31 Incredible Facts We Bet You Never Knew Before About Julia Roberts

For more than three decades now, Julia Roberts has been a permanent fixture in Hollywood with her megawatt smile. And there is no denying that she is America’s sweetheart. From her role of Vivian in “Pretty Woman,” to her Oscar winning performance in “Erin Brockovich,” she has always made sure to leave an unforgettable mark in her fans’ hearts. Here are a few things that will make you love her more:

1. Roberts is an Academy Award winning actress and one of the highest-paid and most-influential actresses in the 1990s and early 2000s. Thirteen of her films have been nominated for at least one Academy Awards.
2. She was born Julia Fiona Roberts, on October 28, 1967, in Smyrna, Georgia, U.S. to Walter Grady Roberts and Betty Lou Bredemus. She has two siblings, Eric Roberts and Lisa Roberts and a step-sister Nancy Motes.
3. Her parents a stage artist had co-founded the Atlanta Actors and Writers Workshop in Atlanta. They also conducted acting classes for children in Decatur, Georgia, where the children of Martin Luther King Jr., attended.
4. Raised a catholic, she disclosed in an interview for ‘Elle,’ in 2010, that she believes in and practices Hinduism. Roberts is a devotee of the guru Neem Karoli Baba. She has even given her children new names after Hindu Gods: Laxmi for Hazel, Ganesh for Phinnaeus and Krishna Balram for Henry.
5. She was raised by her mother since the age of four, after her parents divorced and subsequently her father died of cancer when she was ten-year old.
6. Growing up in Smyrna, Georgia, she attended Fitzhugh Lee Elementary School, Griffin Middle School, and Campbell High School. Later she joined Georgia State University but dropped out to pursue acting and enrolled in acting class with Click Modeling Agency.
7. In 1987, she made a guest appearance on the television series ‘Crime Story,’ as Tracy in the episode ‘The Survivor,’ and made her debut in big screen with the movie ‘Satisfaction.’ She had previously appeared uncredited in ‘Firehouse.’
8. The 1988 film ‘Mystic Pizza,’ was her first film of substance in which led to her being cast as a young bride with diabetes in the film ‘Steel Magnolias,’ in a supporting role. For her performance she received her first Academy Award nomination and won the Golden Globe – Best Supporting Actress Award in 1990.
9. Roberts earned her second Oscar nomination, this time for Best Actress and second Golden Globe Award, for her portrayal of free spirited Hollywood prostitute in the 1990 romantic comedy film ‘Pretty Woman.’
10. In the science fiction psychological horror film ‘Flatliners,’ she plays Dr. Rachel Mannus, one of the five medical students dealing with near-death experience. She went on to star in ‘Sleeping with the Enemy,’ ‘Dying Young,’ and ‘Hook’ in 1991.
11. The role of Laura Williams in the romantic psychological thriller film ‘Sleeping with the Enemy,’ was originally written for Jane Fonda. Roberts aged 22, when the film was shot in spring of 1990, became the youngest to earn a seven-figure fee for a single performance.
12. Roberts almost put the production of fantasy adventure film ‘Hook,’ by Steven Spielberg, into jeopardy when she fled California and went into hiding in Ireland to avoid press after her wedding to Kiefer Sutherland was called off. She was nicknamed ‘Tinker Hell’ because she was difficult to deal with.
13. Her portrayal of Mary Reilly in the film of same name received negative reviews calling her ‘miscast’ and was nominated for Worst Actress by the Razzie Awards. Roberts beat Uma Thurman to the lead role in this film with $10 million pay checks and a standby jet around the clock for her use, which ran up a bill in excess of one hundred twenty thousand dollars.
14. Roberts renewed success with romantic comedy films like ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding,’ and British Comedy Award winning film ‘Notting Hill.’ The CNN reviewer Paul Clinton called Roberts ‘the queen of the romantic comedy.’
15. She received an unprecedented salary for her portrayal of Erin Brockovich in a biographical film making her the first woman to break the $20 million barriers. She became the first actress to win the Best Actress at the Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Awards for the same performance.
16. In 2000, Roberts became the first actress and third most powerful women on Hollywood Reporter’s list of the 50 most influential women in show business since the list was first prepared in 1992.
17. In 2004, the archaeologists excavated 9000-year-old female skeleton in Bulgaria and called it ‘Julia Roberts’ for its perfect teeth. They said that a woman would have had a perfect smile just like the actress. She has insured her smile for thirty million dollars.
18. Roberts was paid $11,952 dollars for each word she says in the 2010, film ‘Valentine’s Day.’ It has been reported that she received a three-million-dollar paycheck apart from three percent of the film’s gross. The film was a huge success and she wound up with a nearly ten million dollars.
19. In portrayal of Queen Clementianna in the 2012 film ‘Mirror Mirror,’ she wears enormous ball gowns throughout the film on the set and her children hid underneath her skirt without anyone knowing it. She had them removed not wanting them to hear her ‘vile’ dialogue as the evil queen and did not let them see the film for she kept her work a secret.
20. Roberts teared up and cried in an interview while sharing the news about her acting in her first film opposite her favorite actress, Meryl Streep, in the film ‘August: Osage County.’ Incidentally both she and Meryl Streep were nominated for Oscar Award in Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress category for this film.
21. Roberts once again teamed up with Garry Marshal, after three successful films, in the romantic comedy film ‘Mother’s Day’ in 2016. She earned $3 million for four days’ work for this film in which her three children, Hazel, Phinneas, and Henry Moder, also appear.
22. In 2000, she launched her own production company called ‘Red Om Films,’ in partnership with her sister, Lisa Roberts Gillan and Marisa Yeres Gill.
23. Roberts had many romantic relationships with actors Dylan McDermott, Jason Patric, Kiefer Sutherland, Liam Neeson, Matthew Perry, and Benjamin Bratt. She was briefly married to Lyle Lovett from 1993 to 1995.
24. On July 4, 2002, she married cinematographer Daniel Moder at her ranch in Taos New Mexico and they are blessed with three children, twins, a daughter and a son.
25. She has been involved with many charitable organizations such as ‘UNICEF’ and ‘Chime for Change’ initiative of ‘Gucci’ a campaign that aims to spread female empowerment.
26. Roberts was part of some of the biggest names in Hollywood, in a star studded campaign ‘Nature Is Speaking,’ to raise awareness, that people need nature in order to survive. She was the voice of Mother Nature in a 2014 short film Conservation International.
27. In 2000, she narrated ‘Silent Angels,’ a documentary to raise public awareness about the disease, Rett Syndrome, a neuro development disorder.
28. In July 2006, Roberts joined ‘Earth Biofuels, Inc.’ as its chairman of advisory board in promoting the use of renewable fuels such as Earth Biofuels, biodiesel and ethanol. The Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman and music legend Willie Nelson are the other members.
29. Roberts tops the list of 200 ‘hottest’ actors and actresses in the business in James Ulmer’s Hollywood Hot List. But she is a huge fan of actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, whom she considers as being the most beautiful women in the world.
30. Roberts made an impressive small-screen debut with 2018 ‘Homecoming,’ which was premiered on Amazon Video on November 2, 2018. The series met with critical acclaim, but missed out on receiving any nomination for the 2019 Primetime Emmy Award.
31. Julia Roberts Net Worth: $200 Million