Biography
Julia Roberts will receive a healthy salary for her next movie. In fact, that remuneration will make her the first woman to break the “$20 million hump” broken years ago by male stars. The gal’s earned it, for seven of her films have surpassed the $100 million mark (hey, that’s more some of those guys’ flicks!), and her performances are consistent audience favorites. Robert’s “atypical beauty” -- clear-eyed sparkle, wholesome wide grin and charismatic presence — marks her as Hollywood’s “Girl Next Door Superstar.” Atypical as well was her road to success. After high school graduation, Roberts left her native Georgia and joined her actor-sister in New York. At age 19 she was cast as her actor-brother’s on-screen sister in the 1986 movie, Blood Red (released in 1989). She went on to roles in Firehouse (1987), Crime Story (TV - 1988), Satisfaction (TV - 1988), Before Your Eyes: Angelie’s Secret (TV - 1988), Baja Oklahoma (TV - 1988), and Miami Vice (TV episode - 1988). For her part in Mystic Pizza (1988) she received an Independent Spirit Award nomination. Important and award-winning roles in blockbuster pictures followed with Steel Magnolias (1989 - Golden Globe award and Oscar nomination), Pretty Woman (1990 - Oscar nomination and British Academy award nomination), Flatliners (1990), Sleeping With The Enemy (1991), and Dying Young (1991 - MTV Movie award nomination). Darkness descended. Roberts next role, in Hook (1991), was panned by critics and nominated for a Razzie Worst Supporting Actress slam. A breakup with fiancé Keifer Sutherland just days before the planned wedding was among the gossip column-fodder personal problems that led to a year of seclusion and naught but a cameo appearance in one film, The Player (1992). Light dawned. Roberts breathed new life into her career in 1993 with The Pelican Brief (for which she received an MTV Movie award). She married singer/songwriter/actor Lyle Lovett the same year, but the media-dubbed “pretty woman - ugly duckling” couple lasted only 21 months. She took on roles in Pret-a-Porter (1994), I Love Trouble (1994), A Century of Cinema (TV - 1994), Something To Talk About (1995), Michael Collins (1996), Everyone Says I Love You (1996), and Mary Reilly (1996 - oops, another Razzie nomination). The next three years were very good: Roberts was cast in My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997 - netting her a Golden Globe nomination, Golden Satellite award, People’s Choice award, Blockbuster Entertainment award and MTV Movie award), Conspiracy Theory (1997 - Blockbuster Entertainment award), Stepmom (1998 - Roberts not only acted her way to a Blockbuster Entertainment award, but was the successful film’s executive producer), Notting Hill (1999 - Golden Globe nomination and People’s Choice award), and Runaway Bride (1999). As well, Roberts was nominated for an Emmy for a guest appearance on the television series Law and Order (1999), and has three times been on People Magazine’s Best-Dressed list. Upcoming for this popular and talented producer/actor are roles in Erin Brockovich, The Moviegoer, The Women, and, tentatively, Beyond Borders, Oceans II, The Mexican, To Catch A Thief, Martha and Arthur, and From Alice to Ocean. Roberts is on top of the Hollywood heap, and no matter how high the salaries go, the good-as-gold performer is worth every penny.
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