Between the late '80s
and early '90s, Julia Roberts was among Hollywood's top draws. Though
not always taken seriously as a dramatic actress -- indeed she is at
her best in romantic comedy or light drama -- Roberts has a special
mischievous charm coupled with a wide-eyed vulnerability that
translates into a screen charisma reminiscent of a young Audrey
Hepburn. Like Hepburn, Roberts possesses an atypical beauty. Pencil
thin, long-legged and sporting a thick curly mane of auburn hair upon
her head, she is more coltish than elegant. Her great hazel eyes and
impossibly large mouth are capable of much expression, particularly
joy when she cuts loose with a broad grin and a braying laugh. Unlike
Hepburn, Roberts projects a gal-next-door wholesomeness rather than an
air of cool sophistication.
A born Southerner, Roberts grew up hanging around the theater people
who attended her parents' Actors and Writers Workshop in their Atlanta
home. Both she and her brother Eric Roberts were interested in acting
and it was he who made it to movies first.
Roberts moved to New
York after high school, but did not catch a break right away even
though she did manage to score an agent. She made her film debut
playing a supporting role opposite her brother in Blood Red, which
though completed in 1986 was not released until 1989. She appeared in
a couple of made-for-TV movies and one low-budget feature, Firehouse
(1987) before getting her first real break in the made-for-cable drama
Satisfaction (1988). This led to a large supporting role in Mystic
Pizza (1989). Her portrayal of a strong-headed pizza parlor co-owner
who seduces a wealthy preppie earned Roberts acclaim and led to her
playing the doomed Shelby opposite Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine and
Dolly Parton in the melodramatic comedy Steel Magnolias (1989). Her
portrayal earned Roberts an Oscar nomination and made her a star. For
her next film, Roberts attempted to branch off into more serious
waters playing a medical student who starts tinkering with
life-after-death experiences with four other medical students in the
uneven Flatliners (1990). During production, Roberts became involved
with co-star Kiefer Sutherland.
Later in 1990, she
had her greatest success to date starring opposite Richard Gere in
Garry Marshall's sentimental romantic- comedy Pretty Woman (1990). The
film was a runaway international hit and Roberts became a household
name. But despite her sudden rise to superstardom, her career faltered
as her subsequent films, particularly Dying Young (1991), have been of
uneven quality. Matters weren't helped when her break-up with
Sutherland went public. After shooting her scenes as Tinker Bell in
Steven Spielberg's Hook (1991), Roberts took some time off to repair
her personal life, though she did appear briefly in Robert Altman's
The Player (1992). In 1993, she married off-beat country singer Lyle
Lovett (they amicably divorced two years later) and then made a
successful come back in The Pelican Brief (1993). Her career picked up
the following year with I Love Trouble and Pret-a -Porter, neither of
which did much to further her career. The much-heralded Mary Reilly
(1996) was a box-office fizzle, but Roberts career began picking up
again with Michael Collins and Conspiracy Theory (both 1996). In 1997,
Roberts made a triumphant return to romantic comedy in the darkly
funny My Best Friend's Wedding.
by
Sandra Brennan
