In a world where everyone seems constantly connected, Julia Roberts’ daughter, Hazel Moder, is going the opposite route. The Pretty Woman star revealed in a new interview that a 1986 film based on a Stephen King novel convinced her to ditch her smartphone.
“For some reason, I was thinking this morning about when my kids were young and we showed them Stand by Me, and our daughter said to me, ‘I’m going to give you my phone,’” Roberts, 57, told The New York Times in an interview published on Wednesday, October 15. “And I said, ‘OK. What do you want me to do with it?’ She said: ‘You just keep it. I don’t want it. Seeing that movie, I just thought if those boys had phones, they wouldn’t be talking to each other like that. They wouldn’t have gone looking for that body, they wouldn’t sit around the fire and shared these stories.’”
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The 1986 coming-of-age film directed by Rob Reiner follows four boys in the 1950s who set off to find a missing child’s body, but they end up realizing the importance of friendship instead. Based on King’s novella The Body, Stand by Me is a reminder of what life looked like before anyone had a phone in their pocket.
Roberts continued, “She could see how it was getting in the way of things. All that’s to say, we love talking to each other, and sometimes we forget how important it is.”
Hazel, 20, isn’t the first Gen Z to decide she’s had enough of always being available. In April 2024, The Guardian covered the release of the Boring Phone, a flip phone with none of the bells and whistles many are used to these days.
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“I’ve always hated being available to everyone,” 29-year-old Rana Ali told the publication at the time. “The idea that if you send a WhatsApp to someone and they don’t respond immediately then something’s wrong. I’ve had periods of having a smartphone but I always revert back to having a burner phone.”
Earlier this summer, the trend was still chugging along and Dr. Christine Lee weighed in on the benefits of a “digital detox.”
“Research has shown that [a digital detox] can help with improving your sleep, that can improve your mood, that can reduce your anxiety,” Lee said during an interview with NBC Washington.
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The Irish Times recently reported a steady decline in social-media use among Gen Z outside the U.S., suggesting that Hazel’s decision may be part of a broader global shift in how young people approach technology – smartphone-free and living in the moment.
This story was originally reported by Parade on Oct 16, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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