- Julia Roberts has been in Hollywood for 30 years.
- She’s starred in some box office hits and some flops.
- She’s also appeared on TV and on Broadway.
It quickly became clear that Julia Roberts wasn’t simply an actress, but a movie star, soon after she began working in show business more than 30 years ago. Roberts has since appeared in at least 50 films, and just made the leap to television with a starring role on the new Amazon series “Homecoming.”
After paying her dues in the late ’80s, Roberts’ career exploded when audiences fell for her in 1990’s “Pretty Woman.”
Now, her films are estimated to have grossed a total of $2.9 billion in ticket sales, which is part of the reason she made history as the first woman to earn a $20 million paycheck for a single movie.
Though Roberts has certainly participated in her share of flops and missteps, she’s remained mostly in a league of her own when it comes to Hollywood success stories.
Here's how Julia Roberts a Hollywood superstar:
Julia Roberts grew up in a creative family and decided to pursue acting right after high school.
She moved from her home state of Georgia to New York City, following in the footsteps of her older siblings, Lisa and Eric, who were also actors.
''I had convinced myself that I had three choices: I could get married, I could go to college, or I could move to New York. Nobody was asking to get married and I didn't want to go away to school, so I moved," Roberts told the New York Times in 1990.
She quickly made a name for herself after landing her first roles in 1987.
Roberts made her professional debut as an actress playing a survivor of sexual assault on an episode of "Crime Story" in 1987. That same year, she also made her film debut in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it role in the "Firehouse." She continued to land small parts throughout the late '80s, including an appearance on an episode of "Miami Vice" and a supporting role in the movie "Satisfaction."
Roberts earned critical praise for her performance in 1988's "Mystic Pizza."
Roberts played a waitress at a pizza shop alongside Lili Taylor and Annabeth Gish in the 1988 coming-of-age story "Mystic Pizza." Her performance caught the attention of critics, who foresaw stardom in her future.
"I have a feeling that 'Mystic Pizza' may someday become known for the movie stars it showcased back before they became stars. All of the young actors in this movie have genuine gifts," Roger Ebert wrote in his 1988 review. "Roberts is a major beauty with a fierce energy."
Her career began to skyrocket after her performance in "Steel Magnolias."
The actress held her own against seasoned actresses Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Darryl Hannah and Dolly Parton in the 1989 movie "Steel Magnolias." Roberts gave a scene-stealing performance as Shelby, for which she won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar.
"Pretty Woman" made Roberts a bona-fide movie star.
Roberts is still probably best known for her role as a sex worker who falls in love with a wealthy businessman in the 1990 romantic comedy "Pretty Woman." The movie, which grossed $285 million worldwide, launched the then- 22-year-old actress to stardom. Roberts won her second Golden Globe award and earned yet another Oscar nomination for the role.
The movie established Roberts as a leading lady and she quickly went on to star in "Flatliners," "Sleeping with the Enemy," and "Dying Young" in the next few years. It was a life-changing role, but Roberts was too busy working to realize exactly how big of a star she was about to become.
"It was sort of nice, in that it passed me by a little bit. I wasn't there for the moment-to-moment rise of this movie, which was probably a real blessing because I maintained a selfness of just being a girl and working and making movies instead of being in the whirlwind of activity of this movie and what was happening with it," she told Vanity Fair in 1993.
Roberts took time off after starring in a string of movies and returned to the big screen in 1993 with "The Pelican Brief."
"She needed this time off. Deserved it," director Joel Schumacher, who worked with Roberts in "Flatliners" and "Dying Young," told Vanity Fair in 1993. "If she had kept up her professional pace, then people would have accused her of being a workaholic. You can't win. I mean, though she's sophisticated in many, many ways now, she's still so very young, and needed some time to herself so she could grow up a bit."
Roberts returned to the big screen in 1993 starring opposite Denzel Washington in the legal thriller "The Pelican Brief." The film was a financial success, taking in $195 million at the box office.
"They say I can open movies, and that's nice in that it puts it into people's minds that women can do it," she told the New York Times ahead of the film's release. "It's not just Kevin Costner, not just Arnold Schwarzenegger. Not just the guys."
After a series of box office disappointments, Roberts hit it big again with "My Best Friend's Wedding" in 1997.
Roberts appeared in a string of box office flops from 1994 to 1996 including "I Love Trouble," "Something to Talk About," and "Mary Reilly."
But Roberts re-established herself as a box office heavyweight with the success of "My Best Friend's Wedding," which took in close to $300 million worldwide.
Roberts' career was back on track as she appeared in multiple movies that would re-establish her as America's sweetheart.
Roberts starred opposite Susan Sarandon in the 1998 tear-jerker "Stepmom," and went on to make audiences fall in love with her yet again in the 1999 romantic comedy "Notting Hill," and "Runaway Bride," which reunited her with "Pretty Woman" co-star Richard Gere. All three films were major box office hits that proved Roberts' star power.
"She's really Miss America, isn't she? She's got all the qualities that people want an American woman to have," Roberts's friend and "My Best Friend's Wedding" co-star Rupert Everett told Vanity Fair in 1999.
She became the highest-paid actress in Hollywood and won an Oscar for her performance in "Erin Brockovich" in 2000.
Roberts took home a $20 million payday for "Erin Brockovich," making her the highest-paid actress in Hollywood. According to Newsweek, though male stars at the time were regularly commanding similarly exorbitant amounts, Roberts had to fight to convince Universal she was worth it.
"Roberts now has the box office to herself; no other female star comes close," the New Yorker's Anthony Lane wrote ahead of Roberts' 2001 Oscar win. "The two Toms, Hanks and Cruise, are Roberts's main contenders, but only Hanks seems able to match the progress of the new model Julia, all peaks and no trough. No 'Eyes Wide Shut' for her, although it's a tempting thought, especially with those dinky black masks."
Roberts went on to win the best actress award at the Oscars, where she gave a memorable speech that included asking conductor Bill Conti to sit down.
Roberts continued to dominate at the box office in 2001.
Following her Oscar win, Roberts starred in "The Mexican," "American Sweethearts," and "Oceans Eleven," which raked in more than $450 million worldwide.
The actress starred in six movies between 2002 and 2004 including "Closer" and "Ocean's Twelve."
Roberts continued to work steadily over the next two years in some of the most poorly received films of her career. She teamed up once again with director Steven Soderbergh for "Full Frontal," a film which Roger Ebert called "so amateurish that only the professionalism of some of the actors makes it watchable."
Roberts tried branching out as an actress and veered into darker material in 2004's romantic drama "Closer," which also starred Jude Law, Natalie Portman, and Clive Owen.
"The movie is so completely and utterly adult and intense," Roberts told W magazine of "Closer," adding that the film was "so different than anything I ever do, or even get asked to do, frankly. I wouldn't think of me for it."
She also appeared in "Ocean's Twelve," which involved her character posing as famous actress Julia Roberts in an attempt to pull off a heist.
Roberts took time off in 2005 after she gave birth to twins Hazel and Phinnaeus.
The actress and her husband Danny Moder welcomed twins, Hazel and Phinnaeus, into their lives in November 2004, which prompted Roberts to take some time off.
In an interview with W magazine before she gave birth, Roberts assured fans that contrary to rumors she was not planning to retire, but was intent on becoming pickier with the projects she decided to take on.
"The script will have to blow me away," Roberts told W. "The babies will be a great factor, like anything that makes your life more interesting and more enjoyable. Scripts will have to continue to compete with the quality of my life."
The actress made her Broadway debut in 2006 and slowly returned to Hollywood with voiceover work.
In 2006, Roberts voiced Charlotte the spider in the live-action version of "Charlotte's Web," and also lent her voice to the animated film "The Ant Bully," That same year, Roberts made her Broadway debut in the play "Three Days of Rain," which received particularly harsh reviews from critics.
Roberts and her husband welcomed another son in 2007 and she continued to appear in a new movie each year until 2009.
Roberts appeared in "Charlie Wilson's War," "Fireflies in the Garden," and "Duplicity," between 2007 and 2009, but took issue with the idea the idea that she had disappeared from Hollywood.
"Hang on. Let's get a couple of things straight. It's not been years and years since I made a movie. I'm not coming back from the dead - I'd just had two kids!" she told the Telegraph in 2008.
Roberts starred in "Eat Pray Love" in 2010 and reportedly received another massive paycheck for her appearance in "Valentine's Day."
Roberts played a woman on a journey to self-discovering in "Eat Pray Love." The film was a success at the box office taking in more than $200 million.
Roberts also briefly appeared in the ensemble movie "Valentine's Day," for which she reportedly was paid a $3 million salary on top of 3% of the film's gross earnings. When Vulture did the math that came out to "an astonishing $8,333 per second of screen time, or roughly $500,000 a minute. Verbally, it's a minimum of $11,952 per spoken word."
Since 2011, Roberts has taken on a variety of roles and earned another Oscar nomination.
In 2011, Roberts starred opposite Tom Hanks in "Larry Crowne," and played the evil queen in the retelling of Snow White in "Mirror, Mirror" the following year.
In 2013 she starred in "August: Osage County," and was nominated for both a Golden Globe and Academy Award.
In the following years, Roberts appeared in a supporting role in the HBO movie "The Normal Heart" and appeared as part of the ensemble in "Mother's Day." According to Variety, the actress scored yet another major payday, reportedly earning $3 million for just four days of filming.
Roberts scored another box office hit with the 2017 tearjerker "Wonder."
Roberts is starring in the new Amazon series "Homecoming."
The actress stars as a caseworker assigned to help soldiers transition back to civilian life on the Amazon series "Homecoming." The show marks a new chapter in her career as she ventures into television for the first time and perhaps says goodbye to the genre that made her a star.
"Unless we [play] the parents of the people that are rom-com-ing," Roberts told "Entertainment Tonight" when asked if she might star in a romantic comedy again.
"There came a point in my career where people thought I had turned on romantic comedies, which I love them, I love to be in them, I love to watch them," she said. "But sometimes, they just don't work at a certain point of life experience. It's not about age, it's just about what people know that you know."
In addition to her new series, which began streaming on November 2, Roberts returned to the big screen in the film "Ben is Back" on Dec. 7.
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