“I’m too tall to be a girl, I never had enough dresses to be a lady, I wouldn’t call myself a woman. I’d say I’m somewhere between a chick and a broad.” Most people would say the Hollywood star, who's been famous now for three decades, is beautiful, talented and seems like a very nice person. No wonder she's emerged as one of America's Sweethearts who became as huge as her male counterparts--as in Clooney, Cruise, and Hanks.

"Jules" as she's known by those close to her converted from Baptist/Catholic to Hinduism in 2010 after filming Eat Pray Love, has a soft spot for her rom-com My Best Friend's Wedding, and says she'll never do Botox (“I want my kids to know when I’m pissed, when I’m happy, and when I’m confounded. Your face tells a story, and it shouldn’t be a story about your drive to the doctor’s office.”)

The Normal Heart actress's real-life Cinderella story is too good not to remember.

15 Pretty Woman Was Not Her Big Break

In 1988, the newcomer to Hollywood played second banana to Justine Bateman in Satisfaction, which eventually led to Mystic Pizza, then a pivotal role in Steel Magnolias with her next part being that of Vivian Ward, who's paid $3000 to spend a week with a millionaire businessman in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

14 But It Made Her Famous

This now-classic made the young actress a household name. All anyone talked about was that red mane and those long, shapely legs. Little mention was given to the body double (Shelley Michelle) who was used in the opening as the call girl was dressing for her evening stroll on the boulevard as well as on the movie poster.

13 The Oscars: 3 Nominations, 1 Win

The star of The Pelican Briefs ended up smiling and clapping for others when she was nominated for Steel Magnolias, Pretty Woman, and August: Osage County, but took the stage in vintage Valentino to accept her statuette for her role in the biopic Erin Brockovich. The stunning actress also has 3 Golden Globes and many other awards.

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12 Her Debut Was On TV

At 19, the international movie star got her very first role in the NBC series Crime Story playing a juvenile sexual assault survivor. During the course of her film career, the Sleeping with the Enemy actress has only appeared on the small screen four other times: Miami Vice, Friends, Murphy Brown and Homecoming--until now. Her new series Gaslit is in pre-production.

11 She Found Many A BF On Movie Sets

Who needs Tinder, Match or eHarmony? Not the Notting Hill star who found that the workplace was a fruitful setting for dating (Jason Patric; Matthew Perry; Benjamin Bratt; Liam Neeson), some relationships leading to engagements (Kiefer Sutherland; Dylan McDermott). Didn't gel with co-star Nick Nolte, though, who she called "disgusting."

10 She's Been Married Twice

After meeting on the set of The Player, the leading lady wed country singer/songwriter Lyle Lovett then divorced 21 months later (shades of Kim Kardashian.)  The Duplicity star met her current husband, cameraman Danny Moder, on the set of The Mexican. The couple married in 2002 at home in Taos, New Mexico. Bruce Willis was the only celebrity guest.

9 Gwyneth Paltrow Owes Her

One of People Magazine's Most Beautiful People turned down the role of Viola de Lesseps in Shakespeare in Love, which garnered an Academy Award for the GOOP CEO. The Notting Hill star also turned down Sleepless in Seattle, which went to Meg Ryan, who coincidently turned down Pretty Woman--as did Sandra Bullock, Molly Ringwald, and Winona Ryder to name a few.

RELATED: 20 Photos Of Julia Roberts Proving She Doesn't Even Need To Try To Look Good

8 She Was The First Major-Payday Actress

The Erin Brockovich award winner received a whopping $20 million to play the title role, making her the first female actor to boast that salary for a single film. She is still known as one of the highest-paid and biggest box-office earners in Hollywood.

7 She Starred On Broadway

The Larry Crowne star debuted on Broadway in 2006 alongside Bradley Cooper and Paul Rudd in Three Days of Rain. While the drama received mixed reviews, it was a huge commercial success taking in almost 1 million dollars in just its first week, earning more than $12 million for the 12-week run (70 performances.)

6 She Knits (Knits?)

The late producer Garry Marshall called the Conspiracy Theory star "a cross between Audrey Hepburn, Lucille Ball, and Bambi." Her children call her mom, and moms need a way to relax--knit one, purl two is clearly hers but contends, “It’s a very social hobby, as opposed to reading—I can chat with people and still be fully engaged.”

5 Not All Publicity Has Been Flattering

"I was my priority, a selfish little brat running around making films." Hook's Tinkerbell copped to her behavior which was already the buzz about her much younger self. Legendary director Steven Spielberg who directed her in that movie said he'd never do so again. Some others referred to her as "rude, downright nasty, and dismissive."

RELATED: Movie Exec Wanted Julia Roberts To Play Harriet Tubman 25 Years Ago

4 She Attended College

The high school band clarinet player tried college twice: first at Georgia State University (but never got her degree), then in Mona Lisa Smile (for which her salary jumped to 25 million), in the role of a 1950s Wellesley College art history professor; a single woman who shows her students there's more to life than having a husband's dinner on the table by 5.

3 Acting Is A Family Business

The star of Flatliners is the aunt of Emma Roberts (American Horror Story). Her parents ran an acting workshop in her hometown of Smyrna, Georgia (Coretta and Martin Luther King Jr.'s kids were students.) The HS grad moved to New York City and lived with her sister Lisa and brother Eric (Emma's dad, who is also a well-known actor.)

2 A Body Part Is Insured For 30 Million

Yes, it's her 32 choppers, which make up that mega-watt smile. In fact, the Ocean's Twelve star has a 9,000-year-old female skeleton named after her because the Bulgarian team of archaeologists who dug it up saw that the boney framework had flawless teeth. It obviously seemed like the only name that worked.

1 She Has Three Kids

The Valentine's Day star not only produced twins Phinnaeus Walter and Hazel Patricia (November 2004) and Henry Daniel (June 2007) but films as well, executive producing the TV series Queens Supreme as well as Kit Kittredge: An American Girl via her company Red Om Films. She also played a producer in Money Monster.

sources: Sunshine Coast Daily, Biography, Booms Beat, Factinate, Vogue, Purple Clover

NEXT: 15 Things Fans Don't Know About Emma Roberts' Private Life