Julia Roberts: I've risked my career by not having a facelift

Julia Roberts claims she has “taken a big risk” with her career by not having a facelift in her 40s.

The actress implied that she is an unusual case in Hollywood, preferring to age naturally rather than go under the knife.

Her comments come in the week that Renee Zellweger’s remarkable transformation made headlines, with the 45-year-old Bridget Jones star attributing her new look to feeling happy.

In an interview to promote her role as the face of beauty brand Lancome, Roberts, 46, said she is happy to let nature take its course. “By Hollywood standards, I guess I’ve already taken a big risk in not having had a facelift, but I’ve told Lancome that I want to be an ageing model – so they have to keep me for at least five more years until I’m over 50."

Roberts said she had found peace through “studying yoga on a more conscious level” and de-cluttering her life.

“It’s about non-grasping, non-hoarding, cleaning out your closet, dusting out your mind and letting go of the things that weigh you down mentally and emotionally.

“There’s a lightness to my life now – an airy quality of not taking things too seriously. That’s happiness,” she told You magazine.

Roberts, at the top of the Hollywood tree for more than 20 years with films including Pretty Woman, Erin Brockovich and last year’s Oscar-nominated August: Osage County, spends most of her time away from Hollywood at her family ranch in New Mexico.

She and her cameraman husband, Danny Moder, are parents to Henry, seven, and nine-year-old twins Hazel and Phinnaeus.

The actress, who turns 47 on Tuesday, said looking glamorous away from a film set is the last thing on her mind.

“Mornings are a high-humour scene. You just have to make sure everyone looks and smells clean. That’s all that matters. If I actually manage to get my teeth brushed and lip balm on, I’m good,” she said.

_{Renee Zellweger's appearance at an awards ceremony last week, which she put down to feeling 'happy' and 'peaceful'}

However, Roberts acknowledged that she is more privileged than most mothers.

“I often think about the reality of my life versus a mother who, say, lives in Kansas City and is struggling to pick up the kids when she gets off work, or who doesn’t get to choose not to go to work because she wants to stay at home with the kids.

“Those mothers are my real-life heroes, and they include my girlfriends, who do this with joy and grace and with full-time jobs. I don’t have to worry about it and I’m grateful for that.”