Eric Roberts, the brother of beloved actress Julia Roberts, wasn’t shy about publicly criticizing one of his sister’s most poignant performances.
“In my opinion, Julia was good in ‘Mystic Pizza,’ great in ‘Pretty Woman,’ but not so much in ‘Steel Magnolias,’ even though it earned Julia her first Oscar nomination,” he wrote in his now-published memoir, “Runaway Train: Or, The Story of My Life So Far,” according to Entertainment Weekly.
“I don’t want to sound like an actress talking, or a jealous sister, but I didn’t think her performance in that movie was that good. When I saw her in ‘Steel Magnolias,’ I thought, ‘Okay. Good.’ “She’s almost a good actress, and she’s going to be a good actress someday,” Eric wrote.
ERIC ROBERTS ‘PUBLISH APOLOGY’ TO SISTER JULIA ROBERTS
Eric Roberts made no secret of his assessment of his sister Julia Roberts’ performance in “Steel Magnolia,” saying he thought the film was not very good. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images)
“In fact, I think all those brilliant women — Sally Fields [sic] Dolly Parton, Olympia Dukakis, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah — overacted in ‘Steel Magnolias,’” he continued. “None of them were great in that movie. They all chewed up a lot of the scenes, and we know that if an actor cries on screen, they go to the top. They get Oscar nominations because crying is recognized a lot. It was a big joke in all acting classes, even the great Lee Strasberg’s Actors Studio. Crying and dying would bring back bacon!”
“Julia was good in ‘Mystic Pizza,’ great in ‘Pretty Woman,’ but not so good in ‘Steel Magnolias.’”
—Eric Roberts
“Steel Magnolias” stars Julia Roberts, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Dolly Parton and Daryl Hannah posing for a portrait. (Aaron Rapoport/Corbis/Getty Images)
Brenda Fricker beat Julia to win best supporting actress at the 1990 Oscars, for her role in “My Left Foot.”
Eric went on to praise his sister’s nomination, saying her “Southern charm” helped. “I also think another reason she was nominated for an Oscar for ‘Steel Magnolias’ was her authenticity as a sweet, small-town Southern girl,” he wrote. “That’s who she is, after all, or at least that’s what she started out as. I don’t know if she had a dialect coach try to erase her Southern accent, but if she did, fortunately for her it didn’t happen.”
Julia Roberts with curly hair smiles for a photo in Berlin
Eric Roberts credits Julia Roberts’ Southern charm and good looks for helping her career soar. (Ronald Siemoneit/Sygma via Getty Images)
“I think that’s a big part of her appeal — along with her stunning looks and killer smile — her Southern accent and style,” he added. “Such beauty can be off-putting, especially to other women, but Julia’s down-to-earth manner makes her seem like your best friend. There’s a certain colorful, charming quality to her Southern drawl.”
“We know that if an actor cries on film, they get top billing. They get nominated for Oscars because crying is so much more noticeable.”
—Eric Roberts
Eric Roberts wears black-rimmed glasses and a white shirt on the red carpet
Eric Roberts has appeared in films such as “Runaway Train,” “The Dark Knight,” and “Inherent Vice.” (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
Eric insists in his memoir that he “wasn’t really” jealous of Julia, especially since they never auditioned for the same role. However, he can admit that he felt his presence in Hollywood was shrinking as Julia grew in power.
“When this rare and rare thing suddenly happened, the global phenomenon of Julia’s stardom, it thrust me into the public eye in a different way,” he wrote.
“At first, all sorts of suspicions were directed at us—even the strange and creepy rumors of incest. I don’t know exactly where that came from,” he said. “It may have been a silly idea of Southern ability—a harsh criticism of the South. But beyond that, there seemed to be no room in the public imagination for either Julia or me—that we were in competition with each other.”
The Roberts family hails from a small suburb of Atlanta, Georgia.
Eric and Julia Roberts both wearing black coats walking around in 1986 with their heads partially bowed
Both Eric and Julia—who came out in 1996—have had impressive careers in the industry. (Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collect
Corbis/Getty Images)
Brenda Fricker beat Julia to win best supporting actress at the 1990 Oscars, for her role in “My Left Foot.”
Eric went on to assess his sister’s nomination, saying that her “Southern charm” played a part. “I also think another reason she was nominated for an Oscar for ‘Steel Magnolias’ was her authenticity as a sweet, small-town Southern girl,” he wrote. “That’s who she is, after all, or at least that’s what she started out as. I don’t know if she had a dialect coach try to erase her Southern accent, but if she did, fortunately for her, it didn’t happen.”
Eric Roberts believes that Julia Roberts’ Southern charm and good looks helped her career. (Ronald Siemoneit/Sygma via Getty Images)
“I think a big part of her appeal—along with her stunning looks and killer smile—is her Southern accent and her mannerisms,” he added. “That kind of beauty can be off-putting, especially to other women, but Julia’s down-to-earth manner makes her seem like she’s your best friend. There’s a certain colorful, charming quality to the Southern accent.”
“We know that if an actor cries on film, they get top marks. They get nominated for Oscars because crying is so well-received.”
—Eric Roberts
Eric Roberts has appeared in films like “Runaway Train,” “The Dark Knight,” and “Inherent Vice.” (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
Eric insists in his memoir that he was “not really” jealous of Julia, especially since they never auditioned for the same role. But he can admit that he felt his presence in Hollywood was shrinking as Julia grew.
“When this rare and rare thing suddenly happened, the global phenomenon of Julia’s stardom, it thrust me into the public eye in a different way,” he writes.
“At first, there were all sorts of suspicions about us—even weird and creepy rumors of incest. I don’t know exactly where that came from,” he says. “It may have been a silly idea about Southerners’ abilities—a harsh criticism of the South. But beyond that, there seemed to be no place in the public imagination for either Julia or me—that we were in competition with each other.”
The Roberts family hails from a small suburb of Atlanta, Georgia.
Both Eric and Julia—who came on the scene in 1996—have had impressive careers in the industry. (Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
While he doesn’t envy his sister, he doesn’t necessarily support her.
“When you rule the world, which she did for a while, and a member of your family is slow to acknowledge it, you hold it against them,” he wrote of not immediately acknowledging her success. “I never had enough respect for her. I still think of her as my little sister, and I know that she—like me—came from a poor white background, and she became one of the biggest stars who ever lived. And she knows it, and lucky her. What a trajectory!”
Emma Roberts and Julia Roberts pose for a photo together in 2012. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
Eric’s relationship with Julia remains unclear—in 2018, he told Vanity Fair that he paved the way for both Julia and his daughter, actress Emma Roberts. “Without me, there would be no Julia Roberts and Emma Roberts as a celebrity, as an actress, and I’m very proud of that,” he said at the time.
According to an excerpt from his book obtained by People magazine, Eric apologized for the remark. “I hope Julia will accept this public apology. It was a stupid thing to say.”
Representatives for both Eric and Julia Roberts did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
