Julia Roberts Says Meg Ryan Almost Played Her Role in ‘Steel Magnolias’ and More Casting Secrets

The Oscar winner says she ‘lucked into’ some of her biggest roles. Julia Roberts is now an on-screen legend, playing some of the most memorable leading ladies in recent film history. But the 56-year-old Oscar winner wasn’t always the first pick for some of her more memorable roles.

While on Thursday’s episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, a caller asked Roberts if she regretted passing up any roles in her career.

“None that I have regrets about, ’cause I think it’s all kind of destiny,” she explained, but added that two big parts she passed on were in You’ve Got Mail and The Last of the Mohicans — presumably in the roles that went to Meg Ryan and Madeleine Stowe, respectively.

Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in ‘You’ve Got Mail’
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However, Roberts also nabbed a part originally intended for Ryan.

“There are things that you don’t get, like Meg Ryan was supposed to be in Steel Magnolias, and she was still filming When Harry Met Sally and so I got that part,” Roberts reflected. “Cate Blanchett was supposed to be in Closer but then she got pregnant so I got that part. So I’ve lucked into some good stuff.”

Roberts played the optimistic diabetic Shelby in 1989’s Steel Magnolias opposite Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Olympia Dukakis, and Shirley MacLaine. The role earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
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