Kiefer Sutherland and Julia Roberts were the Hollywood power couple of the nineties. But just two days before the pair were due to tie the knot, the actress abruptly ended their romance under a cloud of rumour and media speculation. Now, 25 years on from their 1991 split, Kiefer has opened up about his relationship with Julia, and has even praised his former fiancée for calling off the wedding.
"I think she had courage. It wasn't what she wanted to do in the end. And it think it took a lot of courage, in amongst all of that other stuff, to be able to say, I can't do this," Kiefer, 49, said during an appearance on The Jess Cagle Interview.
Julia Roberts famously called off her 1991 wedding to Kiefer Sutherland
At the time of their split, Julia caused controversy by quickly starting a new romance with Kiefer's good friend, actor Jason Patric.
"We were both young, and we were both very much in love, we had decided that we wanted to get married, but then this other thing kind of took over," Kiefer reflected. "She was arguably the most famous woman in the world, and this wedding that was supposed to be something between the two of us, became something so big."
Julia and Kiefer fell in the love on the set of the 1990 movie Flatliners, and were scheduled to get married on 14 June, 1991 in front of 150 guests at the 20th Century Fox's soundstage 14 in Los Angeles. But, two days before the lavish ceremony, Julia, who was 23 at the time, pulled the plug, and reportedly spend the day of her would-be wedding with Jason in Ireland.
The Pretty Woman star pictured with actor Jason Patric
Following the end of his romance with Julia, Kiefer went on to marry Kelly Winn in 1996; the couple separated in 1999 and he filed for divorce in 2004. He also had a long-term romance with Bo Derek.
Julia, meanwhile, was married to Lyle Lovett from June 1993 until their separation in 1995. She then dated Benjamin Bratt from 1998 until 2001, and has been happily married to cameraman Danny Moder, the father of her three children, since July 2002.