Julia Roberts opens up about her late mother Betty

Julia Roberts, who is more than just a 'Pretty Woman' as she was named People magazine's Most Beautiful Woman for a record breaking fifth time, can't help but gush over how much her mother Betty Lou Bredemus taught her about parenting.

"My mom worked a full-time job and raised three girls pretty much on her own," the 49-year-old actress said in the magazine's new cover story. "My brother [actor Eric Roberts] is older, so he was gone and out of the house. She never showed the strain of it."

Bredemus, who died at the age of 80 in early 2015 after suffering from lung cancer, was divorced from Roberts' dad, Walter, in 1971 and was later divorced from her second husband, Michael Motes, in 1983. The family, including Roberts' sisters Lisa Roberts Gillian and Nancy Motes, continued living in Smyrna, Georgia, throughout Roberts' youth.

The 'Notting Hill' star revealed how she turned to her mom for advice as she started her own family in 2002 after getting married to Danny Moder, with whom she shares three kids, 12-year-old twins Hazel, Phinnaeus and 9-year-old Henry.

Roberts recalled, "[When I] had three children under 3 years old, I was like, 'Mom, how did you do this?' And instead of saying, 'Well, you just have to apply yourself and it takes effort,' she goes, 'It's called daycare, honey.' And I was so appreciative and so grateful she didn't tell me some sage, bulls- story about what it's like to be a great mother."

"The kids talk about her a lot," she added. "It's funny because her name was Betty and I feel like lately, she just crosses my mind, and I'll turn and I see something that says 'Betty,' just unexpectedly. In Africa I saw the name twice when I was thinking about her."

Roberts was recently in Africa participating in a segment for Comic Relief's Red Nose Day where she visited Kenya and teamed up with adventurer Bear Grylls to visit a remote village and deliver lifesaving vaccines.

"I was so excited and encouraged by all the spirit that I saw and all the help that I realized could be done," she said of the trip.