Being true to what your heart says takes a lot of courage and very few people have the strength to even call off their own weddings because they realize they loved someone other than the one they were about to marry. Julia Roberts had this strength of heart and when she figured that she wished to be with Jason Patric, she called off her wedding with Kiefer Sutherland just three days before their wedding date.
According to People, Julia’s wedding with Sutherland in June of 1991 “was going to be the fantasy wedding of the decade. The four bridesmaids — makeup artist Lucienne Zammit, Julia’s agents, Elaine Goldsmith and Risa Shapiro, and actress Deborah Porter — had already picked up their $425 Manolo Blahnik shoes, dyed seafoam green to match the dresses.” The beautiful bride had already gotten her gown ready that cost a whopping $8,000. The report stated, “Unexpectedly, Roberts called the wedding off and Sutherland moved out of her house on the day of the ceremony.”
The dramatic part of the whole affair was that Patric was a close friend of Sutherland and according to People, he was initially invited to the wedding and then his invitation was rescinded. A source revealed that “Julia and Kiefer had a big fight over that.” It was reported that once the wedding was canceled, Patric and Julia headed abroad and were seen enjoying each other’s company in Ireland according to Yahoo. The couple stayed at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin and according to the staff of the hotel, “The engagement ring was off her finger.”
People reported that according to the sources in the hotel, “She looked very drawn. She had lost a lot of weight. Her hair was a pale orange, like a dye job gone wrong.” The paparazzi followed them there as Roberts was one of the top actresses of her time and her breakup with Sutherland was big news. They had flocked at the hotel to catch a glimpse of the new couple as a result of which Roberts and Patric had to move to the countryside to avoid them. They, however, soon made their relationship official.
The wedding being called off was a huge deal because they were one of the Hollywood power couples and People Magazine had once called Roberts and Sutherland “Hollywood’s reigning couple.” No one in their right mind would have even entertained the idea that they would separate like this, especially since she had claimed her love for him publicly. According to Yahoo, when Roberts received the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for Steel Magnolias, she thanked her “best friend — my beautiful blue-eyed, green-eyed best friend, who gives me everything,” referring to Sutherland.
There are many theories regarding the discord between the couple but neither Roberts nor Sutherland ever made public the exact reason that caused the rift between them. It is, however, believed that the fall began after Sutherland moved out of her mansion into a hotel, to research for a role apparently, but it was reported that he was accompanied by a 24-year-old go-go dancer named Amanda Rice.
Sutherland had moved back into the mansion later and they had a few months of peace before Amanda Rice chose to sell her story to a tabloid causing a major scandal. Sutherland denied all allegations of an affair but it seemed that his relationship with Sutherland had taken a bad turn by then.
According to Rolling Stones, Sutherland was extremely upset at Patric sin
ce he never revealed that he was falling in love with his fiance. Sutherland told the magazine, “We were friends, and I’m surprised that I never got a call from him saying I’ve fallen in love with da-da-da. Instead, I found out from a stranger.” And once he had had time to get around the shock of the event, he thanked Roberts for her decision saying, “I commend Julia for seeing how young and silly we were, even at the last minute, even as painful and as difficult as it was. Thank God she saw it.”
Roberts and Sutherland were once a star-studded couple of the magical land but it took great maturity on her side to realize a mistake that they were about to make and correct it. And it was a good thing too for love matters more than the attention it brings. The actress and Patric were together for a brief period and later went separate ways. She went on to find love with Daniel Moder and the two have been married since 2002 and are parents to three kids.