Actress Emma Roberts has spoken about how even successful actors with family working in the entertainment industry don’t always have an easy path toward stardom. During Roberts’ appearance on the Table for Two with Bruce Bozzi podcast by iHeartMedia, she said, “That’s the thing that I always talk about — people kind of only see your wins because they only see when you’re on the poster of a movie. They don’t see all the rejection along the way.” Roberts, whose aunt is Julia Roberts and father is Eric Roberts, told the podcast host, “That’s why I’m always very open about things I’ve auditioned for and haven’t gotten the part for.”
As per a people.com report, she added, “I think it’s important to talk about – otherwise people just think everything’s been so great and linear and easy, and no, it’s not at all. But of course, it looks like that to the outside perspective or to the naked eye.”
Roberts started her career in acting in 2001. She made a name for herself on the sitcom Unfabulous and in movies like 2006’s Aquamarine and 2007’s Nancy Drew. She also featured in several seasons of American Horror Story. “I think there’s two sides of the coin. People like to say, you know, you have a leg up because you have family in the industry,” she said.
“But then the other side to that is you have to prove yourself more. Also, if people don’t have good experiences with other people in your family, then you’ll never get a chance. I think there’s something to be said where everybody loves the kind of overnight success story,” Roberts continued.
“And so if you’re kind of not the girl from the middle of nowhere that broke into Hollywood, there’s kind of an eye roll of like ‘Well, your dad was this,'” she said.
Roberts joked that she likes to point out actors like George Clooney could be considered “nepo babies,” noting Clooney’s relation to his aunt Rosemary Clooney, an actress and singer who died in 2002 at 74. “I’m just kidding, but I feel like young girls get it harder with the nepo baby thing,” she said.
“I don’t really see people calling out sons of famous actors — not that they should be called out. I don’t think anyone should be called out for wanting to follow their dream,” she added.
