Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
The first thing you notice is the pleather miniskirt, or maybe the McDonalds kids meal watch.
Erin (Julia Roberts) says to her boss Ed (Albert Finney).
He frowns, looking up to correct her, his eyes obscured through coke-bottle glasses.
Kind of like David and whats-his-names whole fucking family.
Erin Brockovichis more fun than other movies about selfless do-gooders; its sexier, too.
It makes doing the right thing feel a little thrilling, a little naughty, a lot of fun.
I had been there since 1992.
When the movie happened, I had been resolvingHinkleywith the attorneys and constantly on the road.
So when the movie came out, I was working.
How did that meeting go?
He goes, I hope you dont talk like that all the time!
I wasnt really sure what was gonna happen.
After the meeting they just thought this would be a great thing for a movie.
I said okay, honestly, never thinking it would happen.
I got a contract and had an attorney look at it.
I didnt get invested in it.
I was invested in my work.
Next thing I knew, theyve got a director.
Then thenextthing I knew, theyre gonna really make a movie.
Andnextthing I knew theyre going to pick whos playing in it.
And next thing I knew was Julia Roberts.
Wow.I dont pay attention to stuff like that.
I can be pretty focused on what Im doing, and thats precisely what I was doing.
I want to go back for a moment.
When did it feel real for you?
It got real for me at two points: first, at the wrap party.
Everyone was talking about what theyre going to name the film, since the working title was Erin Brockovich.
I said I didnt know.
They said, Go ask Steven Soderbergh.
So I did, and he said: Erin Brockovich.
That put me in a position that made me nervous.
What was that screening like?
Ed and I were high-fiving each other a lot.
Did that feel like a victory for you at the time?
That the company was actually named?Yeah.
They tried so hard to hide from it.
That was just really egregious behavior.
They tried to stop the movie, but it still happened.
I think its really important that we know the truth of whats happening.
I know people always say Youre picking on companies!
or this or that.
So we were surprised by that, but also glad to see it.
Oftentimes they dont do that in movies, its a fictitious name.
On your website, you call the movie 98 percent accurate.
[Laughs] Its little details like that.
I want to talk about thatMiss Wichita scenefor a moment.
I always have been since I was a young girl.
My parents would always say that if Id see an older person having lunch alone, Id usually cry.
I dont want people to feel alone.
I dont like it when someones scared.
I just think that, by nature, Im a people person and Im very empathetic.
I was in a position as a single mom that I needed to work.
I was doing what I needed to do for my children to have food on the table.
I grew up being taught that those are the greatest gifts we have.
Should I be sayingyouinstead?Isnt it so funny?
[Laughs] You know, people say that all the time.
But yeah, thats fine.
Its just who I am.
Ive put them into play.
People were surprised by how I dressed or that I didnt have a PhD.
But all of it is who I am.
I never gave a thought to how I was dressing.
I am a woman at the end of the day.
Im sure I had my own self-esteem issues.
I know I did.
And, first of all, it was pretty hot out there.
But thats just the way I dress even now.
I look and Im like,God, Im 60.
Should I be wearing this?
[Laughs] I guess I think style is how you feel.
Tell me why.Im nervous.
Ive always been uncomfortable with cameras, ever since I can remember.
My mom was a journalist and a sociology major and loves photography.
I would oftentimes move away from the camera.
Youre from Tulsa, right?
My moms from Ponca City.
We would spend a lot of time there, down with the Cherokees and the Ponca nation.
Somebody there had said my spirit doesnt like [being photographed].
The whole movie thing made me uncomfortable enough.
I can still be very uncomfortable with it today.
I just didnt want to do that scene because my spirit is what it is.
So I did it.
I flubbed up my one line.
How?I told you, I didnt want to do it!
How I flubbed up my line is because she was ordering chicken noodle soup for the baby.
Im like, Elizabethll gag on the noodle!
It was all just weird.
I know its a film, but Id never been involved in anything like that in my life.
In retrospect, do you think Steven was right?
Would you have regretted it?Its funny, I dont know that I wouldve even thought about it.
Universal was great about that, and so was Jersey Films, and so was Steven Soderbergh.
I wish they all could have just been seen in the movie.
I did worry about how they would feel.
What else were you worried about?What if it was a flop?
You know, all those kinds of things come into your mind.
I certainly never, ever, ever thought it [would be so relevant] into 2020.
He does seem like the most curious person.
I remember meeting him for the first time here at my house.
I enjoyed the conversation with him.
Hes easy to talk to.
I loved his Doc Martens and his little dark rimmed glasses.
He was easy going.
I could see that he was visualizing something himself in his own mind, but hes very confident.
I was comfortable around him.
Tell me about getting the call that Julia Roberts was going to play you?I couldnt believe it.
I was always asking if theyd cast the roles yet.
Ed would always ask me who I thought should play me.
And Im like,Well, I really have no idea.
Ed said he didnt care who played me as long as it wasnt Julia Roberts.
I mean, first of all, Julia Roberts is never going to do it.
ShesJulia Roberts!He goes, Nahhhh…
Her boobs werent big enough, her mouths not foul enough, its never going to happen!
Ed and I joked with each other constantly.
So when Steven called and said weve cast the part, my heart did start to race.
I said, Who is it?
He goes, Julia Roberts.
I said, Oh my God, I cant believe you for a whole host of reasons!
I mean, how does this stuff happen?
What happened when you met her?I was very nervous.
When she came in, I was sitting and doing hair and makeup.
I saw her in the mirror and she went into another room and I could hear her.
So that kind of broke the ice.
A) Shes so pretty.
B) She has a beautiful energy.
Her presence is very warm.
It was, again, weird.Wow.
I just met Julia Roberts.
Earlier you described that first screening when you were watching Albert and Ed was watching Julia.
Im like,Oh, okay.He thought Julia was amazing.
And I will tell you, Albert Finney couldnt have been 100 percent more spot on.
I was just reading an obituary of Ed where someone said he was tougher than Albert Finney played him.
Would you say thats true?Tougher?
Ed was something else.
I miss him every day.
He was really smart.
Ed could take you on, especially if he was backed up on principle.
He had great tenacity.
And he was also a prankster and a jokester.
Ed was a thinker.
You wouldnt always know what he was going to do.
Ed was a giving man with a huge heart, and loved his family and loved his work.
But yeah if he was going to go after you, he was gonna stay after you.
George and I, right at the time the film came out, werent together.
George was a very unique man, and he was so great with my children.
I have a joke, and I say it because George even knew about it.
Hed go, Thats so classic and thats so you!
I did forget about George at times, and so to see that dynamic play out was nice.
Julia and Aaron Eckhart did a great job.
We used to get chased by girls on the bike.
Im like, Im not going to get on the bike with you anymore.
Were going to get killed!
George was a good looking guy.
So the movie is made and then it comes out, and its this monster hit.
I started my work when I 30 and Im 60 with four grandchildren now.
Its like,Whoa.
I think its just the meaning of the story.
The environmental issues in the movie are real.
In some ways I think it mightve been ahead of its time.
[Laughs] I mean,hello, have we met?
A lot of the reviewers mostly men were really upset by it!
And men swear in movies all the time and its never a problem.
I guess Im curious how it felt to experience that.I was stunned to see it.
But Ive been used to being labeled and judged and perceived.
Thats who I am.
And my mother reminds me enough to watch my language, thank you very much.
But youre right, there were a lot of sexist things going on there.
They wanted to talk about how you dressed.
You cant recognize that 200 dead frogs in green water is fucked up and that people are being harmed?
And so Im going to go sit in a corner?
Whats your favorite scene in the movie?Theyre called boobs, Ed.
[Laughs] I thought that was hilarious.
I thought that was a good one.
And Im exhausted, actually.
I just gave 634 blow jobs.
Im sorry, but that was funny.
It was way, way, way,wayoverwhelming.
When youre out in the spotlight like that, people see you.
It was different from even my beauty pageant days.
And I didnt see myself that way.
I mean, they had to teach me how to pronounce Swarovski!
I didnt have a glam squad, are you kidding me?
I had panicked because I had just lost a lot of weight from work and anxiety.
The dress I wanted to wear didnt fit literally, it fell off my body.
I was scared of the lights and the paparazzi.
That was a good thing.
What were you doing on Oscar night?I had a sick kid, so I stayed home.
She had a real bad sinus infection.
I had a dress and everything, but I watched it from TV.
I thought Julia looked stunning and I thought she did fabulous.
I was so excited.
The only thing I was like,Fuck!
You know, Steven, you put outTrafficat the same time, and they got Best Director!
A lot of people were like, I cant believe she didnt mention you in her speech!
I thought nothing of it.
This wasnt about me.
It was Julias moment, it didnt even phase me.
It had these real, pretty seashell kind of things, and caviar.
It was really beautiful.
It was just, just a very heartfelt, lovely, thank you.
