In honor of Julia Roberts‘ 55th birthday Friday (October 28th), a resurfaced interview revealing an incredible story about her birth has been circulating. It turns out, when her parents couldn’t afford the hospital bill after she was born, Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King covered it for them.
In the viral clip, Roberts explains to Gayle King how her parents, Betty Lou Bredemus and Walter Grady Roberts, became friends with the civil rights leaders. “My parents had a theater school in Atlanta called the Actors and Writers Workshop,” she said. “And one day Coretta Scott King called my mother and asked if her kids could be part of the school because they were having a hard time finding a place that would accept their kids,” Roberts said, referring to the effects of segregation in the 1960s.
She continued, “And my mom was like, ‘Sure, come on over.’ And they all became friends, and they helped us out of a jam.”
“The King family paid for my hospital bills,” Roberts said.