Emma Roberts opened up about how “scary” her aunt Julia Robert’s level of fame is on the “Table for Two” podcast released on Tuesday, June 25.
“I saw very up close what that really looks like with my aunt Julia… It’s fun and it’s great, but there is a part of it that’s really scary,” the 33-year-old shared to host Bruce Bozzi.
The American Horror Story actress comes from a family of actors including her aunt and her father Eric Roberts. Despite working in the industry since the age of 9 and having a family history in the industry, she did not want to live in their shadow and “always wanted to kind of carve my own path.”
“Even in my later teens, I was like, I never want my fame to outweigh my work…Because there’s nothing scarier to me than being so famous that you’re never left alone, but also you’re not getting good jobs,” Emma added.
Being that she had Hollywood actors in her family she felt a sort of pressure, because she is recognized as a “nepo baby”, especially being a woman, “I feel like young girls get it harder with the nepo baby thing…Like, I don’t really see people calling out sons of famous actors.”
During the interview she mentioned how the world “loves an overnight success story,” but since she had early access to the industry she would not fall into that category. “And so if you’re kind of not the girl from the middle of nowhere that broke into Hollywood, there’s kind of an eye roll of like, ‘Well, your dad was this,’” she added.
Although the Scream Queens actress is considered a “Nepo baby” she expressed how she does not think “anyone should be called out for wanting to follow their dream.”
Despite not wanting to fall in the shadow of her aunt, Emma told Tatler that she felt stuck playing roles of a teenager – as she started on Nickelodeon – until she met Ryan Murphy who let her take on darker roles. “My favorite parts have been ones that people don’t expect — when Ryan Murphy cast me in American Horror Story, for example…People saw me as this nice, teen girl and I couldn’t get older, edgier roles at the time,” she said.
