Julia Roberts was nearly unrecognizable while filming August: Osage County alongside co-star Ewan McGregor in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Far from her glamorous Pretty Woman persona, the 44-year-old actress appeared completely transformed—her face bare of makeup, her hair unstyled, and her wardrobe deliberately plain.
On set, Roberts portrayed Barbara Weston, a woman struggling to hold her fractured family together after the disappearance of their alcoholic patriarch. Wearing loose blue jeans, a cream top layered with a white shirt, and minimal accessories, she embodied the weary realism of a daughter confronting loss and chaos.
In one of the film’s most emotional scenes, Roberts and McGregor were seen walking to a boat dock to identify a dead body brought in by a sheriff. As the realization of who it might be set in, Roberts’s performance turned raw and heartbreaking. Her character collapses into tears, overcome by grief, while McGregor’s Bill Fordham comforts her.
Despite the heavy subject matter, the mood on set wasn’t always somber. Between takes, Roberts was seen laughing with McGregor and co-star Julianne Nicholson, who plays her sister in the film. The trio shared lighthearted moments that broke the tension of an otherwise intense shoot.
Nicholson, known for her role in Boardwalk Empire, also sported a modest look—blue shirt, brown flared trousers, and her hair pulled into a ponytail—consistent with the film’s grounded, working-class aesthetic.
The 2013 ensemble drama, based on Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play, features a powerhouse cast including Meryl Streep as matriarch Violet Weston and Benedict Cumberbatch as Little Charles Aiken. Juliette Lewis joined the cast as Karen Weston after Andrea Riseborough exited the project due to scheduling conflicts. Rising star Abigail Breslin was cast as Jean Fordham after Chloë Grace Moretz auditioned for the part.
Roberts’s stripped-down appearance and emotionally charged performance marked a dramatic departure from her signature Hollywood glamour. It was a deliberate creative choice, reflecting the raw, dysfunctional heart of August: Osage County—a story about family, resentment, and reconciliation.
Even in her most unglamorous moments, Julia Roberts proved why she remains one of the most compelling actresses of her generation—capable of shedding every trace of celebrity to disappear completely into the story she’s telling.
