BAFTA’s, Golden Globe’s, Academy Award’s. Julia Roberts has no doubt become one of Hollywood’s most beloved actors.
But her journey to stardom wasn’t without its challenges. Julia grew up in a small town in Georgia and despite her family’s background in entertainment, she initially felt hesitant about pursuing a career in acting. So, without the grades or financial means to go university, Roberts made the bold decision to move to New York to be closer to her sister and find employment. A decision that ultimately changed her life.
Catching the attention of talent manager Bob McGowan, Julia went on to navigate auditions and casting calls, facing rejection and uncertainty along the way; even dying her hair to make it easier for the casting team to picture her in a role. She found comfort in being surrounded by others going through a similar experience, and eventually that determination and resilience paid off…
Throughout her illustrious career, Julia has portrayed a wide range of characters that showcase her versatility as an actress. From the iconic role of Vivian Ward in "Pretty Woman" to her stand-out performance as Erin Brockovich, for which she earned an Academy Award for Best Actress, her performances have made their mark on cinema.
But it was perhaps Julia’s own mental turning point that has helped her go down in history as one of the greats. For she learnt to say “no”. She overcame the pressure to keep on working and found joy in making decisions for herself. Every movie she is a part of, she is proud to be a part of.
Beyond acting, Julia has also lent her support to various causes close to her heart, using her platform to make a positive impact on the world.
With a career spanning decades, Julia Roberts is an undeniably talented actress, whose dedication and passion have made her a beloved icon of Hollywood. She continues to inspire audiences worldwide.
Julia Roberts – video transcript
There's something about unrealised dreams of one's parents that is kind of this silent motivator.
I grew up in a small town in Georgia. My parents were actors and my father was a writer and they had an actor's and writer's workshop in Atlanta, and this is before I was even born. They did that for a long time and then that closed and their marriage dissolved. My older brother and older sister both went on to study and become performers.
For me, being the third in line to that, it felt like, I don't want to say I want to be an actor, because everybody in my family's an actor. But I really didn't have the grades or the financial ability to go to university, so I just thought the best thing to do would be to stick with my sister and move to New York to be close to her and get a job and carry on.
One of the great happy accidents was ending up in New York, moving in with my sister and being in and amongst this energy, which I think is really motivating. I was walking down the street with my brother's girlfriend, who knew the person that passed us by and called her later and said, "Who is that girl that you were with?" After meeting a couple of very nice people, who ultimately said they couldn't do anything for me, I met this incredibly sweet, gregarious man called Bob McGowan who was a talent manager. His dream was to believe in other people's dreams. He took me as a client and that was sort of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning.
I think there's a certain amount of what I felt was hubris, to really just proclaim I want to be an actor because you're saying, I possess something that is unique and I don't know that I particularly felt that about myself and I certainly did not have the confidence to proclaim it out loud. Just going on a lot of auditions and meeting casting directors and seeing people over and over again, you started to feel like you were part of this business even when you weren't working. That I think, in and of itself, gave me a feeling of not confidence so much as comfort.
So, for ‘Mystic Pizza’, before I met the director, I had very blonde curly hair and he said, "Yeah, it's just too bad that your hair's not dark. They’d have to think less about picturing you in this part.” So I darkened my hair, I did all these things, and it was a great job to have won because I was amongst five, six other people on the job, all kind of having a little bit similar experience. But to be there together as this collective of young people really trying to accomplish our goals was pretty thrilling. And then when it rains, it pours. ‘Mystic Pizza’, I did that, and then it seemed not that long after that was ‘Steel Magnolias’ and then ‘Pretty Woman’.
I think one of the big turning points of my career was a time when I just suddenly saw work as this relentless, almost like a treadmill. Like you were on this treadmill and you had to just keep going and you had to keep working. And I just didn't want to do that. And so I would read things and I wasn't interested in them, so I wouldn't entertain them. I would just immediately just, nope, that's not for me and I would not say yes to anything until I knew it was the right thing for me. And that went on for quite a while.
And then Alan Pakula called me about John Grisham's novel ‘The Pelican Brief’. I just remember feeling like, “oh yeah. This is the place I want to be.”
I can stand next to every movie I did really proudly. The advice that I always give is don't take advice from an actor. But I do think that in life, it doesn't matter what you do for a living, that really if you're doing it for earnest sincere reasons that are inside of you, that you can take responsibility for, then it's the right thing to do.
Ultimately, I make my own decisions for myself and I think that's the critical piece to find joy in what you do.
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Julia Roberts became one of the world's most sought after actors following her Golden Globe winning performances in Steel Magnolias (1989) and Pretty Woman (1990).
Her portrayal of environmental activist Erin Brokovich (2000) won her a Golden Globe, BAFTA and the Academy Award for Best Actress.
She has remained at the top of the film and TV industry and is widely recognised as one of the most admired actors of her generation.
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