For Britt Robertson, Starring in ‘Mother’s Day’ With Julia Roberts Is Literally a Dream Come True

Britt Robertson might be starring alongside some of Hollywood’s biggest names — but she still values her privacy. (Photo: Trunk Archive/Mark Segal)

Britt Robertson’s played the 15-year-old future-seeking accomplice to George Clooney in Tomorrowland, the love interest of Scott Eastwood in The Longest Ride, and an influential runaway in Cake. But what she hasn’t tackled, until recently, is the role of a mother. In Garry Marshall’s latest star-studded endeavor, Mother’s Day, Robertson plays Kristin, a young parent struggling to commit to a future plan before figuring out her past. For the actress, it was literally a dream come true to work with Julia Roberts — and add Kate Hudson and Jennifer Aniston to that roster of A-list idols on set, Robertson could barely contain her cool.

But Robertson is just that. Though she has quickly elevated herself to A-list red carpet status, the 26-year-old has mastered the art of staying out of the limelight. She prefers jeans and a T-shirt to designer threads, is above engaging in Twitter banter, and loves to spend her nights off lounging with friends in her Charleston-themed home. We recently caught up with Robertson to discuss her upcoming movie, which hits theaters on April 29, how to make a baby act, and the one thing on her IMDb page that she’d like to erase.

Yahoo Style: Loved your role in Mother’s Day. Is this the first time you portrayed a mom?

Britt Robertson: Oh, good question. I played a mom once before that in this Eddie Murphy movie called Cook, which is going to Tribeca. So I’m becoming a mom all over the place, sort of in a short period of time. It’s freaking me out a little bit.

That’s new territory for you. How do you get into that mom mindset?

Well, luckily for me, the character [in Mother’s Day] Kristen is very young. … She’s desperately trying to make the right decisions, but she’s a little lost and finding her way, which I’ve done before so that wasn’t too much of a stretch. It’s just the mom part. But what’s great about being a mom is I got to carry this cute little baby around. And she was amazing! She would never cry. She was really good. It wasn’t super challenging.

Any funny baby mishaps? Did you get peed on or anything?

Oh, my gosh no. But what’s so funny though is they would just give me little cookies to give her. So she would just be eating every scene that exists in the movie. You could tell she would be chewing on something because before every take I would have to give her a little cracker. So it kept her occupied. I guess she was fine just eating all day.

So are you ready for more of these mom roles? Do you feel like you’ve mastered them?

I think it’s nice to bounce around. I have this film coming out where I play a mom. This summer I did a film where I play a 19-year-old. If I can just bounce around between high school and motherhood, then maybe I can balance my life out a little bit.

You should just play a high school mom and then both of those worlds will collide.

Yeah. Exactly! I’ll let you know when I do my next teen-mom pregnancy film.

Julia Roberts is your favorite actress. How surreal was it to have her portray your onscreen mother?

Oh, it was so cool. It doesn’t even feel real. If you were to ask me when I was like 15 or something what would be my dream role, I’d say to be in a Garry Marshall movie where Julia Roberts plays my mom. So it really is a dream come true, and I know people say that all the time, but for me it really was. And for me, what was even more amazing was I was able to bring my mom on set, who is also a huge Julia Roberts fan. And to have me and my mom on this Garry Marshall set with Julia Roberts and this entire great ensemble cast, it was more than surreal.

So now you don’t have to get her a Mother’s Day present.

Exactly. That’s what I’m saying. Mother’s Day comes around and it’s like, “I treated you all year around to Mother’s Day madness really.”

What was meeting Julia for the first time like?

Well, I met her in the hair and makeup trailer. And the hair and makeup trailer is a weird place to meet someone because you come in one door and you see someone at the every end of the trailer. And those trailers are huge on a movie like this. So she was like on another planet when I walked in, but I knew that she was over there. I wasn’t sure if I should introduce myself or give her time to get ready. I was trying to be really considerate of her time. But then what was great is she kind of actually yelled out to me from her little chair. She was like, “Hi, Britt!” I was like, “Oh my God! How cute is this?” I was having a ball. I was on cloud nine. I could not come down from this lovely moment. Julia Roberts was on set and she was playing my mom and it was like, “What is happening to my life?” I was looking forward to set every day.

Did you get any good advice from acting about Julia or Jen or anyone on set? Or did you take away anything from watching how they did things?

The one thing that I’m constantly reminded of when being around people like Jen and Kate and Julia: They are so respectful of people, of the crew, of Garry especially. Watching Julia walk Garry to set every day was great. They would hold hands. Everyone just loves each other so much. There is no facade; everyone is there for the cause. And I think that’s such a beautiful sentiment when you are making movies because it should really be about making the best movie you can. And you can’t do that unless you’re just being kind to one another and taking time to be considerate of others and their job.

You have social media, but you’re not very active on it. Is there a reason for that?

[Laughs] Yeah. I don’t know. It didn’t really seem like it was doing much for me in life. I felt like, Why not be the cool kid who doesn’t do social media but still sort of has it? I feel like it’s a good move for me in my life.

Does you not using it much have anything to do with all the abuse that celebrities are constantly taking on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram?

Yeah. It’s probably me protecting myself in the future if that’s something that I would be subjected to on social media. I haven’t really had any specific instances that would be so serious that I’m like, “I’m shutting it all down because this one person.” I don’t feel like there would ever be a time where one instance could just take me down. It’s more of a personal decision, but I understand that so many people deal with that, so it’s actually probably in my best interest to not be on it if that’s what’s going to go down.

When you’re not on a red carpet, we see you in a lot of cargo pants, jeans, and T-shirts, which is kind of the antithesis of Hollywood fashion. Is casual and laid-back what you are typically going for stylewise?

It is. I grew up in South Carolina in the suburbs, where I wore the long guy shorts, like basketball shorts. So I wore basketball shorts and T-shirts for most of my childhood. And then coming out to Los Angeles, I went to a lot of vintage shops. I went through this weird phase of only being vintage. So now I’ve realized that it’s not necessarily a specific style that I’m drawn to; I just like being comfortable, and I kind of go through these phases in life where different outfits make me comfortable with who I am. And right now it seems like jeans and T-shirts make me really comfortable. So that’s what I go for. Comfort is key in my opinion.

So is dressing up for you more part of the job?

It is. But sometimes it can be nice. Like yesterday I had big press day and it was really nice to be in a dress and have my hair done and look nice. It made me feel feminine, and there is something very nice about that as well. It’s just hard for me to have the energy or to put the time into doing all that on a regular basis. It’s nice to just sprinkle that in every now and then.

Yeah. A lot of people in this town seem like they don’t walk out of their houses unless they spend hours getting ready every day.

Yeah, it’s amazing. I mean good on them! I just don’t have the patience.

When it is time for you to get all glammed up, do you have help?

Yes. I have the best team. Elizabeth Stewart styles me. She’s been styling me for the last few years. Thank God for her. I feel really comfortable when I get on a red carpet, and she never forces anything on me that I wouldn’t be happy with. But she does have a really unique kind of classic style of her own that I really respect, so it’s nice to get input. And then I have this wonderful hair stylist, Christian Wood, and he’s always really great with my hair. I’ve been growing my hair out so I can do really fun things with it on the red carpet. It’s cool.

Is it true you’ve been living on your own since you were 16?

Yeah. I lived with family friends when I was 16. I moved out here with my grandmother when I was really young and she sort of transitioned back home at the age of 16. But I wasn’t totally on my own. Some people do get freaked out by that. I had family friends and I lived in their guesthouse. So I was taken care of.

Tell us about your place now. Does it have a theme? What’s the vibe like?

My house is hilarious. I have the funniest house. Whenever people come into my home they think that they are transported back into Charleston, S.C., back in the ’90s. It’s really funny. It’s very homey, lots of rugs, a huge coffee table, big cushy couch. And then I have art pieces from Jack Bender, this artist that I love. He directed a lot of episodes of Under the Dome, but he’s an artist as well, and he’s so phenomenal. So it’s a really cool, comfy house. People love to come over and rehab their souls in my house because it’s so comfy.

Are you usually the entertainer throwing the dinner parties and the game nights then?

I mean I guess. I don’t even do that anymore. I feel like I’m such a homebody. I can’t even throw together a game night. But I do have girlfriends that will come over and stay for a couple days or sometimes months just because it’s like, “Why not live here?” I have so many open rooms and stuff, why not have my girlfriends come and stay whenever they feel is needed.

Looking back at your IMDb page, is there one thing that you’d like to erase or a role that you held that you get a good laugh over?

Hilarious! I’ve been doing it for so long so it’s not like I can be embarrassed of things that I did when I was like 11 [Laughs]. Although my friends have frequently watched my episode of Power Rangers when I was like 11 where I play the pink Power Ranger and that’s pretty embarrassing. I’ll take that one off if I have to choose!

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