CULTURE

Julia Roberts Found Herself in a Prank War Between Brad Pitt and George Clooney During Ocean’s Twelve

But she got her revenge.

by Evelyn Wang

OCEAN'S ELEVEN, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, 2001, (c) Warner Brothers/courtesy Everett
Warner Bros/Everett Collection

Getting caught in any prank war is bad enough. Getting caught in a prank war between Brad Pitt and George Clooney must be absolutely exhausting. Just ask Julia Roberts, who found herself in this exact predicament during the filming of Ocean’s Twelve — and while pregnant, no less.

The Oscar laureate told EW that at first, the cast treated her like she was “made of porcelain” because she was gestating her unborn child. “I couldn’t go up a flight of stairs, they would go get whatever I needed,” she complained. But once Danny Ocean’s gang landed in Rome, all bets were off. “When I got to the hotel in Rome, I opened my suitcase and there was this giant, heavy bronze statue in my suitcase, and I almost burst into tears. How could they do this to me?” she told EW. “Because this was a gag, to put something very heavy in someone’s suitcase,” she continued. “But me? I’m pregnant! I’m fragile! How?”

Since she’s Julia Roberts (and was also pregnant), she retaliated immediately . . . “only to then discover that Brad had carried my suitcase out of the house and into the car, and so George thought it was Brad’s suitcase, so he put the statue in ‘Brad’s’ suitcase, which was really my suitcase.”

An honest mistake, but by that point it was too late. Roberts had gotten her revenge, which was apparently so devious and despicable she could only refer to it in terms of involving “itching powder and Neosporin.” Say no more — whatever it was, it makes the roguish machinations of Pitt and Clooney look like child’s play in comparison. Let that be a lesson to anyone who dares to get Julia Roberts caught in their crossfire.

The Best of Julia Roberts in W Magazine

Julia Roberts. Photo by Michael Thompson. W Magazine, January 2005.
Julia Roberts. Photo by Michael Thompson. W Magazine, January 2005.
Julia Roberts. Photo by Michael Thompson. W Magazine, January 2005.
Julia Roberts. Photo by Michael Thompson. W Magazine, January 2005.
Julia Roberts. Cover by Richard Prince. W Magazine, November 2007.
Photo by Mario Sorrenti, styled by L’wren Scott. W Magazine, June 2011.
Julia Roberts. Photo by Mario Sorrenti, L’wren Scott. W Magazine, June 2011.
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