“The fame thing isn’t really real, you know.” – from “Notting Hill.”
Upon seeing her photograph, which is usually displayed on at least one magazine cover a week, it is obvious that Julia Roberts is a movie star. She has those qualities – you know, amazing hair, a gorgeous smile, glowing eyes. But above all, and what really makes her the star she is, she’s got personality. Over the years, she’s gained that confidence and charisma that sets her apart from other Hollywood beauties. Roberts has been in the spotlight for over ten years of her life, and in those years, she’s had her heart broken, broken other people’s hearts, starred in good movies, and starred in bad movies, all while learning how to keep her sanity while the whole world watches her.
The daughter of Walter Roberts (a vacuum cleaner salesman) and Betty Motes (a real estate agent), Julia grew up in a small town in Georgia called Smyrna. Her parents divorced when she was four, and her father died five years later, leaving her with just her mother and two siblings, Eric (who is now 43) and Lisa (who is now 35). She attended Campbell High School, and graduated in 1985. Although she always wanted to be a veterinarian as a child, she changed her mind and moved to NY with her sister to become an actress. In order to make money, she signed with a modeling agency. She then got her big break in a movie called “Blood Red.”
However, it was her role in 1988’s “Mystic Pizza” that caught the eyes of critics and filmmakers. She was then cast in the tearjerker “Steel Magnolias,” which won her an Oscar nomination for her role as a diabetic who risks her life to have children. She next starred in the romantic comedy “Pretty Woman,” a role that catapulted her to movie star status. Not only did the film make Julia Roberts a household name, but it also won her another Oscar nomination. The media blitz surrounding the film found Roberts gracing the cover of every tabloid in the country, which was a little too much for the then 23-year-old actress to handle.
She disappeared from the spotlight for a while, and made a string of forgettable movies. Finally, she reappeared again in the John Grisham thriller “The Pelican Brief,” reaffirming the critics’ faith in this rising star. However, it wasn’t until the summer of 1997 that she really made a comeback as the romantic comedy queen, when she won our hearts in “My Best Friend’s Wedding.” The charming movie teamed her with the super hot Rupert Everett and Cameron Diaz, and even earned a Golden Globe nomination. More hits followed – she then went on to star in “Notting Hill,” in which she plays a movie star who falls in love with a mere bookstore owner (Hugh Grant), and then re-teamed with “Pretty Woman” co-star Richard Gere in “Runaway Bride.” However, it is her most recent turn as the brash, provocative “Erin Brockovich,” that is said to be her best performance thus far, and has critics talking Oscar again.
Nowadays, it seems that all of Roberts’ hard work has paid off. She is now the highest paid female star in Hollywood, and is able to pick and choose the projects that really move her. She has a home in New York, and a ranch in New Mexico. She shares it with seven dogs and six horses, and loves to take care of the grounds and ride the horses. She is also dating one of television’s hottest stars, “Law and Order”’s Benjamin Bratt. Her happiness is evident to the entire country, and as “Stepmom” co-star Susan Sarandon told Entertainment Weekly, “She smiles, and the sun comes out.”
