Family, as you’ve probably noticed, is tough. Tougher still are the difficulties that come with trying to maintain a functioning family dynamic while living in the public eye, the way that Julia Roberts and her brother have tried to do over the last few decades.
You probably know Suits star Eric Roberts, and his impressively long resume in film – even if he isn’t a household name like Julia, or even his daughter Emma. He’s nothing if not prolific, appearing in 32 films in 2021 alone. Depending on where you land on the nerd spectrum, you’ll remember him in his Academy Award-nominated turn in Runaway Train, as Sal Maroni in 2008’s The Dark Knight, or as The Master in that ‘90s Doctor Who TV movie. The guy has been around.
With the release of his new memoir, Eric and Julia’s relationship has been subject to much attention, with the 68-year-old getting candid about his often-strained relationship with the Oscar winner.
Why were Eric and Julia Roberts estranged?
Roberts revealed that substance abuse issues were the source of tensions with his family – one of countless cases for people struggling with addiction, as well as their loved ones. Speaking with Vanity Fair, he described becoming “exhausting to be around: complainy, blamey, unable to enjoy enjoyment” as a result of his drug use.
With Eric’s addiction came a string of legal issues, having been arrested for cocaine and marijuana possession and resist of arrest in 1987, and again in 1995 after a physical altercation with his wife. Julia cut ties with her brother, the man who’d been credited with finding her representation when she was first breaking into show business. She even helped his ex pay her legal fees during custody hearings over Roberts’ daughter, Emma. “Everyone in my world needed a break sometimes,” Eric recalled, “and that must have included Julia.”
Are Julia and Eric still estranged?
Eric used his 2024 memoir, Runaway Train: Or, The Story of My Life So Far, to apologize to his sister for several regrets over his behavior, including the 2018 Vanity Fair interview mentioned above.
“Now one of the things I’d like to apologize for in this book is for publicly saying on more than one occasion, ‘If it wasn’t for me, there would be no Julia Roberts,’” Eric wrote in the memoir, referring to the widely-quoted Vanity Fair piece, in which he claimed to have founded representation for Julia through his showbiz connections – a statement he revealed had caused tensions between him and Julia. “That’s not only unfortunate, but it’s also untrue.”
Eric went on to describe Julia as a “very driven woman”, expressing that someone in the movie industry would have “plucked her out of the crowd” – whether or not he had his own acting career.
According to the book, the Roberts siblings reunited and reconciled in 2004 when Julia gave birth to twins, with Eric describing the affair as a pleasant surprise steeped in “brotherly and uncle-ly love.” The two have since enjoyed holiday get-togethers, and they remain in touch.
Eric did also state, however – that this new era of the sibling relationship comes with greater boundaries. When asked about Julia on the Still Here Hollywood podcast in July 2024, Roberts responded “I love my sister, but I can’t talk about her,” Eric said of his famous sibling, 56. “She don’t want to talk about it.”
The 68-year-old added that his daughter Emma had also “told me not to talk about her, but I stumbled and do.” “I’m not supposed to talk about either of them. But I do.”
From the quote, it’s evident that Eric is no longer estranged from his sister and daughter and that they are in communication, but he is actively trying to amend his previous mistakes that once fragmented his family. Here’s hoping the Roberts family can get together for some more happy holidays.