Eric Roberts has a point he wants to dispute in Flower.
The 68-year-old, who is Julia Roberts' older brother, revealed he's not a fan of one of her most acclaimed films, “Steel Magnolias.”
In her memoir “Runaway Train: Or the Story of My Life So Far,” Roberts opened up about the 1989 drama-comedy.
“Julia was good in 'Mystic Pizza,' great in 'Pretty Woman,' but not so much in 'Steel Magnolias,' in my opinion, even though it earned Julia her first Academy Award nomination,” he wrote. Entertainment Weekly on September 20. “I don't want to sound like an actor or a jealous brother, but I don't think her performance in that movie was good.”
He said, “When I saw her in 'Steel Magnolias,' I thought, 'Okay. Great. She's almost a good actress, and one day she'll be a good actress.'”
But the “Dancing With the Stars” contestant didn't just have a problem with his sister's performance, but also her reactions to the other cast members.
“In fact, I think all of those wonderful women — Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Olympia Dukakis, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah — overacted in 'Steel Magnolias,'” Roberts wrote. “Nobody in that movie is great. They all chew a lot of scenery, and we know that if an actor cries in a movie, he or she goes to the top of the class.”
“They get Oscars because crying gets a lot of credit. It's a big joke in all acting classes, even the great Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio. Crying and dying brings home the money!”
Roberts also claimed the 56-year-old “Pretty Woman” star received positive reviews for portraying the Louisianan character because of her real-life Southern roots.
“I think another reason she got the Oscar for 'Steel Magnolias' was that she was authentic as a sweet, small-town Southern girl,” he said. “That's ultimately who she was, or at least that's how she started out. I don't know if she tried a dialect coach to eliminate her Southern accent, but if she did, luckily she didn't need it.”
He attributes his younger siblings' stardom to his family's Southern heritage.
“I think that's a big part of her appeal — her great looks and charming smile, as well as her Southern accent and mannerisms,” he noted in the memoir. “Such beauty can be unpleasant, especially to other women, but Julia's simple demeanor made her your best friend. The Southern language has a certain colorful and charming quality.”
Later in the chapter, he explains how the 1990 romantic comedy “Pretty Woman” catapulted the Oscar winner to fame.
“Everybody loved that movie and Julia’s role in it,” the Golden Globe winner said. “I was working with George C. Scott (who won an Oscar for ‘Patton’). in 1971) and he told me in his raspy voice that he thought his movie was going to skyrocket. And it did. I saw it coming: Oh my God, Julia is going to be a superstar!”
But actress Emma Roberts' father wasn't “really” jealous of Julia's success: “For one thing, we were never up for the same roles.”
However, he admitted that he was not prepared for the level of attention he received after becoming the brother of America's sweetheart. He wrote, “When suddenly this rare and extraordinary thing happened, this worldwide phenomenon of Julia's stardom, it put me in the public eye in a very different way.”
At some points, the constant attention felt unfair.
“At first, all sorts of suspicions were spread about us – even bizarre and creepy rumors of incest. I don't know exactly where it started,” he recalled. “It may have been a silly idea of what Southerners were capable of – a mean-spirited attack on the South. But beyond that, it felt like there was no place in the public imagination for Julia and me – that we were competing with each other.”
Along with his criticisms, he also apologized to Julia for saying that she was responsible for his successful career.
He was already an established actor when his younger sister moved to New York to pursue her career in 1985. Roberts was also struggling with cocaine addiction at the time.
He said, “If it weren't for me, there would be no Julia Roberts and no Emma Roberts as celebrities or actresses.” Vanity Fair in 2018, adding, “And I’m very proud of it.”
These days he has had a change of heart.
“I hope Julia will accept this public apology,” he wrote in his book (now published). People“That was a foolish thing to say.”
The former “Dark Knight” star said he believes drug addiction damaged his relationship with Julia and his other sister, Lisa, when they were younger.
“I wouldn't be surprised if they suffered from PTSD from being around me when it was dangerous,” Roberts admitted. “Lisa and Julia needed love and protection – instead they got fear and uncertainty.”
