Julia Roberts radiated glamour at the 2025 Gotham Awards.
Roberts, aged 58, graced the annual awards show alongside After the Hunt director Luca Guadagnino at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City on Monday, October 1. The Oscar-winning actress looked stunning in a large blue satin suit for the occasion, complemented by black stilettos, with her vibrant red hair flowing freely.
Following their arrival on the red carpet, Roberts and Guadagnino, 54, were presented with the Visionary Tribute award during the ceremony. The honor was bestowed upon the pair by Roberts’ friend Paul Rudd, after which she and Guadagnino jointly addressed the audience.
“I not only had a great privilege of acting with Luca, but I will be acting as his interpreter,” Roberts said at the start, launching into a humorous routine where she acted as Guadagnino’s “translator,” repeating his speech — delivered in English — to the audience, but in Italian.
After sharing a moment of laughter, Roberts lightheartedly mentioned her need to keep the speech short due to a restroom break.
“I didn’t realize how long this was gonna go on and I didn’t regulate my water intake,” she joked. “Paul, thank you for those kind words. Everyone that is here living their creative dreams, thank you for doing that in a world that seems to be crumbling. This is the tape and the glue that keeps it together. One of my great dreams was to work with Luca Guadagnino, and now that I’ve done it once I just wanna keep on doing it.”
It was revealed before Monday’s event that Roberts and Guadagnino would be honored with the Gotham Awards Visionary Tribute for their work on the film.
“The Gotham community has long cherished Luca Guadagnino’s emotionally expressive storytelling, and in After the Hunt, Julia Roberts delivers a luminous, monumental performance that deepens an already extraordinary career — guided by his singular direction behind one of the year’s most talked-about and provocative films,” stated Jeffrey Sharp, Executive Director of The Gotham Film & Media Institute. “Their partnership speaks to the power of collaboration at its highest level.”
Roberts, who played Yale University professor Alma Imhoff in the psychological thriller, shared her thoughts on the award, stating, “I could not have imagined collaborating on this project with anyone other than Luca Guadagnino.”
She added, “To inhabit a character like Alma. So unrelenting, so burdened with secrets and unresolved trauma one must be in complete concert with the director. With Luca it was a continuous and unfolding joy. He understands human behavior in a unique and fascinating way and his attention to detail is unsurpassed. There is nothing that would make me happier than to broaden my life as an actor in continued collaboration with him.”
After the Hunt tells the story of Alma’s internal struggle as she “finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star pupil levels an accusation against one of her colleagues and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come to light,” as described in the official synopsis.
For Guadagnino, 54, the choice to cast Roberts in the film was obvious.
“I only cast the actors and actresses I fall in love with – a palpable emotion for them, anticipation and enthusiasm when I see them – my emotional confidence in them blends into chemistry. And now I love Julia Roberts,” he revealed in a statement before the ceremony. “She is everything. Julia Roberts is Cinema with a capital C.”
The director also expressed his admiration for Roberts’ portrayal of Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie in 1989’s Steel Magnolias, marking his first encounter with her on screen.
“Even early in her career trusting her audience and inviting them into her story as Shelby,” he noted. “Her light has never dimmed, only grown brighter and after over four decades, dare I say more refined. I knew I would someday need to work with her.”
Alongside the special Visionary Tribute, it was previously announced that Jeremy Allen White and Scott Cooper would be honored with The Gotham Cultural Icon Tribute for Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman would receive The Gotham Musical Tribute for Song Sung Blue, Noah Baumbach would accept the Director Tribute for Jay Kelly, Tessa Thompson would receive the Spotlight Tribute for Hedda, the Sinners cast would be celebrated with the Ensemble Tribute and Frankenstein would receive The Gotham Vanguard Tribute.
Just For You
