Why Julia Roberts Turned Down a Role From Barbra Streisand

This story first appeared in the Sept. 14 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

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Nobody says no to Barbra Streisand -- except Julia Roberts.

Streisand offered the actress the role of Margaret Bourke-White in the 2013 film she'll produce and direct, Skinny and Cat, about the photographer's marriage to writer Erskine Caldwell. The movie looks to shoot in January, with Streisand directing and producing. It's her first turn behind the camera since 1996's The Mirror Has Two Faces -- 16 years, in fact.

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And Roberts, about to start August: Osage County -- co-starring Meryl Streep about a family crisis where the father, played by Sam Shepard, is an alcoholic and leaves home -- turned her down flat, even though the two purportedly are friends.

No telling if Roberts' dance card was full or, as she has said many times during the past few years, she just doesn't want to work that much. Skinny now is listed as starring Cate Blanchett and Colin Firth. And that's not exactly non-A-list.