Julia Roberts is getting back to work on the biggest night in Hollywood. Nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her turn in August: Osage County — about a dysfunctional family's travails — the star turned up at the 2014 Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in L.A. on Sunday, March 2. It's the one-time Oscar winner's first official appearance since the shocking death of her half-sister Nancy Motes early last month.
The actress, 46, wore Givenchy and was in good spirits chatting with ABC during the Oscars pre-show, laughing her famous laugh as she recalled her very first Oscars. "I presented one year, I wore a deeply unfortunate palette," she quipped.
A Hollywood production assistant, Motes was found dead of an apparent drug overdose in an L.A. residence Feb. 9; a suicide note as well as prescription and non-prescription drugs were found at the scene. "It is with deep sadness that the family of Nancy Motes…confirms that she was found dead in Los Angeles yesterday of an apparent drug overdose," her family said in a statement.
Following the tragedy, Roberts cancelled all promotional appearances slated for awards season.
The superstar and Motes appeared to have had a difficult relationship prior to her death, with Motes leaving cryptic, angry tweets about her family before her death.
But her grieving fiancé, John Dilbeck, said in a statement: "We loved her dearly and will miss her always. Please know that the words she wrote in online venues were those of someone in pain who loved her family and longed for a closer bond with them."
