Julia Roberts
will receive a healthy salary for her next movie. In fact,
that remuneration will make her the first woman to break the
“$20 million hump” broken years ago by male stars.
The gal’s earned it, for seven of her films have surpassed
the $100 million mark (hey, that’s more some of those
guys’ flicks!), and her performances are consistent audience
favorites. Robert’s “atypical beauty” -- clear-eyed
sparkle, wholesome wide grin and charismatic presence —
marks her as Hollywood’s “Girl Next Door Superstar.”
Atypical as well was her road to success.
After high school graduation,
Roberts left her native Georgia and joined her actor-sister
in New York. At age 19 she was cast as her actor-brother’s
on-screen sister in the 1986 movie, Blood Red (released in
1989). She went on to roles in Firehouse (1987), Crime Story
(TV - 1988), Satisfaction (TV - 1988), Before Your Eyes: Angelie’s
Secret (TV - 1988), Baja Oklahoma (TV - 1988), and Miami Vice
(TV episode - 1988). For her part in Mystic Pizza (1988) she
received an Independent Spirit Award nomination.
Important and award-winning
roles in blockbuster pictures followed with Steel Magnolias
(1989 - Golden Globe award and Oscar nomination), Pretty Woman
(1990 - Oscar nomination and British Academy award nomination),
Flatliners (1990), Sleeping With The Enemy (1991), and Dying
Young (1991 - MTV Movie award nomination).
Darkness descended. Roberts
next role, in Hook (1991), was panned by critics and nominated
for a Razzie Worst Supporting Actress slam. A breakup with
fiancé Keifer Sutherland just days before the planned
wedding was among the gossip column-fodder personal problems
that led to a year of seclusion and naught but a cameo appearance
in one film, The Player (1992).
Light dawned. Roberts breathed
new life into her career in 1993 with The Pelican Brief (for
which she received an MTV Movie award). She married singer/songwriter/actor
Lyle Lovett the same year, but the media-dubbed “pretty
woman - ugly duckling” couple lasted only 21 months.
She took on roles in Pret-a-Porter (1994), I Love Trouble
(1994), A Century of Cinema (TV - 1994), Something To Talk
About (1995), Michael Collins (1996), Everyone Says I Love
You (1996), and Mary Reilly (1996 - oops, another Razzie nomination).
The next three years were very good: Roberts was cast in My
Best Friend’s Wedding (1997 - netting her a Golden Globe
nomination, Golden Satellite award, People’s Choice award,
Blockbuster Entertainment award and MTV Movie award), Conspiracy
Theory (1997 - Blockbuster Entertainment award), Stepmom (1998
- Roberts not only acted her way to a Blockbuster Entertainment
award, but was the successful film’s executive producer),
Notting Hill (1999 - Golden Globe nomination and People’s
Choice award), and Runaway Bride (1999). As well, Roberts
was nominated for an Emmy for a guest appearance on the television
series Law and Order (1999), and has three times been on People
Magazine’s Best-Dressed list.
Upcoming for this popular
and talented producer/actor are roles in Erin Brockovich,
The Moviegoer, The Women, and, tentatively, Beyond Borders,
Oceans II, The Mexican, To Catch A Thief, Martha and Arthur,
and From Alice to Ocean. Roberts is on top of the Hollywood
heap, and no matter how high the salaries go, the good-as-gold
performer is worth every penny.
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