Who Is Julia Roberts Dating? Her Marriage to Danny Moder

Who Is Julia Roberts Dating? Her Husband of 24 Years

Julia Roberts is not dating anyone new. She has been married to cinematographer Daniel "Danny" Moder since July 4, 2002 - a Fourth of July wedding at her New Mexico ranch that surprised Hollywood and launched one of the industry's most durable marriages. As of 2026, they have been together for 26 years.

This surprises people because Roberts was, in the 1990s, the most famous single woman in America - her engagements and breakups were national news. Her 1991 split from Kiefer Sutherland days before their wedding, her whirlwind 1993 marriage to Lyle Lovett: the tabloids feasted. Then she met a cameraman, and the circus stopped.

The Moder marriage is the great "boring" love story of modern Hollywood: no scandals, no separations, no drama - just 24 years, three kids, and a partnership that has outlasted nearly every celebrity union of its era.

Who Is Danny Moder?

Daniel Richard Moder, born January 31, 1969, is a cinematographer - a below-the-line craftsman in an above-the-line marriage. He studied psychology at the University of Colorado before falling into film work, building a solid career as a camera operator and director of photography on films like The Brave, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and Secret in Their Eyes (2015), which earned him an Emmy nomination for his cinematography.

When they met, he was married to makeup artist Vera Steimberg; both ended their marriages and found each other - a beginning that drew tabloid judgment at the time and has long since been forgiven by history. What mattered, friends said, was obvious: he was normal. Grounded. Uninterested in fame. Everything the movie star needed.

Moder, now 57, continues to work steadily as a cinematographer - including shooting Roberts's own projects. He is famously press-shy, rarely interviewed, never on social media. In the Roberts-Moder household, she is the famous one; he is the one who makes sure the cameras - on set and off - point the right way.

How They Met: The Mexican, 2000

Roberts and Moder met in 2000 on the set of The Mexican, the Brad Pitt-Julia Roberts crime comedy. She was the biggest female movie star in the world, coming off her Oscar win for Erin Brockovich; he was the camera operator. She was 32, recently single; he was 31 and married. The attraction was immediate and, by all accounts, undeniable.

Both ended their marriages. Roberts's relationship with actor Benjamin Bratt had just ended; Moder's marriage to Steimberg dissolved. By 2001 they were together openly, and on July 4, 2002 - Independence Day - they married in a surprise midnight ceremony at Roberts's 82-acre ranch in Taos, New Mexico. Guests thought they were coming to a party; they witnessed a wedding.

The symbolism was pure Roberts: America's Sweetheart getting married on America's birthday, in secret, on her own land, on her own terms. The tabloids, denied their spectacle, had to settle for the facts: the biggest star in Hollywood had married a cameraman, and she had never looked happier.

Three Kids: The Twins and Henry

Roberts and Moder have three children. Twins Hazel Patricia Moder and Phinnaeus "Finn" Walter Moder were born on November 28, 2004 - Roberts was 37. Son Henry Daniel Moder followed on June 18, 2007. The twins are now 21; Henry is 19.

Motherhood transformed Roberts's career calculus. At the height of her box-office powers, she began working less - choosing projects that filmed near home, taking years off between films, and speaking openly about how much she preferred school runs to red carpets. "I love being a mom," she has said, repeatedly, in the rare interviews she gives. "It's the best thing."

The kids have been raised with extraordinary normalcy for Hollywood royalty: public schools, minimal publicity, and a mother who famously doesn't do social media. Hazel made a rare red-carpet appearance with her father at Cannes in 2021; Finn and Henry remain almost entirely out of view. Now young adults, all three are reportedly close to both parents - the ultimate review of a 24-year marriage.

Before Danny: The Famous Nineties

To appreciate the Moder marriage, you have to remember what came before. Roberts's 1990s love life was the stuff of legend: the engagement to Kiefer Sutherland, called off three days before their June 1991 wedding (she then jetted to Ireland with his friend Jason Patric); the whirlwind marriage to country singer Lyle Lovett in June 1993 after a three-week courtship, ending in divorce in 1995; relationships with Daniel Day-Lewis, Matthew Perry, and Benjamin Bratt (1998-2001).

She was 25 when Pretty Woman (1990) made her the most famous woman in movies, and she spent her late twenties and early thirties as the tabloids' favorite heroine - beautiful, talented, and unlucky in love. Every breakup was a cover story; every new man a referendum.

Then came the cameraman. Friends said the difference was visible immediately: Roberts relaxed. The woman who had been performing happiness started actually being happy. Twenty-six years later, the verdict is in: Danny Moder was the plot twist America's Sweetheart needed.

The Secret: Why It Lasted

What's the secret to 24 years? Those close to the couple cite the obvious: he was never impressed by her fame, she was never threatened by his normalcy. They share values - privacy, family, a life built in New Mexico and California rather than in the Hollywood fishbowl. She doesn't do social media; he doesn't do interviews. Their publicist might as well be a locked door.

Roberts has also been candid that marriage takes work - "we're not perfect," she has said - but the work has been private. No tell-alls, no cryptic Instagram posts, no "conscious uncoupling" statements. Just two people who met on a movie set in 2000 and decided, against considerable odds, to build a life.

At 58 (Roberts, born October 28, 1967) and 57 (Moder), with three nearly-grown children and a quarter-century together, they are the industry's gold standard: proof that the most radical thing a movie star can do is marry a normal person and mean it.

America's Sweetheart: The Box Office Queen

To understand the Moder marriage, remember what Roberts was: the biggest female movie star in the world. Pretty Woman (1990) earned 463 million dollars worldwide and made her a global icon at 22. My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), Notting Hill (1999), Runaway Bride (1999): she was the rom-com queen of the decade, commanding 20 million dollars per film at her peak.

Then the pivot: Erin Brockovich (2000) won her the Oscar for Best Actress at 32, the same year she met Moder. Ocean's Eleven (2001), Closer (2004), Charlie Wilson's War (2007), Eat Pray Love (2010): she remained bankable for two decades, a feat almost no actress of her generation matched.

Through all of it, the fame, the money, the pressure, Moder was the constant. He saw her at the absolute peak of stardom and chose the person, not the phenomenon. Twenty-six years later, with three grown children and a career that needs no validation, Roberts has what the rom-coms promised: the happy ending that was not scripted. The cameraman got the girl, and the girl got the life.

America's Sweetheart: The Box Office Queen

To understand the Moder marriage, remember what Roberts was: the biggest female movie star in the world. Pretty Woman (1990) earned 463 million dollars worldwide and made her a global icon at 22. My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), Notting Hill (1999), Runaway Bride (1999): she was the rom-com queen of the decade, commanding 20 million dollars per film at her peak.

Then the pivot: Erin Brockovich (2000) won her the Oscar for Best Actress at 32, the same year she met Moder. Ocean's Eleven (2001), Closer (2004), Charlie Wilson's War (2007), Eat Pray Love (2010): she remained bankable for two decades, a feat almost no actress of her generation matched.

Through all of it, the fame, the money, the pressure, Moder was the constant. He saw her at the absolute peak of stardom and chose the person, not the phenomenon. Twenty-six years later, with three grown children and a career that needs no validation, Roberts has what the rom-coms promised: the happy ending that was not scripted. The cameraman got the girl, and the girl got the life.

America's Sweetheart: The Box Office Queen

To understand the Moder marriage, remember what Roberts was: the biggest female movie star in the world. Pretty Woman (1990) earned 463 million dollars worldwide and made her a global icon at 22. My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), Notting Hill (1999), Runaway Bride (1999): she was the rom-com queen of the decade, commanding 20 million dollars per film at her peak.

Then the pivot: Erin Brockovich (2000) won her the Oscar for Best Actress at 32, the same year she met Moder. Ocean's Eleven (2001), Closer (2004), Charlie Wilson's War (2007), Eat Pray Love (2010): she remained bankable for two decades, a feat almost no actress of her generation matched.

Through all of it, the fame, the money, the pressure, Moder was the constant. He saw her at the absolute peak of stardom and chose the person, not the phenomenon. Twenty-six years later, with three grown children and a career that needs no validation, Roberts has what the rom-coms promised: the happy ending that was not scripted. The cameraman got the girl, and the girl got the life.

America's Sweetheart: The Box Office Queen

To understand the Moder marriage, remember what Roberts was: the biggest female movie star in the world. Pretty Woman (1990) earned 463 million dollars worldwide and made her a global icon at 22. My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), Notting Hill (1999), Runaway Bride (1999): she was the rom-com queen of the decade, commanding 20 million dollars per film at her peak.

Then the pivot: Erin Brockovich (2000) won her the Oscar for Best Actress at 32, the same year she met Moder. Ocean's Eleven (2001), Closer (2004), Charlie Wilson's War (2007), Eat Pray Love (2010): she remained bankable for two decades, a feat almost no actress of her generation matched.

Through all of it, the fame, the money, the pressure, Moder was the constant. He saw her at the absolute peak of stardom and chose the person, not the phenomenon. Twenty-six years later, with three grown children and a career that needs no validation, Roberts has what the rom-coms promised: the happy ending that was not scripted. The cameraman got the girl, and the girl got the life.

The Trophy Case: Oscar, BAFTA, and Three Golden Globes

Whatever the dating headlines say, Roberts's real love affair has been with the awards circuit. She has collected an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and three Golden Globe Awards, a haul that places her among the most decorated actresses of her generation.

The arc is well documented. After early breakthroughs in Mystic Pizza (1988) and Steel Magnolias (1989), she became Hollywood's leading lady through Pretty Woman (1990), My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), Notting Hill (1999), and Runaway Bride (1999). The industry's top prize came for the biographical drama Erin Brockovich (2000), which earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress.

She refused to be typecast after that, expanding into dramas, thrillers, and independent films: Ocean's Eleven (2001), Ocean's Twelve (2004), Charlie Wilson's War (2007), Valentine's Day (2010), Eat Pray Love (2010), August: Osage County (2013), Wonder (2017), Ticket to Paradise (2022), Leave the World Behind (2023), and After the Hunt (2025). It is a filmography with no dead weight, the reason the marriage headlines never dent the legacy.

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