Julia Roberts Dreams of ‘Having Fun’ by Starring in Shakespeare in the Park

Oscar winner Julia Roberts is hoping to join the ranks of fellow stage and screen legends Meryl Streep, James Earl Jones and Al Pacino, by starring in her own production at the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park. In the April issue of Vanity Fair, Roberts chatted with Death of a Salesman director Mike Nichols, who directed Roberts' films Closer and Charlie Wilson’s War about the possibility of headling a Central Park show. 

“[Julia and I] were just talking about Shakespeare in the Park today,” Nichols told Vanity Fair. “If we could do either Taming of the Shrew or Much Ado About Nothing—they’re plays that take care of you.” Roberts, who starred on Broadway in Three Days of Rain in 2006, is thrilled with Nichols’ idea. “To have fun and to be in the park!” Roberts gushed. “That would be a dream of mine."

She continued to laud the New York theater tradition by saying, “Seeing Shakespeare in the Park, for me, it’s just this side of feeling like you’ve witnessed some kind of magic. It’s this spell that you’re under. To be part of that!”

The 2012 season of Shakespeare in the Park includes As You Like It, starring Lily Rabe and featuring music by Steve Martin, and Into the Woods, directed by Timothy Sheader and Liam Steel.