Two Julia Roberts - Spot the difference

I’m Julia too!

MEDHA SHRI, TNN 19 October 2009, 12:00am IST


Charlotte Johnstone got to do just that, when she doubled for Julia Roberts in her movie, Eat, Pray, Love, while it was being shot in and around 

Charlotte

Pataudi recently. She shot several scenes filling in for her.
In fact, the onlookers were eager to catch a glimpse of Charlotte, thinking she was Julia. She told DT that “it was an amazing experience.”
Says Charlotte, “There’s still colour in my hair. One of the requirements to get the role was to dye my hair to look just like Julia’s.” And how did she manage to bag such a coveted role? “Gurmeet Kaur, the casting 
director of Sahib productions, selected my pictures. They needed somebody who was her height and build.”
 Did she get a chance to meet Julia then? “I did get to speak to her, but very little. All day everyday, I worked for three weeks with her, but she’s been in the business for a very long time, she maintained a professional distance. And then, when she’d be on I’d be off, when I was on she’d be off, so I had no time to meet her,” shares Charlotte, adding, “She is very sweet and extremely charming, very smiley!”

A  Hollywood star would be taken care of well, of course. Charlotte lets in, “all of Julia’s needs were taken care of. She used to hang around in the green room, keeping cool, while the rest of the team would stand in the heat!” she says, “But I think she required that. She had a very important role and she needed to be focused.”
Julia’s love for her children was quite evident, considering the amount of time the star spent with them. Charlotte only reiterates the fact, “She had an agreement that she’d work only twelve hours a day. Lots of her work is oriented around her kids. I got to see her children quite a lot actually, they’re very sweet.” Julia even kept the crew waiting once, when she came to speak to Charlotte’s children. “I once brought my children on the sets. She was very excited. She instantly rushed over and introduced herself to my children. She was to do a scene but kept the crew waiting till she could meet my kids,” says Charlotte.

Charlotte shot lots of scenes at the Hari Mandir Ashram, and the village markets. “Julia’s character arriving at the ashram, the market scenes, eating at a lounge, scrubbing the temple floor... there are lots of scenes,” she says. Though she has done bits of African movies, this was her first Hollywood flick. So will there be a ‘first Bollywood flick’ soon? “I’d love to. It’ll be fun,” is her excited reply.
Charlotte, who’s basically from England, has been staying in India for over five years now. She’s a painter and her husband has his business here. She’s been all over India and loves the country. A double cheers to that!

No local love 
Julia Roberts and the crew of Eat, Pray, Love seem to run into controversy wherever they go. While shooting in India at Pataudi, the unit had angered the local population who had alleged that they were denied entry into the temple at the Hari Mandir Ashram to worship during Navratri, while shooting for the film was going on. Now that the cast and crew of the film have moved to Bali in Indonesia, the locals there don't seem too happy either. Maybe the movie unit just needs a bit more of praying and loving!