iVillage
Playing Julia Roberts' ex-husband Stephen in Eat Pray Love (in theaters Aug. 13) allowed Billy Crudup to only enjoy one of the movie's themes -- the eating. "The food was pretty spectacular," Crudup tells iVillage in an exclusive interview. "As the person, you know, who once loved her (Roberts' character Elizabeth Gilbert), I had to divorce myself from watching her get it on with anyone else. But I could deal with her eating other stuff. That was cool."
So, did playing a character going through a divorce affect the 42-year-old actor's relationship with Roberts off screen? It was "very tense and uncomfortable. Profoundly uncomfortable," he jokes. "But you have to work with a lot of different people. It's a collaborative art form. I don't encourage it."
Equally eventful is his relationship with his 5-year-old son William Atticus Parker (with ex-girlfriend Mary-Louise Parker), who's a constant source of amusement for the actor. "He came up to me the other day with a science experiment," Crudup explains. "And it was about the hard side and the thin side of duct tape... He does stuff like that. Daily."
Watch our exclusive video above to find out why Crudup was happy to play the bad guy and how his son is like him.
What funny thing does your partner or kids do to make you laugh? Chime in below!
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