Born on October 28, 1967 in Smyrna, Georgia Julie Roberts has starred in countless movies throughout her career with a total box office earnings of over $2.8 billion and she has been named People magazine’s Most beautiful woman in the world a whopping 5 times now. She comes from a family full of talent including brother Eric Roberts and niece Emma Roberts. She is trending recently due to the fact that some crazy Hollywood people tried to cast her as Harriet Tubman back in the 90’s at some point, so I decided it was a good time to take a look at her career and list some of her better films. As usual sequels are always included in with the original so the list doesn’t get repetitive.
Mystic Pizza
Released in 1988 Mystic Pizza is a coming of age story about a group of young women working together at a pizza joint in a fishing village in Connecticut. Julia Roberts portrays one of the young women named Daisy and is joined by a great cast including Annabeth Gish and Vincent D’Onofrio. The film had favorable reviews and grossed $14 million at the box office.
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Steel Magnolias
Released in 1989 and directed by Herbert Ross the comedy-drama film Steel Magnolias Puts Julia Roberts in the role of a young woman who passes away from complications from Type 1 Diabetes and explores the many ways grief can affect your loved ones once you’re gone. Also starring Dolly Parton, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Daryl Hannah and Sam Shepard the star studded film was loved by critics and grossed over $95 million worldwide. The film was nominated for numerous awards and Julia Roberts won a Golden Globe Award for her role.
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Pretty Woman
Released in 1990 and directed by Garry Marshall the romantic comedy Pretty Woman would be the film that made Julia Roberts a household name and kickstart her career. she would portray a prostitute who falls in love and starred alongside Richard Gere. The film received mixed reviews but did great at the box office, grossing over $450 million and was nominated for numerous awards, Julia Roberts won a Golden Globe Award for her performance.
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Flatliners
Released in 1990 and directed by Joel Schumacher the Science Fiction Horror film Flatliners is about a group of medical students who experiment to try and gather proof of what happens to us after we die. Julia Roberts stars as one of these medical students alongside Kiefer Sutherland,William Baldwin and Kevin Bacon. The film was nominated for an Academy Award and grossed just over $60 at the box office and had a remake released in 2017.
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Sleeping With The Enemy
Released in 1991 and directed Joseph Ruben the psychological thriller Sleeping With The Enemy based on the novel of the same name by Nancy Price would put julia Roberts in the role of a woman that escapes and goes on the run from her abusive husband. The film opened to negative reviews but was a commercial success grossing over $175 million worldwide and was nominated for numerous awards.
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Buy the novel here https://amzn.to/37rgDfR
Hook
Released in 1991 and directed by Steven Spielberg the fantasy adventure film is inspired by the stories of Peter Pan and has Julia Roberts in the role of everyone’s favorite little fairy Tinkerbell. Also starring Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams as Peter Pan the film became an instant classic and is loved by many. It grossed about $300 million worldwide and was nominated in 5 categories at the 64th Academy Awards.
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The Pelican Brief
Released in 1993 and directed by Alan J. Pakula the legal thriller The Pelican Brief , based on the novel of the sam name by John Grisham, casts Julia Roberts as a young law student who finds herself mixed up in a a murder investigation and in danger for knowing too much. The film also stars Denzel Washington, Sam Shepard, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow and grossed just over $190 million worldwide.
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Buy the John Grisham novel here https://amzn.to/2QB7bAL
Michael Collins
Released in 1996 and directed Neil Jordan the historical biopic Michael Collins explored the life of the Irish patriot who died during the Irish Civil War. Liam Neeson stars as the titular character and Julia Roberts plays his fiance, they are joined by Alan Rickman and Stephen Rea. It wasn’t a commercial success but was nominated for and won numerous awards.
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My Best Friend’s Wedding
Released in 1997 and directed by P.J. Hogan the romantic comedy My Best Friend’s Wedding has Julia Roberts portraying a woman who realizes she’s in love with her best friend but not until it’s too late and he’s already engaged. Also starring Cameron Diaz and Dermot Mulroney the film was a huge success and grossed almost $300 million worldwide and was nominated for and won countless awards.
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Conspiracy Theory
Released in 1997 and directed by Richard Donner the political action thriller Conspiracy Theory puts Julia Roberts in the role of a Justice Department attorney who discovers the eccentric taxi driver who has all kinds of crazy theories is actually right about one of them putting both her and the taxi driver in danger. Also starring Mel Gibson and Patrick Stewart the film wasn’t loved by critics but did gross $136 million worldwide.
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Stepmom
Released in 1998 and directed by Chris Columbus the comedy-drama film Stepmom features Julia Roberts as a woman in a relationship with an older man and depicts her struggle to maintain a good relationship with his ex and their kids. Also starring Ed Harris and Susan Sarandon the film grossed almost $160 million worldwide and was nominated for a good amount of awards winning a few of them as well.
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Runaway Bride
Released in 1999 and directed by Garry Marshall the romantic comedy Runaway Bride once again pairs Julia Roberts with Richard Gere and depicts her as a woman that has a trail of fiances she has left at the altar due to past failed relationships and fear of commitment. Also starring Joan Cusack and Rita Wilson the film grossed over $300 million worldwide.
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Erin Brockovich
Released in 2000 and directed by Steven Soderbergh the biographical film Erin Brockovich stars Julia Roberts as the titular character and depicts the efforts put forth by Brockovich to help the people of a small town made sick by a greedy corporation. Also starring Aaron Eckhart and albert Finney the film grossed over $250 million worldwide and was nominated for and won countless awards.
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Ocean’s Eleven
Released in 2001 and directed by Steven Soderbergh the heist film Ocean’s Eleven portrays a group of skilled thieves working together to pull off the heist of the century. Julia Roberts plays the wife of the leader of the group of thieves and is joined by a spectacular cast including Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon and Andy Garcia. the film was a huge success and spawned numerous sequels and grossed over $450 million worldwide.
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Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind
Released in 2002 and directed by George Clooney the biographical spy comedy Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind is based on the life of game show host Chuck Barris and his claims that he worked as an assassin for the CIA. julia Roberts plays Patricia Watson and is joined by a great cast including Sam Rockwell, George Clooney, Drew Barrymore and Rutger Hauer. The film wasn’t very successful commercially but Sam Rockwell did win a Silver Bear Award for his portrayal as Chuck Barris.
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Mona Lisa Smile
Released in 2003 and directed by Mike Newell the drama film Mona Lisa Smile depicts the lives of a group of young women struggling to balance love, passion, careers and all the rest of the struggles women dealt with in the 1950’s. Julia Roberts plays the women’s Art History teacher and is joined by Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles and Maggie Gyllenhaal. the film grossed over $140 million and was nominated for multiple awards.
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Charlie Wilson’s War
Released in 2007 and directed by Mike Nichols the biographical comedy-drama film Charlie Wilson’s War explores the life of the U.S. congressman and how his efforts are what lead to Operation Cyclone in regards to the Afghan-Soviet War. Julia Roberts stars as Joanne Herring and is joined by Tom Hanks, Amy Adams, Ned Beatty and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The film grossed almost $120 million and was nominated for many awards.
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Eat Pray Love
Released in 2010 and directed by Ryan Murphy the biographical romantic drama Eat Pray Love is based on the memoirs of the same name by Elizabeth Gilbert who is played by Julia Roberts. The film also stars James Franco, Javier Bardem and Billy Crudup and although it wasn’t met well critically it was a financial success , grossing over $200 million.
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Buy the book here https://amzn.to/35i5qfQ
Mirror, Mirror
Released in 2012 and directed by Tarsem Singh the fantasy adventure film Mirror, Mirror is based on the fairy tale Snow White and casts Julia Roberts as the evil witch and she is joined by Sean Bean and Lily Collins. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design and grossed $183 million at the box office worldwide.
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Julia Roberts has had a long successful career in films but hasn’t had any major roles in one recently, just a few lesser known projects. she currently stars in the Amazon Prime Video Original Homecoming which can be viewed free if you have a prime membership.
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