Julia Roberts better say her prayers. She goes where no other A-list female star has ever gone on celluloid in her new film Eat Pray Love based on the best selling book by Elizabeth Gilbert.

“Honestly, I think it’s the most controversial scene ever caught on film,” says director Ryan Murphy. “People will gasp. Jaws will drop open. It’s so shocking, I can’t even explain it.”

Now, it must be revealed. He’s talking about a scene where Roberts mainlines pasta. We’re not just talking about a few Weight Watchers sanctioned bites or the gloppy, it’s good for you, wheat stuff. Roberts downs bowls of freshly made white flour linguini glistening with butter and garlic. She’s dealing with a tough divorce and vacationing in Italy at the same time.

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“I can’t honestly remember how many bowls of pasta I had at one sitting,” Roberts frets.

“Six,” Murphy says without pause. “And to have a woman eat on screen with such unabashed joy was…”  “Revolutionary,” Roberts concludes.

Just as revolutionary is Roberts in-person on a sunny morning in Napa Valley, California, where it’s obvious that none of that pasta remains on the hips of the 42-year-old mother of three. Looking stick slim, she arrives from a private estate in a nearby town via limo, which drops her at the swanky Bardessono Hotel complete with its own vineyard in the front yard.

In pleated black pants and a poufy, silk Givenchy shirt, Roberts passes by vacationing wine aficionados in the bar who don’t notice that major celebrity is in their vicinity. Her hair is dark and flows over her thin face; her smile is wide and the hugs flow freely from her.