Emma Roberts covers the latest issue of Flaunt – the editorial is actually really good, even if the fashion on display is kind of awful. Emma is serving though, and I rarely think that about her. I’m not trying to be ridiculously mean about her, but I’ve always found her sort of bland and flat on-screen and, to me, she’s been an example of nepotism-gone-wrong. But I’ve adjusted my opinion of her recently. She’s in her 30s now, she’s a single mom, she’s found her niche in the industry and, honestly, she’s not pretending to be the most serious artiste ever. She’s a commercial actress, mostly in television, and she’s not trying to move beyond that for the most part. Now, she is branching out into producing in a big way, which is fine – more women should produce and there should be more female-driven narratives across the board. Anyway, here are some highlights from Emma’s Flaunt interview:
What’s next: “I feel like I’ve been working since I was nine, but you’re constantly wondering, What’s next? What’s next? What’s next? Between having a baby, COVID, and the strike, I’ve had a lot of time to reflect and slow down. I’m like, ‘Wow. I guess maybe I have done a lot. Maybe I should have a break that’s not imposed upon me by outside variables. Maybe I should just decide to take some time to myself.”’
She escaped the widespread harassment & assault at Nickelodeon: “It’s inexcusable. Kids need to be protected, adults need to be protected. I have been lucky with the family I have and the people that I’ve worked with. I try to keep doing my job and keep my head down.”
She was excluded from New York Magazine’s “Nepo Baby” cover: “Should I be offended? It was a cheap shot to put all the celebrity kids on the cover of a magazine on babies’ bodies. It’s like maybe the ‘Nepo Baby’ conversation would’ve been a more interesting article written intelligently in Vanity Fair with nuance, but instead, it was kind of this viral hating-on-people thing.” So are there no professional benefits from famous family ties? “I’ve lost more jobs than I’ve gained from being in the business. People have opinions and sometimes maybe they’re not good opinions of people in your family. I’ve never gotten a job because of it, I know I definitely have lost a couple of jobs because of it.”
She will no longer date actors: “One day the veil was lifted and I didn’t want to date actors anymore. It’s hard, I think, for two actors to be together. I’m trying to think if I’ve seen it done successfully. Also, the actors I’ve been with border on method actors, and that is something that I think is extremely difficult to be in a relationship with—at least for me, especially the characters that they were playing.”
Her new boyfriend is not online: “If you want to send a girl crazy, don’t have Instagram.”
Her feelings on social media: “I feel like, in a way I got to hang on to some innocence longer [than usual]. I know everyone has a different take on how [modern] celebrities or people should be online and how serious they should be. My social media is for fun, it’s for reading, it’s for fashion, but if you want to get really deep with me or know what I think about things, you’re not going to see it posted on my social media.”
She has an expansive collection of vintage dolls. “I just love them. I have some very, very ugly dolls that needed a home, so I had to have them. Don’t get me wrong, there are some dolls that I’ve come across that I’m like, the vibe is off and this one’s not for me. Some dolls, something’s wrong. Scary. I’m very particular about which dolls can live on the shelf.”
Working with Kim Kardashian on AHS: Delicate: “Kim is an icon. I literally don’t know how she does it. Business woman-turned-producer- turned actress, and let me tell you, one of the most prepared actresses I’ve ever worked with. She’s also been a great friend. Anytime I text her, she responds right away. Just seeing her inspires me. I’m like, How do you do all of that and also look perfect?
I laughed at her comments about nepotism. Previously, she claimed the nepo babies have to “prove themselves more” and now she’s saying she’s never gotten work because she’s Julia Roberts’ niece? GMAFB. I did not know that she collects vintage dolls… I could not. I once knew a serious doll collector and Emma’s right, sometimes a doll’s vibe is off. I couldn’t handle all of those glass eyes on me. What else? I do think that actors-dating-actors can work, but I also understand why so many actresses feel like…no, I don’t want to deal with that, especially if he’s a Method actor.
Cover & IG courtesy of Flaunt.
Utterly delusional.
Why can’t Nepo Babies just admit that they are THAT? Delusion must be one of the cardinal features of the specimen. Everyone on Earth either benefits or suffers from the family he or she is born into, period the end. Emma Roberts benefited, and was definitely hired over 1,000 other skinny cute white girls who can scream because of her last name.
Right? I don’t get how none of them see it. Being a nepo baby obviously gives you privileges in every industry. You know the right people. You know the game. You have rich successful people to fall back on. Nobody is saying that you don’t work hard and nobody is saying that you’re not talented. When she says “nep babies have to work harder”, what she’s actually experienced is directors and casting people NOT wanting to hire JUST a name, you actually have to be talented and knowledgeable and hardworking. However, there are many talented and hardworking people who don’t even get face time, let alone any acknowledgement with the very people you’re saying aren’t just handing you roles on a silver platter. You’re not sleeping in your car like the people your age auditioning next to you. Your family isn’t losing their income to support your career and you don’t have to give up on your dream when the financial issues and hustling take its toll because your family has the means to support you that other talented and hardworking people’s families don’t. My partner and I both grew up in poverty. We put ourselves through school on student loans and working. I know full well what it’s like to “rob Peter to pay Paul”. Our parents were immigrants. They didn’t know the right people. When we were in university I remember wondering why others were able to get their work done faster. Why they were able to go out and relax and have fun with their peers. I thought I was doing something wrong. Then I learned that most of them worked part time more to fund the fun things while their parents paid their tuition, etc. Their parents knew the better landlords, how to get the more balanced class schedules, etc and I realized, I was at a disadvantage. I pushed through and now my husband and I both make 6 figures. Our 2 kids have savings for university. We know how to get the more balanced schedule and, though they’ll have part time jobs…and they BOTH work VERY hard, those jobs are to “teach them about work and money and to have extra spending and savings”, they don’t need them to survive like we did. When they’re working studying and they don’t understand something, they have parents available who can help them. Etc. My Kids work hard AND my kids are very privileged and I can absolutely see that they have a leg up. An advantage that my husband and I didn’t. It’s this advantage the nepo babies of Hollywood just don’t seem to grasp. I’d be more curious to learn about what their families, who struggled to get to where they are, think about their own children’s privileges and their denials of that privilege.
Your story is inspiring. Yes it’s disrespectful for her not to acknowledge her privilege and how different that is from all people who really face hardship to get ahead. That’s what bugs people about Nepo Babies. And also, they are relatively safe from “the casting couch” because of their connections.
There’s no way a short woman (5’1″) in her 30s would get the cover of a major fashion magazine were it not for her connections. Whatever her first job in the industry, she got it because her dad’s an actor and her aunty is Julia Roberts.
Yes, of course.
Of course, when I think of the next best actress, the next Streep, I think of…
Emma Roberts.
Family connections are not just about getting jobs. As she says about Nickelodeon, “I have been lucky with the family I have and the people that I’ve worked with.”
Tbf I don’t think that’s a nepo thing. Having family in the business, even if influential, doesn’t necessarily protect you from predators. Only having people who protect and support you, stand up and look out for you may give you better chances of surviving Hollywood unscathed as a child actor.
Ladyultimate, very true. Just ask Mira Sorvino, Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, just to name a few (and they weren’t even kids). And that was “just” at the hands of Harvey Weinstein. Their names didn’t do anything to protect them.
As far as Emma, she’s definitely kidding herself if she thinks she didn’t benefit from being Eric Roberts’s daughter and Julia’s niece. Just admit it and move on.
She is lying to herself. Honestly, nepotism is how the world works. No shame in it. Every workplace is full of people that got the job because someone they are close with knows someone who can influence hiring decisions. it’s so hard to break through in Hollywood, so her suggestion that she did it without any help is that much more absurd.
@ladyultimate – I think it’s more that many predators seem to go for people they perceive as having fewer defenses.
Sigh, there is a rather legitimate reason why the Nepo-baby label was born. It’s completely on-topic when a nepo baby is completely clueless as to what it means…
Dolls are creepy, especially when they gather together. Growing up, there was this very friendly Irish woman who filled her house with dolls. Empty stares everywhere.
“When they gather together” gave me the most delicious shiver … as if they did it of their own agency . Now rethinking my Halloween display .
My aunt in upstate New York has an old house with a winding staircase and hallways with few windows. She collects dolls and they line the stairs and hallways. It was creepy AF when I was little. It’s still creepy😂. But it’s interesting to think about now. An aunt with creepy dolls that are displayed and always gathering together on permanent display. There’s even hidden crawl spaces filled with more dolls. My aunt was a super nice teacher too but she just has a penchant for old dolls🤷♀️
I love her house tour video on Architectural Digest. She knows how to do cozy just right, It must have a lot of views. I think she will move onto better roles as she gets older. It’s a shame she’s still wasting her nepo priviledges on Ryan Murphy horror tv jobs, I stopped watching years ago. The best horror movies & tv have already been made I guess. The horror genre is officially overdone, dull and derivative. It’s ruined my enjoyment of Halloween since scary tv & film is around all year long. Less to look forward to.
The Method actors don’t know how to shut off their characters and get back to themselves at the end of the day. “If I’m playing this character, I have to live it!” Ehh, not necessarily. But if you’re dating one of these people, their personality is going to change with whatever role they’re playing (how exhausting and disconcerting!), while a regular person usually evolves more slowly and naturally.
My personal observation is that quite a number of “Method actors” lack formal drama training so being in character all the time is the only technique they know.
She was awful in AHS: Delicate, but in her defense, the whole cast was. I have not seen her in anything else. Does anyone have a suggestion?
I was never on-board — never gotten a job due to nepotism? really? — but her fawning over Kim Kardashian sealed it permanently. KK an actress?? Since when?
Kim has been an actress forever. Her entire life has been about being a character in a bad, overly long soap opera.
It would be better just to not respond to that question or just acknowledge that your experience might have been different than someone with no contacts in the business. Nepotism or being a legacy isn’t a crime, but not acknowledging it sure makes it seem like you’re hiding something.
She’s annoying. She carved out a little niche for herself in Ryan Murphy’s world so she’ll never be truly unemployed. I hope she’s matured and her relationships are healthier.
Never got a job through nepotism but 3 of her first five jobs listed on IMDb were in projects with her aunt.
LOL 😂
Lightpurple with the receipts!
Wow! That really drives the point home!!
Bless her heart.
lol
She is so funny
I love when nepo babies say, I’ve never gotten a job because of who my family is. But *how* do you know this? Did you go back and interview every casting agent? It’s ludicrous and so defensive. The nepotism babies as a group need to just keep Alison Williams’ and Jack Quaid’s nepo baby comments on a little laminated card and whip it out during interviews.
People keep thinking of her as julia robert’s neice but she is the daughter of eric roberts who had a very turbulent history. So I can see her losing jobs because producers are worrying if she has the same type of problems he did.
I still think being Julia’s niece got her in the door (I think of Julia as one of the last truly bankable big movie star actresses) but this is a fair point.
Speaking of Eric, I watched Star 80 for the first time recently and he was incredible. He played Paul Schneider, the estranged husband and murderer of Playmate of the year (and Peter Bogdonavitch’s girlfriend) Dorothy Stratten. Excellent actor.
I don’t think Emma got her dad’s talent or her aunt’s movie star charisma. :/
She is problematic, she bit Peter Evans for cripes sake. But she has never had a relationship with her father. Julia is the one that took her under her wing as co-opted her as a daughter of sorts (before marriage and her own kids) giving her roles as a child actor.
I mean who will casting agents care about between Jane Doe who has a Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale. Or Emma Roberts High School graduate and niece of an Oscar winner.
Who is going to bring more media attention to a project. Emma wins every time.
Just own it, be grateful, and use your privilege to help those who are struggling. It’s not that difficult.
The only thing she is right about with nepotism is the lack of nuance it is discussed with these days. It used to be talked about in terms of dynasties now it’s just derided. The only legacy actress I think who was openly derided and mocked for nepotism when they were at their peak was Melanie Griffiths. Also I believe her that she’s likely lost roles because of who she’s related to. I can imagine producers and execs holding grudges against family members of actors they worked with and didn’t like.
But Melanie Griffiths is actually good in things.
Her daughter isn’t.
@ Lady Rae
Let’s be real Emma has a history of not keeping her hands to herself and being a mean girl on set and transphobic so if she lost any jobs it wasn’t because of her family, but because of her actions.
Sigh. It’s not about whether you got the job but whether the door was even open for you in the first place. But she’ll never admit that part to herself or anyone else either.
Bless her heart, Emma doth protest too much.
Oh Emma, you card.
You never would have gotten a job without it.
Wasn’t she arrested for domestic violence against her then boyfriend?
Yes, it was Evan Peters, and she had bitten him and given him a bloody nose
I feel like the discourse around her should be mentioning this. Not how cute she looks in photos. You reminded me of the story now– the sounds of the fight were loud enough neighbors called the cops and her boyfriend was bloodied to the point the cops arrested her on the spot. Charges didn’t go anywhere–as abuse charges often go–because her boyfriend didn’t pursue them.
She sounds like a terrible person with a lot of entitlement.
Yes, in Canada and Peter wouldn’t press charges so they dropped it. And even if she had been prosecuted. I doubt she would have been publicly dropped from projects like American Horror. The same way Jonathan Majors was.
Great photos! Her hair is so good, and a cool location. Flaunt has a talented team – you have to be good to get such nice images despite the terrible fashion. I also enjoyed the little film at the end of the article that showed more of the location.
Isn’t her fiancé an actor?
She was engaged to Garrett Hedlund, the father of her child, but they’re not together anymore.
@BQM, she is currently engaged to Cody John, also an actor.
OH PLEASE..Whats the word when you’re SOOOO entitled that you actually believe this crap?
Emma’s problem is she keep trying to deflect her privileged upbringing. Yes, I know she and her dad have always been estranged. But Julia absolutely adored her niece and handed her roles to get started. That she just wants to be recognized for her bland talent. If her name was Emma Smith no one would be paying attention to her.
Be like Jack Quaid who took it head on and was patently honest about growing up as a child of movie stars. They get a short cut to agents and managers. And producers and directors will take meetings with them. Plus, knowing a few working actors. Getting a good agent is 1/2 the battle to getting a career started in Hollywood.
My favorite Emma Roberts story was when she was walking out of a store and made a fuss the paparazzi were there to take pictures of her. They were there for the man inside former President Bill Clinton. Oh she was a sour face over it lol.
“I have been lucky with the family I have and the people that I’ve worked with.” Yes, that is literally the definition.