50 Fun Facts About Julia Roberts

In which city was Julia Roberts born in 1967?

At Crawford Long Hospital. Her parents, one-time actors and playwrights, had met performing for the US Armed Forces.

Who paid the Roberts family's hospital bill when Julia was born?

Her parents ran the region's only racially integrated theatre troupe and taught the King children; her father coached Yolanda King.

From 1972 Roberts grew up in which Georgia town?

She went to Fitzhugh Lee Elementary, Griffin Middle and Campbell High there. Her father died of cancer when she was ten.

What did Roberts want to be when she was a child?

Instead she headed to New York after high school, signed with the Click modelling agency and took acting classes.

Which instrument did Roberts play in her school band?

Her older brother Eric and sister Lisa became actors too, as did her niece Emma.

Roberts's first television appearance, in 1987, was in which series?

She played a juvenile assault victim opposite Dennis Farina in the episode 'The Survivor'; a Miami Vice spot followed in 1988.

Roberts made her big-screen debut as a band member in which 1988 film?

Liam Neeson and Justine Bateman co-starred. She had filmed two words of dialogue in Blood Red earlier, but it sat on a shelf until 1989.

In Mystic Pizza, Roberts's waitress is of which heritage?

Roger Ebert called her 'a major beauty with a fierce energy' and predicted the film would be remembered for the stars it showcased.

In Steel Magnolias, Roberts's young bride suffers from which condition?

The part brought her first Oscar nomination and Golden Globe win. Director Herbert Ross, Sally Field said, 'went after Julia with a vengeance'.

How much was Roberts paid for Pretty Woman?

The film made $463.4 million and sold more US tickets than any romantic comedy ever; her red dress became one of cinema's most famous gowns.

Which of Roberts's Steel Magnolias co-stars had turned down the Pretty Woman role?

So had Michelle Pfeiffer, Molly Ringwald, Meg Ryan, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Karen Allen.

Who directed Roberts in both Flatliners (1990) and Dying Young (1991)?

Flatliners, about students inducing near-death experiences, split critics but became a cult film.

In Sleeping with the Enemy, Roberts's battered wife flees to start over in which state?

Reviews were poor but it grossed $175 million, one of three 1991 releases alongside Hook and Dying Young.

Which character did Roberts play in Steven Spielberg's Hook?

A winged, six-inch-tall tomboy; her real-life preference for going barefoot was written into the part.

During her early-1990s hiatus, Roberts's only film appearance was a cameo in which Altman film?

The absence prompted a 1993 People cover asking 'What Happened to Julia Roberts?'

Who co-starred with Roberts in the John Grisham thriller The Pelican Brief (1993)?

She played a law student who uncovers a conspiracy; the film took $195.2 million.

What is the profession of Roberts's character in My Best Friend's Wedding?

P. J. Hogan's film, with Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz and Rupert Everett, took $299.3 million and revived her rom-com run.

Roberts played a Justice Department attorney opposite which actor in Conspiracy Theory (1997)?

Richard Donner directed; it grossed $137 million.

Which Sesame Street character did Roberts appear opposite in 1998?

The same year she starred with Susan Sarandon in the weepie Stepmom.

Who played the terminally ill mother opposite Roberts in Stepmom (1998)?

Reviews were mixed-to-positive and it made $159.7 million worldwide.

Notting Hill displaced which film as the biggest British hit in cinema history?

It earned $363 million. CNN called Roberts 'the queen of the romantic comedy [whose] reign continues'.

Runaway Bride (1999) reunited Roberts with Richard Gere and which director?

She played a woman who keeps abandoning fiancés at the altar; it grossed $309.4 million. They teamed again in 2016 for Mother's Day.

Roberts's Emmy-nominated Law & Order guest spot paired her with which actor, then her boyfriend?

The season-nine episode was 'Empire'. They dated from 1998 to 2001.

With Erin Brockovich, Roberts became the first actress paid what fee for a single film?

The film made $256.3 million and won her the Best Actress Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and a SAG Award.

Which company does the real-life Erin Brockovich take on in the film?

Pacific Gas and Electric of California. Steven Soderbergh directed and reunited with her months later on Ocean's Eleven.

Which long-time friend did Roberts finally work with in the 2001 road comedy The Mexican?

They had been hunting for a joint project for years, then shared surprisingly little screen time in it.

In America's Sweethearts, Roberts plays the sister and assistant of a star played by whom?

Billy Crystal and John Cusack co-starred; critics found it 'only funny in spurts' but it made over $138 million.

What is the name of Roberts's character, Danny's ex-wife, in the heist trilogy with Clooney?

Danny Ocean's ex-wife, played by Angie Dickinson in the 1960 original. Ocean's Eleven took $450 million.

Roberts's then-record $25M fee was for playing an art history professor in which film?

Set at Wellesley College in 1953, Mike Newell's film was called 'predictable and safe' but made over $141 million.

Roberts replaced which actress as the photographer in Mike Nichols's Closer (2004)?

Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen completed the quartet in Patrick Marber's adaptation of his own play.

In Ocean's Twelve, Roberts's character impersonates whom?

The gag rests on the characters noticing her strong resemblance to the actress. The sequel grossed $363 million.

Roberts's first music video appearance, in 2005, was for which group's song 'Dreamgirl'?

She made The Hollywood Reporter's highest-paid actresses list every year from 2002 to 2005.

Roberts made her Broadway debut in 2006 in which Richard Greenberg play?

Bradley Cooper and Paul Rudd co-starred. It sold out, but the New York Post's critic wrote: 'Hated the play ... even hated her.'

Which Texas socialite did Roberts play in Charlie Wilson's War (2007)?

Mike Nichols's film earned her a sixth Golden Globe nomination, opposite Tom Hanks and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Roberts played a CIA agent running a con opposite which actor in Duplicity (2009)?

A. O. Scott wrote that at 41 she was 'unmistakably in her prime'; it brought her seventh Golden Globe nomination.

Who directed Roberts and himself in the 2011 comedy Larry Crowne?

She played the teacher of a middle-aged man going back to school; the film bombed but her comic turn was praised.

In Mirror Mirror (2012), Roberts played Snow White's evil stepmother, named what?

Tarsem Singh directed and Lily Collins was Snow White; it made $183 million.

Roberts's fourth Oscar nomination came for playing which daughter in August: Osage County?

Meryl Streep and Ewan McGregor co-starred in the black comedy about a family reuniting after the patriarch vanishes.

Roberts played Dr. Emma Brookner, a physician during the AIDS crisis, in which HBO film?

Larry Kramer's play adapted; the character is based on Dr. Linda Laubenstein. It brought an Emmy nomination.

Homecoming, Roberts's first regular TV series, premiered in 2018 on which platform?

She played a caseworker at a secret government facility and got a Golden Globe nomination for it.

Which Watergate figure did Roberts play in the 2022 series Gaslit?

The Starz series was based on the first season of the podcast Slow Burn.

Leave the World Behind (2023) was produced by which couple's company, Higher Ground?

Ethan Hawke and Mahershala Ali co-starred in the Rumaan Alam adaptation.

Roberts's production company Red Om takes its name from what?

It produced the first four American Girl films and Homecoming, and she runs it with her sister Lisa.

In which year did Roberts become the global ambassador for Lancôme?

A five-year extension signed in 2010 was worth $50 million; Chopard made her its global ambassador in 2023.

Which country singer did Roberts marry in 1993?

At St. James Lutheran Church in Marion, Indiana, barefoot. They separated in 1995.

Which cameraman did Roberts marry at her Taos ranch on July 4, 2002?

They met on a film set in 2000 and have three children. She had earlier called off a 1991 wedding to Kiefer Sutherland.

In 2010 Roberts said she had converted to which religion?

She is a devotee of the guru Neem Karoli Baba; a swami in Pataudi gave her children Hindu names during the Eat Pray Love shoot.

How many times has People magazine named Roberts the world's most beautiful woman?

A record, most recently in 2017. She was also the first woman ranked Hollywood's most bankable star, in 2002.

Roberts is a distant cousin of which fellow actor?

A 2023 Finding Your Roots episode also told her that her paternal line's surname was actually Mitchell.

Which personal habit of Roberts was written into several of her film roles?

She goes shoeless at festivals, on talk shows and did so at her 1993 wedding.