Eric Roberts, the brother of beloved actress Julia Roberts, didn’t hesitate to publicly criticize one of his sister’s most poignant performances.
“In my opinion, Julia acted well in ‘Mystic Pizza,’ brilliantly in ‘Pretty Woman,’ but not as well in ‘Steel Magnolias,’ even though that role 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 one day she’ll be a good actress,’” Eric wrote.
ERIC ROBERTS ‘PUBLIC APOLOGY’ FOR JULIA ROBERTS
Eric Roberts made no secret of his assessment of his sister Julia Roberts’ performance in “Steel Magnolia,” saying he thought the film wasn’t very good. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images)
“In fact, I think all those smart women – Sally Fields [sic]Dolly Parton, Olympia Dukakis, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah – overacted in ‘Steel Magnolias’,” he continued. “Nobody was great in that movie. They all chewed on so many scenes, and we know that if an actor cries on screen, they’re going to be on top. They get Oscar nominations because crying gets a lot of credit. It’s a big joke in all acting classes, even in Lee Strasberg’s great Actors Studio. Crying and dying will bring bacon!”
“In my opinion, Julia acted well in ‘Mystic Pizza’, brilliantly in ‘Pretty Woman’, but not as well in ‘Steel Magnolias’.”
— Eric Roberts
“Steel Magnolias” features Julia Roberts, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Dolly Parton, and Daryl Hannah posing for portraits. (Aaron Rapoport/Corbis/Getty Images)
Brenda Fricker beat Julia to win the Best Supporting Actress award at the 1990 Academy Awards for her role in “My Left Foot”.
Eric went on to comment on his sister’s nomination, saying her “Southern charm” contributed. “I also think another reason she was nominated for an Oscar for ‘Steel Magnolias’ is her authenticity as a sweet, small-town Southern girl,” he wrote. “That’s who she is, after all, or at least that’s how she started out. I don’t know if she had a dialect coach trying to erase her Southern accent, but if she did, luckily for her it didn’t happen.”
Eric Roberts believes that Julia Roberts’ Southern charm and beautiful looks helped her advance in 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 style,” he added. “Such beauty can be off-putting, especially to other women, but Julia’s down-to-earth style makes her seem like your best friend. There’s a certain colorful and charming quality to the Southern accent.”
“We know that if an actor cries on screen, they’ll get the highest ratings. They’ll get Oscar nominations because crying will get so much recognition.”
— Eric Roberts
Eric Roberts has appeared in films such as “Runaway Train,” “The Dark Knight,” and “Inherent Vice.” (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
Eric asserted in his memoir that he “wasn’t really” jealous of Julia, especially since they never auditioned for the same role. However, he could admit that he felt his presence in Hollywood was shrinking as Julia grew.
“When this rare and exceptional event suddenly occurred, Julia’s global stardom phenomenon, it brought me into the public eye in a different way,” he wrote.
“First, there were all sorts of suspicions directed at us – even bizarre and gruesome rumors about incest. I don’t know exactly where it started,” he said. “It could have been some silly idea about Southern capabilities – a scathing critique of the South. But beyond that, there seemed to be no room in the public imagination for either Julia or me – that we were competing with each other.”
The Roberts family comes from a small suburb of Atlanta, Georgia.
Both Eric and Julia – who joined in 1996 – have had impressive careers in the industry. (Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
Although he wasn’t jealous of his sister, he didn’t necessarily have to speak up in her defense either.
“When you rule the world, which she did for a while, and a member of your family is slow to acknowledge it, you’re up against them,” he wrote about not immediately acknowledging her success. “I never gave her enough respect. I still see her as my little sister, and I know that she – like me – came from a poor white background, but she became one of the biggest stars that ever existed. And she knew it, luckily for 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 celebrities, as actors, 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 comment. “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.