Emma Roberts believes the public has an oversimplified view of nepo babies.
It seems Hollywood ancestry is a two-sided coin for the “Scream Queens” actor, who is the daughter of Oscar nominee Eric Roberts and niece of Oscar winner Julia Roberts.
“People like to say, you know, you have an advantage because you have family in the industry. But the other side of the coin is that you have to prove yourself more,” he said during the latest episode of Bruce Bozzi's podcast. “Table for two.”
Roberts made her film debut at age 9 in the crime drama “Blow,” playing Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz's daughter. At age 13, she landed her breakout role as Addie Singer on the Nickelodeon comedy “Unfabulous.”
Most recently, he entered into a creative partnership with Ryan Murphy, starring in several seasons of FX's award-winning anthology series, “American Horror Story.”
“I always wanted to work and have a purpose,” he told Grazia in 2023.
Still, the actor's career has not been free of setbacks, he said on “Table for Two.”
“That's what I always talk about: people only see your victories because they only see when you're on a movie poster. They don’t see all the rejection along the way,” Roberts said.
She added that she tries to be transparent about the roles she doesn't get, “otherwise people think everything has been great and linear and easy, and no, it's not at all. But, of course, that's how it looks from the outside perspective or with the naked eye.”
The actor also highlighted a gender bias within the nepo-baby discourse, arguing that male actors like George Clooney, nephew of Emmy-nominated and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award-winning actress and singer Rosemary Clooney, receive much less scrutiny than females. “young girls.” .”
“I think there's something to be said about everyone loving the kind of overnight success story,” Roberts said. “And then if you're not the girl from the middle of nowhere who broke into Hollywood, there's kind of a blank stare like, 'Well, your dad was this.'”
At times, Roberts said she feels like Hollywood is not for her – “because I decide it's not, or because the industry will decide it's not” – but she has become more confident with age.
“I feel very lucky to be 33 years old and still doing the things I love,” she said.
Roberts' new film, “Space Cadet,” which she also serves as an executive producer, premieres July 4 on Prime Video. The actor compared the romantic comedy to “nostalgic,” “fish out of water” stories like “Legally Blonde” and “Private Benjamin.”
