Mona Lisa Smile is a 2003 romantic drama film produced by Revolution Studios and Columbia Pictures in association with Red Om Films Productions, directed by Mike Newell, written by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, and starring Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Julia Stiles. The title is a reference to the Mona Lisa, the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci, and the song of the same name, originally performed by Nat King Cole, which was covered by Seal for the movie. Julia Roberts received a record $25 million for her performance—the highest ever earned by an actress. In 1953, Katherine Ann Watson (Julia Roberts), a 30-something graduate student in the department of Art History at UCLA, takes a position teaching "History of Art" at Wellesley College, a conservative women's private liberal arts college in Massachusetts because she wants to make a difference and influence the next generation of women.