Julia Roberts worries about young people using their mobile phones too much

She told Sunday Times Culture magazine: "Our brains are incapable of that influx, our eyeballs, brains, all that is too much, especially for little, sweet, soft mushy brains, that need to be filled instead with mud and fields."

Amid concerns over rising misogyny and the manosphere online, Julia is thankful her sons haven't got involved.

She said: "I mean, I'm raising two young men with my husband and couldn't be more proud. They're curious and sure-footed and this sporting game of cruelty comes from insecurity, from feeling that you live on a very slippery slope."

The After the Hunt star insisted a belief that the gap between generations is growing wider than ever isn't true.

She laughed: "I mean, every generation thinks that - remember Elvis?

"It is unfortunate when people go, 'Well, in my day ...' All that bulls***. I love being with young people."

And the Pretty Woman actress believes teenagers are the "raddest creatures on the planet".

She said: "So, I was at a school parent meeting. And all the parents were sharing their troubles. Their kid listens to music they are uncomfortable with. They are on the phone too much. All these things and some parents struggle more than others. Some kids push back harder.

"But then this incredible mum, so cool and beautiful, stands up and goes, 'I f***ing love teenagers. I f***ing love them! They are the raddest creatures on the planet!'

"And she's right and that reminds you how much we miss in life when we think we know more - or better. About everything."

Meanwhile, Julia admitted having her children changed her outlook on work.

She said of her role as Alma in new movie After the Hunt: "I love being at home.

"Basically, when I became a parent, I learnt that I could not take a job unless I was fully committed to it. If I still felt like I had one foot in the house I could not do it, but the thing that intrigued me here was that I just couldn't decide if I liked Alma or hated her. Or even understood her.

"And that is a reason to leave the comfort of my own home for work, right? To go someplace uncomfortable ..."