Hi, Drew. (audience applaud)
Hello, how are you?
I am good,
and thank you so much for that introduction.
Oh, well,
you know, it's funny,
I was reading about how
the word and nickname "Sunshine Girl"
was something given to you by your mom,
and you always felt like you had to live up to it
even though you wore it as a badge of honor.
I was wondering, I always opt for optimism
no matter how hard it is to get there, I will get there,
what was it like to grow up with a moniker
like "Sunshine Girl"?
Yeah. So, I think it's both
such a blessing and a curse at the same time,
because,
I felt very important with that moniker
because I thought I made people happy, you know?
And that was a good thing to be labeled "Sunshine Girl".
Where it didn't serve me well
was that I then never felt like I could complain
or say, "this doesn't feel good,
"I don't like this so."
And then as I grew up and in my relationships
and,
I sort of became mute
because I would rather not ruffle anyone's feathers,
not stir the mud.
And you know, it took me a long time
probably till I was 35 to really say,
"this isn't working for me,
"it's "Sunshine Girl", an unexpected life."
Because truly I came from such a crazy life of chaos
and never knowing where I was gonna be,
where I was gonna live,
what country,
what language I would be speaking,
what boyfriends my mother would be having.
That an unexpected life
is truly the moment I'm living in now.
I'm just gonna straight up say
that I relate to a lot of areas of your life,
and I grew up too never knowing where I was gonna be next.
Why do you think that that made you adaptable?
Do you think that it made you
have a lack of stability and everything in between?
How did it affect your life?
Yeah, there was definitely (chuckles) a lack of stability,
and that's for sure.
I mean, I have to say the amount of people
that have responded in terms of being able to relate
to what I was going through as a child,
it might not have been as chaotic and crazy,
but it is pretty an amazingly universal thing
when you are from divorced parents
who really, I shouldn't...
I mean, my mother who I have a great relationship with now
and I always really have,
I was always sort of a momma's girl and all,
I was always trying to defend her,
but my mother put herself before her children.
And she'll tell me that now she admits it,
it's why I could write the book,
I had her blessing to write the book
because she really owns what she did when she was younger.
And that's pretty remarkable too.
We were at her whim and that's hard as a child,
and you have no control over that.
What I did have control over
was the temperature in the room,
emotional temperature in the room.
I felt like I could actually change it,
you know, by being sunny and happy and,
I don't think we realize
that our parents are just human beings too,
until I got older and realized,
oh, I don't have to carry that baggage anymore,
I can actually make my own life now.
They can be a part of where I got to
but now it's up to me to continue that journey.
I think the generations are so different too,
like my mom, and we just had the oddest dynamic,
no parent-child dynamic, really just two equals.
I saw this as like chaplain and the kid.
And we were just kinda, always like making our way
and doing our thing,
and mmmm,
and there was no parent-child dynamic.
But I don't think in the 50s, 60s, 70s,
you were supposed to put your kids first,
and now we're in a generation
of like almost trying to get out of helicopter parenting,
and the expectations in society are just so different.
I mean, women like smoked and drank when they were pregnant,
and now you can't eat deli meats,
it's like, it's a very different time, you know?
I mean- You have a great point,
That's a great point Drew
and you're absolutely right it was a very different time.
Yeah. I want my girls to...
I'd like them to go travel by themselves,
which, you know, scares me as a parent,
but you just got it like
if I was dropped all over the world at crazy ages
and just been go,
and there was no GPS and cell phones at that point so,
and it builds character.
And I just wanted them to have that great stable life
which is why I did not marry an actor
with all due respect to actors.
I was like, I'm an actor- (Julianna laughs)
Well, me too Drew, me too.
I know!
I love actors so much and we'll talk about George Clooney,
who might be one of the most amazing human beings
to ever be on planet Earth,
you know him far better than I do.
But I felt like representing one actor in the house
was enough,
I was really looking for like the antidote and stability.
And you met your husband, Keith
and I heard that you were at a party with him,
and when he told you his occupation
it was a turn-on, is this true?
Am I putting this to the right terms?
Yeah. I went to a party and it was an agents party,
and he said...
and he represented a lot of theater actors,
so, I just assumed that Keith was an actor
because he was there.
And then when he told me he was a lawyer,
wow, my life changed (laughs heartily),
we haven't been apart since.
Oh, I love that.
Speaking of George Clooney,
I loved reading in the book about your relationship.
I think he's so fun and cool,
he's also a practical joker which I don't do well with,
I have to admit, I'm not good-
I don't really care.
He did one to you, many I'm sure?
But can you tell me about one?
There were moments where he would...
So, on ER everything was real, all the equipment,
and so there was a lot of lube
everywhere. (Drew laughs heartily)
If you have to put the gel on to use the defibrillator,
you had to use it, you know, so everything was real
and you'd be in a scene where you're doing a wanner
and you're walking and the camera's following you,
and then you have to go and pick up the phone,
and you would go and pick up the phone
and it would just all be lubed,
but you didn't wanna ruin the shot
because it had been a five-page wanner,
and you would just have lube, (audience laugh)
all down your face,
I mean, it was every day,
everyday with another prank.
Practical jokes really freak me out
but George Clooney, he's good.
He's the best of the best for sure.
(upbeat music)