While Love at First Sight in Notting Hill gave him one of the strongest roles of his career, the film also made a lasting impression for its promotion. Indeed, on April 8, 1999, Julia Roberts walked the red carpet in a fuchsia sequined dress, when suddenly, she raised her arm to greet her fans and revealed hairy armpits. If today, this choice is made by many personalities (the singer Angèle or Lourdes, Madonna's daughter, are accustomed to the fact), at the time, the photos relayed around the world caused a scandal.
Julia Roberts in London on April 8, 1999 for the premiere of the film Love at First Sight in Notting Hill. Fred Duval / FilmMagic
Cover girl in the latest issue of the British edition of Vogue, the actress looked back on this moment in a video. Reluctant to react to several of the key outfits she has worn, the moment comes when she is presented with a photo of this London premiere: "I waved and people saw that I had armpit hair. It was a scandal," says Julia Roberts. And if some have thought that the actress made a feminist choice, it seems that this is not the case. Indeed, in 2018, on the set of Busy Phillips' show, Busy Tonight, she said, "I think I just hadn't really calculated the length of my sleeves and the movement of the hand, or how those two things would look together and how they would reveal personal things about me. So it wasn't so much a feminist statement but rather a reflection of who I think I am as a human being on this planet." In any case, the actress ends on a humorous note in the video: "I can still scandalize you if I take off my jacket now."