Julia Roberts is cracking jokes, as she does, and beams from ear to ear showing off her gleaming pearly whites, laughing her infectious laugh, while donning Chopard’s scintillating sustainable jewellery. She’s on set to film a new campaign video for the Swiss luxury maison to mark International Happiness Day, and it won’t be your usual slick and stylised film.
To showcase the audacity, playfulness and humanity that makes Roberts such a contemporary icon — a star who perfectly personifies the virtuosity, joie de vivre and feel-good spirit of Chopard — the video will focus on raw candid backstage moments where the actress is free to be her radiant goofy self.
The studio is bustling with crew members and security personnel, props and meticulous logistics — a typical day on set for Roberts — and she’s clearly unfazed by it all. Her only concern is handling Chopard’s exquisite creations with care, and making sure that everyone around her feels included.
Throwing herself whole-heartedly into this concept, somewhere between improvisation and script, Roberts recalls her best memory at the Cannes Festival with Chopard in 2017: “The first time I was there, running late and racing down the hallway. Somebody was still sewing me into my dress, so we were all running down the hallway to the elevator and somebody was sewing away. And I just thought ‘It’s so classic’. It was a “Cannes”-Do moment.”
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Off camera, she knits, she compliments everyone, slips into trainers under her glamorous dresses, takes over the camera, and interrupts her script rehearsal to cuddle her dog Myrtle that jumps on her lap. These stolen backstage moments give us a rare glimpse of what it’s like working with such a talented mega-star and the magic that she brings on set. “Every day to me is international happiness day, Global Happiness Day,” she belts.
Artfully directed by long-time collaborator and personal friend, James Gray — known for Little Odessa, The Immigrant and Armageddon Time — the film will be spliced into 12 mini episodes and will drop its first instalment on Mar 20 — International Day of Happiness. Called Feel-Good, the videos are part of the latest Chopard Loves Cinema campaign, which marry Chopard and Julia Roberts’ shared love of cinema.
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Caroline Schefuele, Chopard’s co-president and artistic director, shares more details: “After our Happy Diamonds campaign directed by Xavier Dolan in 2021, which featured a mesmerising and twirling Julia Roberts illustrating the pure, immediate and communicative happiness at the heart of Chopard’s spirit, this new series broadens the spectrum of the initial momentum. We are revealing a new facet of our identity, the Feel-Good vibe: the self-confidence instilled by Chopard jewellery or watches, reverberating in the air and infusing the entire surrounding universe with positive energy.”
Rounding off the team of great image professionals are photographers Alasdair McLellan and Greg Williams (pictured), who photographed still images of Roberts wearing everything from Happy Diamonds to Haute Joaillerie creations, including the Ice Cube, L’Heure du Diamant and Alpine Eagle collections.
Renowned for his sensitive photographic approach and his work in fashion as well as portraits that evoke a wide range of emotions, McLellan embraces a blend of classical and pop-style references creating a dialogue between genres and identities. A backstage specialist and former photojournalist, Williams, who calls Roberts “a joyful person”, is known for this innate ability to bring out his subject’s emotions and capture their spontaneity.
“It’s hard to describe working with Julia without sounding incredibly clichéd, but she really was everything I could’ve hoped she’d be. Editing the shoot was surprisingly difficult, as she looked great in every frame, and it was easy to imagine every image on a billboard,” shares McLellan.
Gray concludes: “Julia Roberts is that rare thing — a genuine movie star. She also happens to be a person with a tremendous sense of humour about it all, and somehow, she hasn’t let her legendary status go to her head. I always jump at any chance I might get to work with her. We are pals, with real respect and affection for each other. I always consider my day made if I’ve made her smile.”
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Roberts in Chopard Haute Joaillerie earrings, ring and bracelet, and Alpine Eagle 36-mm timepiece. PHOTO: Greg Williams
Five questions with Julia Roberts
What makes you happy?
My family. My friends. My health.
Your Feel-Good movie?
The Philadelphia Story starring Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart and Cary Grant.
Your Feel-Good surprise?
I think any time friends turn up from out of town is always a good surprise.
Your Feel-Good music?
Across the board, what always makes me feel good is The Beatles.
Your Feel-Good city?
Paris is the ‘City of Lights’ and I have some very good friends that live in Paris, so it always makes me happy to see them. Plus, my very best friend is Parisian.
Your Feel-Good value?
The greatest single value that we can share with each other is compassion.
A Chopard Feel-Good value?
I think that for a luxury house like Chopard to be leading the way in being such a champion of sustaining everything from Happy Diamonds to Haute Joaillerie creations, including the Ice Cube, L’Heure du Diamant and Alpine Eagle collections.
Your Feel-Good gift?
I’m feeling pretty good about this setup right now. Look at that. Isn’t it gorgeous? James is going to buy it for me. Oh, hi James! We were just looking at what you were going to get me for my birthday and honestly, it’s too much.
Happiness on the agenda
The International Day of Happiness is the result of an initiative by Bhutan, a country that since the 1970s has favoured the Gross National Happiness (GNH) index over the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) index. At the instigation of the Bhutanese government, senior government officials along with representatives of religious organisations, universities and civil society met in 2012 at the United Nations Headquarters. Their aim was to develop new tools for measuring quality of life and reaching well beyond a purely economic paradigm. In its resolution of July 12, 2021, the United Nations General Assembly stated that "the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental human goal", while taking the initiative of instituting an International Day of Happiness on March 20th each year.
Through this agenda, it calls for awareness-raising activities at all levels of society. Chopard has naturally responded to this universal appeal, as even before the United Nations institutionalised this particular day, the Maison was already committed to promoting this intrinsic value of its history and identity.
Long-term commitment
Through its commitments, Chopard has for several years aimed to contribute to universal happiness, as demonstrated by its involvement in the Journey towards Sustainable Luxury, a programme that aims to make the luxury industry more responsible. Since the 2010s, Chopard has forged links with non-governmental organisations in order to contribute to improving the living and working conditions of artisanal gold miners that are at the core of all watchmaking and jewellery activities. Thanks to numerous efforts, the Maison is now able to purchase 100% ethical raw gold for its watch and jewellery production, and thus contributes to the evolution of luxury practices.
In addition to this commitment to its suppliers and partners implementing international certification standards, along with the transparency it demonstrates in its production processes, the Maison actively supports several charities. In association with fashion model Petra Nemcova, who created the Happy Hearts Fund association now renamed All Hands and Hearts, Caroline Scheufele designed a Happy Hearts bracelet to support the reconstruction of schools in areas affected by natural disasters. Since 2015, this jewellery has enabled several hundred students in Nepal, Indonesia and Peru to continue their education, starting a virtuous circle that will allow future generations to glimpse a better future thanks to these educational opportunities.
Chopard is also involved with the Naked Heart Foundation – the charity launched in 2004 by Natalia Vodianova to help underprivileged children – through another special edition within the Happy Hearts collection. All these commitments reflect Chopard's uncompromising and long-term vision.
Happiness Day is a symbolic opportunity to mark the spirits by reaffirming the desire to dream of a fairer world, of wider horizons. To daily remember the legitimacy of this hymn to joy, as well as the concrete actions that can be implemented to achieve it and to savour it fully, together. With this in mind, Chopard is marking the International Day of Happiness by supplementing its support for these two organisations with an additional donation from sales in its boutiques of all Happy Hearts jewellery between March 20 – 26, 2023.
