The 39-year-old actress, whose twins recently turned two, is a very different woman these days - calmer, more secure and happier.

'I definitely feel that I've expanded as a human being. I have more empathy and compassion. I just love them,' she says of tots Phinnaeus and Hazel. 'They're fun and happy and honest and just fill me with joy.

'I didn't realise that you could like your children as much as your friends.

I enjoy interacting with them. I'm interested in their point of view.'

But fans of the 'Pretty Woman' star needn't worry. Julia doesn't plan to stay holed up in her New Mexico ranch with her kids forever.

This year she has tentatively stepped back into the public eye, appearing in a Broadway play and taking on family-friendly voiceover roles in 'Ant Bully' and 'Charlotte's Web'.

She's currently in Morocco shooting the political drama 'Charlie Wilson's War', co-starring Tom Hanks and Philip Seymour Hoffman - but don't expect her to reclaim the spotlight too quickly.

Her priority remains her family and she is still blissfully happy with husband of four years, cameraman Danny Moder.

'I love him to bits. The greatest thrill of my life is watching him be a father to my children.

'Phinnaeus is as in love with Danny as I am,' she says. 'Danny walks in the house and we're pushing each other out of the way to get to him first.

'I love to have someone on the planet who understands how I feel when Danny walks in the door.'

The owner of Tinseltown's most famous smile took the chance to lend her voice to the eponymous spider in the part-live action, part-CGI animation 'Charlotte's Web' because it fitted so well with her duties as a full-time mum.

Julia says the voiceover roles for this and 'Ant Bully' were perfect timing, as she didn't feel in any state to be in the public eye.

'I was out of work and out of shape. I had just given birth and decided a little dark room with a microphone was a good place for me to be!'

Despite being an Oscar-winning movie star, Julia is still down-to-earth and life on her ranch is a far cry from the glamour of LA.

'This is why you work so hard; the reason I worked for all those years, is so that I can stay home now with my kids,' she says.

Her bravest step this year has been her Broadway debut in 'Three Days of Rain', earning her the most column inches since becoming a mum – though little of the feedback was positive.

However Julia admitted she wanted to be put to the test on stage and that it took a lot for her to leave the family home.

'My family is fulfilling,' she says. 'For me to step away from all that, I had to do something challenging.

'I gave birth to two children - to give birth and then abandon them wouldn't be a wise mothering tactic!'

Despite Julia's low-key career of late, she isn't quitting the genre that made her famous - just waiting for the right rom-com to come along.

'I love romantic comedies,' says Julia. 'I like to watch them, and I like to be in them, but it's increasingly difficult to find that spark of originality that makes it different to the ones that come before.'

As well as making her more careful about her work decisions, being a mum has also turned her into an environmentalist.

'Motherhood is urging my consciousness along into different places. What is the world going to be like for all of our children?'

She recently appeared on the cover of 'Vanity Fair' along with George Clooney, Robert F. Kennedy Jr and Al Gore to promote environmental awareness, and has become involved with School Bus America, an organisation trying to get school buses to use a more earth-friendly fuel.

'Our kids are inside those buses where it's so much more toxic and deadly,' she says, 'All these buses can be changed over to biodiesel.'

She faces the stress and guilt suffered by any working mother, but admits she is fortunate to work in the film industry.

'I can devote myself to my family in a way that is effortless and that doesn't make me feel torn,' she says.

'I realise I'm in a very fortunate position and that for a lot of people it's not as easy, as work demands so much time and energy. Relationships can suffer, and it can be a lot more taxing to keep it balanced.'

Since becoming a star at the age of 22 with 'Pretty Woman', Julia has become one of the most popular actresses of all time, worth more than $250 million.

Yet her time out of the limelight has made her pragmatic about her success.

'I am not on any of those hot lists,' says Julia of her girl-next-door appeal. 'That isn't the way people interpret me. People don't want to see me in a bikini!'

Unlike many stars, she says fame plays little part in her life - and still gets bouts of shyness.

'I get insecure about how to talk and express myself in public and every time I go down the red carpet I get so nervous. What changes with fame, I think, are perceptions of an individual. I'm still the same person I always was,' she adds.

'I knew that you put yourself under a microscope the more famous you become.'

But for Julia, the media circus and the hierarchy of Hollywood have all been worth it to get her where she is today: a happy, successful woman, wife and mother.

'I could have been a dental hygienist with nothing bad ever appearing in print about me, but that's not how I've chosen to lead my life.' Julia Roberts' reign as 'America's Sweetheart' is safe for a good few years yet. The dental world's loss has been our gain.

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