyle Lovett?
Lyle, now 68, began his career making music in the 1980s, establishing himself as a popular name in the Texas folk music scene. After signing his first record deal with RCA Records, he released his self-titled debut album in 1986, and has continued to release music to this day, his last album being 2022’s 12th of June. He has one top 20 album in the US, and one top ten hit on the singles chart. Lyle has won four Grammys over the course of his career as well.
In 1983, he began his acting career with an appearance in the TV movie Bill: On His Own, followed by appearances in projects like the shows Mad About You, Castle, Blue Bloods and Big Sky, plus movies like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and The New Guy, plus appearing as himself in a variety of projects like Still Alice and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.
© Getty ImagesLyle and Julia
In early June 1993, the pair first met while filming the movie The Player. Even though Lyle was a full decade older than Julia, who’d just started becoming a household name thanks to her pivotal turn in Pretty Woman, the sparks between them were instantaneous. In fact, just three weeks into their whirlwind romance, on June 25, 1993, they eloped and married in Marion, Indiana.
From the very beginning, their marriage proved to have its ups and downs, mostly pertaining to their very busy schedules. Lyle continued to actively make music and movies, as did Julia, who was in the thick of the greatest decade of her career. While they shared a home in LA, they each also maintained separate residences (Lyle in Texas, Julia in NYC), with the singer once telling People that “we’ve never spent more than seven days together” at a time.
The split
In March 1995, after less than two years of marriage, the couple called it quits, with publications at the time attributing it to their demanding careers. Their statement at the time simply read: “We remain close and in great support of one another.” The Erin Brockovich star later told the Los Angeles Times that it was “actually ridiculously amicable.”
“You’d think people who could be that nice to each other would probably be a couple, but it just sort of wasn’t the way it was intended to be,” she continued. “We found our little niche and then overstepped it a little bit. In fact, I think it can just as often be the weaker choice to stay.”
Moving on
While Julia found love soon after with Daniel, so did Lyle. In 2003, he popped the question to then-girlfriend April Kimble, who he’d been dating since 1997. Lyle and the film producer didn’t tie the knot until 2017, which was also the year they welcomed their twins. He paid tribute to his family with his album 12th of June, the date their twins were born. They’ve been together for nearly three decades now.
Staying friends
And Lyle affirmed in a 2011 interview that he and Julia remained friends and amicable post-divorce. “Life is all about engaging in relationships with people you meet along the way,” he told The Herald. “I really enjoy getting to be with smart people who are interested in what they’re doing. That’s really what I take away from all of it.”