Emma Roberts has opened up about the impact having famous family members in the industry has had on her career
Emma Roberts has opened up about how having family members in the film and TV industry has impacted her career.
The 33-year-old landed her first movie role at the age of nine in Ted Demme’s 2001 release Blow, and has since gone to star in rom-coms, thriller and horrors galore.
Despite many of her family being in the industry, Roberts’ name isn’t one which has cropped up frequently amid the ongoing discussion around ‘nepobabies’ and she’s since weighed in on why that might be.
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Roberts’ dad is actor Eric Roberts, who starred in acclaimed series such as Grey’s Anatomy and Suits, alongside movies like Lumina and Crimes of the Past.
After her dad and mom, Kelly Cunningham, split, Eric went on to marry fellow actor Eliza Roberts – also now a casting director and acting coach – who’s parents are the late screenwriters David Rayfiel and Lila Garrett.
Roberts’ mom married musician Kelly Nickels and her aunts are actors Julia Roberts and Lisa Roberts Gillan.
But how has having a creative, celeb-filled family impacted Roberts career – if at all?
Emma Roberts’ dad is actor Eric Roberts. (Gotham/GC Images)
Well, Roberts claims she’s actually ‘lost more jobs than [she’s] gained from being in the business’.
She explained to Flaunt: “People have opinions and sometimes maybe they’re not good opinions of people in your family.
“I’ve never gotten a job because of it, I know I definitely have lost a couple of jobs because of it.”
And Roberts opened up about being turned down for roles when she appeared on the Table for Two with Bruce Bozzi podcast promoting her new movie, Space Cadet.
Roberts argued she doesn’t think people always consider full picture when it comes to nepo babies and their successful careers.
Roberts claims she’s lost jobs as a result of her famous family. (Amazon Prime Video)
She explained: “That’s the thing that I always talk about – people kind of only see your wins because they only see when you’re on the poster of a movie. They don’t see all the rejection along the way,
“That’s why I’m always very open about things I’ve auditioned for and haven’t gotten the part for.
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“I think it’s important to talk about – otherwise people just think everything’s been so great and linear and easy, and no, it’s not at all. But of course it looks like that to the outside perspective or to the naked eye.”
Featured Image Credit: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images / Lester Cohen/WireImage/Getty
Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV, Hollywood
Poppy Bilderbeck
Emma Roberts reveals who she blames for Madame Web ‘doing badly’
Madame Web released back in February to very poor reviews
Emma Roberts has a theory as to why Madame Web performed poorly at the box office.
The 2024 film grossed a disappointing $100 million worldwide against a rumored production budget of $80 million.
On top of that, Madame Web reviewed extremely poorly, sitting at a shocking low 11 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes to this day.
Roberts, who starred as Mary Parker in the Marvel movie alongside the likes of Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney, has opened up on why she believes the film flopped.
And according to the actress, it’s all down to internet culture.
Speaking to Variety, the 33-year-old quipped: “Things work; things don’t work. Everyone likes to act like they can predict if they’re going to work or they’re not. And the truth is, you can’t.
“Things do badly, and then they blow up later on TikTok. Things do well, but then you watch them, and you’re like, ‘This did well?’”
She added: “There is no secret. It’s about doing something goodish and it hitting at the right time. Everything else is like a wish and a prayer.
Emma Roberts starred in Madame Web alongside Sydney Sweeney and Dakota Johnson. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
“I’m not intimidated by failure, and I’m not intimidated by people having negative thoughts about something.”
While fans may not have been too impressed by Madame Web, Roberts, personally, ‘really loved’ and ‘enjoyed’ working on the superhero film.
“I thought everyone in it was great,” she added speaking of the cast which included Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, Celeste O’Connor, Mike Epps, and Adam Scott.
Roberts added: “The director, S.J. Clarkson, I think did an amazing job. She’s the reason I wanted to do that movie. If it wasn’t for internet culture and everything being made into a joke, I think that the reception would’ve been different.
“And that’s what bums me out about a lot of stuff, even stuff that I’ve done, is people just make such a joke out of everything now.”
Roberts admits she enjoyed working on Madame Web. (Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images)
While Roberts has her theory as to why Madame Web performed poorly, the reviews for the movie tell a grave story.
Elizabeth Weitzman, from Time Out, wrote: “Johnson tries to evoke Cassandra’s inner turmoil, and the scenes between her and Scott offer glimpses of a more promising project.
“But any potential gets buried early, beneath clumsy exposition, clunky special effects, and disconnected editing.”
While Chicago Reader’s Cam Cieszki penned: “Sony and Marvel’s latest entry in their shared Spider-Man cinematic universe has no better comparison than that of a rickety wooden coaster you’d find at a family-owned amusement park: brutal on the body and precariously constructed.”
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Roy Rochlin/YouTube/Sony Pictures Releasing UK
Topics: Film and TV, Marvel, Celebrity
Callum Jones
Steven Spielberg said he’d never work with Julia Roberts again after Hook
Steven Spielberg and Julia Roberts worked together for the 1991 film Hook, but there were rumors of disagreements on set
While Steven Spielberg and Julia Roberts are some of the biggest names in Hollywood, you probably won’t see them working together on a film anytime soon.
The pair actually appeared alongside each other for the 1991 film Hook, a movie that is infamous for alleged conflict on set.
Hook, a sequel to J.M. Barrie’s 1911 book Peter and Wendy, was directed by Spielberg.
The legendary Robin Williams played the lead role of Peter Banning, a middle-aged lawyer who had forgotten his childhood in Neverland until a certain individual turned up.
Roberts, meanwhile, was also a star of the show, playing Tinkerbell in the 90s flick.
Julia Roberts worked with Steven Spielberg on Hook. (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Chopard)
The actor – who was recently spotted having a tête-à-tête with Travis Kelce – famously clashed with Spielberg during the filming of Hook, and it was later rumored that Roberts was referred to as ‘Tinkerhell’ on the set.
Roberts was asked about the speculation with Entertainment Weekly that same year, admitting she ‘never heard’ of the nickname.
However, she didn’t deny she clashed with people on the set, adding: “But I’m a normal person. I mean, if I sit in my trailer for six hours doing nothing, I’m going to say, ‘What the f**k is going on?’”
Spielberg has also addressed the apparent feud in an interview with 60 Minutes.
“It was not a great time for Julia and I to be working together,” the famed director admitted.
Spielberg was then asked if he would ever work with Roberts ever again, to which he replied: “This is a 60 Minutes question, isn’t it?”
Safe to say Spielberg won’t be working with Roberts again. (Dominik Bindl/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival)
After that interview aired, Roberts spoke to Variety Fair, saying: “He took these hesitations as if he had to choose his words very carefully when asked about me.
“I watched it and thought, Is this the same man I had whipped-cream fights with on the set? Is this the same man who said that he couldn’t wait every day to get to our stage because it was more fun than the big stage?
“I guess sometimes it’s just too tempting to be in the majority.”
Meanwhile, Julia’s niece Emma Roberts, whose had a pretty stellar career in film and TV so far, recently claimed her family connections have lost her jobs.
“I’ve lost more jobs than I’ve gained from being in the business,” Emma told Flaunt.
“People have opinions and sometimes maybe they’re not good opinions of people in your family. I’ve never gotten a job because of it, I know I definitely have lost a couple of jobs because of it.”