Julia Roberts’ Leave the World Behind costar Myha’la Herrold is opening up about her experience working with the star.
While speaking with Brit + Co about the movie, Herrold shared that she and Roberts spent a significant time bonding while on set.
“We spent a lot of time [at the kitchen table], me and Julia. But we were sat there and I had a headache that wouldn’t go away,” she recalled.
“And we sat there in between the millionth take of whatever it was, and she grabbed my hand and massaged [a trigger point right here].”
The actor said that Roberts’ act of kindness “was so nurturing and she didn’t have to do that.”
“But it just was such a clear gesture to say, ‘We are safe here together.
We’re both in the same boat,’ ” she added. “I never felt from any of these people on this set that I was juniorized or that they didn’t respect me as a peer. . . It really, really meant a lot to me.”
The new Netflix movie follows Roberts, 56, and Ethan Hawke as parents Amanda and Clay, who take their children Archie (Charlie Evans) and Rose (Farrah Mackenzie) on a weekend trip just before an apparent disaster hits the world.
Herrold, 27, enters the picture with her on-screen father Mahershala Ali’s character G.H. when they also arrive at the home and claim to be its owners.
Herrold, who also appeared in this year’s Dumb Money and has screen credits on HBO’s Industry and the 2022 A24 slasher-comedy Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, was surrounded by acting veterans on Leave the World Behind’s set — the film also stars Kevin Bacon.
“I’m always learning from my environment, from the people around me, particularly paying attention to people who have had the joy of a long career,” she told the outlet of working with the veteran cast surrounding her.
Sam Esmail, best known for the Mr. Robot television series, directed the new movie after previously working with with Roberts on Homecoming as a director and co-executive producer.
The new movie is based on the 2020 novel of the same name by Rumaan Alam.
Leave the World Behind’s production team also includes former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as executive producers via their company Higher Ground Productions; the movie marks the company’s first narrative fictional feature.
Leave the World Behind is streaming on Netflix now.
