Julia Roberts Reveales This One Thing She Hates About Modern Hollywood
Hollywood has changed a lot over the years, and actors like Julia Roberts notice it. She grew up in the business, following in her brother Eric Roberts’ footsteps. Eric became well-known for movies like King of the Gypsies, and his daughter, Emma Roberts, is now a successful actress too. But Julia says it’s much harder for young actors today to make their mark.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Julia talked about how things were different when she started. “We were talking about Mystic Pizza earlier, and I’m sitting here thinking to myself, It’s too bad that young actors coming up now will never get that kind of experience. The business is so different; you can never be that new girl that has that moment of ‘Where’d she come from?’ Those gradual steps that you get to take.”
She explained that nowadays, it feels like there’s “the express elevator and there’s rehab.” Julia said, “It’s so awful; nobody gets a fair trial-and-error period that everybody deserves and everybody needs. I was lucky that I made a few movies in a row that people really responded to—not me particularly but the films as a whole were appreciated. Then you have a couple that aren’t when you think they’re going to be, and that’s OK. You can keep going. People can keep hiring you. But that doesn’t happen now, and it’s a pity because it is a way to develop yourself and figure out what kind of actor you are.”
Her niece, Emma Roberts, has grown up in the same family environment, so she knows what it’s like to be a “nepo baby” in Hollywood. On the podcast Table for Two with Bruce Bozzi, Emma said, “People definitely have preconceived notions of you. I think there’s two sides of the coin, you know. People like to say, ‘You have a leg up because you have family in the industry,’ but then the other side to that is, you know, you have to prove yourself more. Also, if people don’t have [a] good experience maybe with other people in your family, then you’ll never get the chance.”
Emma also talked about how Hollywood loves a good “overnight success story.” “I think there’s something to be said where everybody loves the kind of overnight success story. And so if you’re kind of not the girl from the middle of nowhere that broke into Hollywood, you know there’s kind of an eye roll of like, ‘Well, your dad was this,’” she said. She even joked, “Why is no one calling out George Clooney for being a nepo baby? [His aunt] Rosemary Clooney was an icon.”
Both Julia and Emma Roberts make it clear that Hollywood has always had family connections, but the industry has changed a lot. Julia misses the time when young actors could learn and grow slowly, and Emma shows how tricky it can be to have famous relatives while trying to prove yourself.
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