Julia Roberts: How ‘Homecoming’ Co-Star ‘Saved Her Life’ on First Day of Shooting

25/10/2018 - It’s not every day one can say they once saved Julia Roberts’ life. But her “Homecoming” costar Shea Whigham can. “Did she tell you how I saved her life?” Whigham asked Variety Wednesday night at the Amazon series’ premiere in Los Angeles. The two were shooting a scene together on the first day of production when Whigham saw a flag — a large piece of fabric in a metal frame used to block the sun during filming — above them come loose from its base. “It started flying toward her head and I didn’t really know her at the time and I had to jump in and sort of envelop her, which was really kind of weird. She was like, ‘What the hell?’ and then she saw the flag on the ground.”

Roberts confirms the incident. “He did save my life,” the Oscar winner told Variety. “I do say he saved my life but if someone put my feet to the fire and ask, ‘Did he save your life?,’ I’d say, ‘He at least saved me a trip to the hospital.’”
Showrunner and director Sam Esmail said he watched it all go down on a monitor. “At first I wanted to yell at Shea,” he said. “He kind of jumped on her, but then I saw the flag.” In lighter news from the set, Esmail revealed that he and Roberts enjoyed playing board games together. “She great at mahjong and Anomia,” he said. “She got me hooked on mahjong.” “Homecoming” starts streaming on Amazon on Nov. 2.
(VARIETY)