Julia Roberts
Born: Oct. 28, 1967
Smyrna, Georgia, USA
Julia Roberts’ career has always been a bit of a roller coaster when it comes to box office and critical acceptance. Still with the success of 2000’s Erin Brockovich and 1999’s Runaway Bride and Notting Hill, Julia seems to be in the fun part of the ride.
Julia Roberts was born in Smyrna, Georgia on October 28th, 1967. Her film debut was opposite her brother Eric in Blood Red. Though the film was actually made in 1986, it remained unreleased for three years, making audience first glimpse Julia in Mystic Pizza. She earned good notices for that film and earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar® nomination for her role in Steel Magnolias. She then won audiences’ hearts and a surprise Best Actress nomination for her portrayal of the warm-hearted hooker opposite Richard Gere in the red light Cinderella story Pretty Woman. That film’s huge success rubbed off on the box office numbers of Flatliners and Sleeping With the Enemy.
Julia’s box office magic stumbled a bit with the syrupy romance Dying Young. 1991 also saw Roberts appear as Tinkerbell in Steven Spielberg’s Peter Pan flick, Hook. Critics either panned her performance or said her huge spirit and energy was wasted on the pint-size character.
1991 was also a big year for Julia Roberts personally and launched her into the tabloids in a big way. In fact her career has always survived on equal parts of talent and celebrity. In 1991, Julia was supposed to walk down the aisle and marry Flatliners co-star Kiefer Sutherland. Instead she set mouths a-buzzing when she ran off to Ireland with Kiefer’s friend, Jason Patric. (The incident raised its head again in 1999. Roberts told Vanity Fair that she thought Steven Spielberg was a “turncoat” for telling 60 Minutes that the breakup made her work on Hook difficult.) She disappeared from movie screens (except for a cameo in Robert Altman’s The Player) for two years.
Julia returned to the screens in 1993 with a commercial hit, appearing opposite Denzel Washington in The Pelican Brief. She followed that with mixed reactions to I Love Trouble, Ready to Wear, Something to Talk About and the period horror film Mary Reilly. After three years of being bashed by critics and audiences she received pretty good notices for her work in Woody Allen’s Everyone Says I Love You. 1996 also saw her appear as Liam Neeson’s love interest in the historical drama Michael Collins.
Julia put another jewel in her sometimes tarnished box-office crown when she starred in the very successful My Best Friend’s Wedding. However she repeated her roller coaster pattern by following that up with mixed receptions for Conspiracy Theory and Stepmom. She zipped back up when she appeared in the ratings-winning 200th episode of then boyfriend Benjamin Bratt’s TV show Law & Order.
On December 20th, 1999, Julia was nominated for the 57th Annual Golden Globe Awards for her role in Notting Hill with Hugh Grant.
Julia received another Golden Globe nomination in 2000 for Erin Brockovich. She followed that up by winning the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actress. Her role in Erin Brockovich earned her Golden Globe in January 2001. She also won the Screen Actors Guild award for the role and on March 25th, 2001, she added her first Oscar to her collection.
David Letterman’s favorite guest kept herself busy in 2001. She worked opposite Brad Pitt in The Mexican, John Cusack, Billy Crystal and Catherine Zeta Jones in America’s Sweethearts and George Clooney (and Matt Damon…and Brad Pitt…and…) in Ocean’s Eleven.
Julia married cameraman Daniel Moder in a midnight ceremony on July 4th, 2002.
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