You may not recognize the name Eric Roberts — or even know that America's sweetheart
has an older brother — but you've definitely seen him at some point.
He's been in so many movies and TV series he can't even keep count.
But his journeyman approach to acting isn't entirely intentional.
A severe cocaine addiction derailed his once-promising career, leading to arrests, bodily harm, and
crippling damage to his professional reputation.
However, it appears Roberts has his life in order again, bouncing from B-movie to B-movie.
Along the way, he's left a remarkable trail of personal and professional anecdotes.
Let's take a closer look at Julia Robert's older brother.
"Everybody knows everything you do, if you like it or not."
Just say yes
In a 2018 Vanity Fair profile, Roberts revealed the reason he's racked up close to 500 film
and TV credits.
After he stopped getting offers in larger films, he resorted to accepting B-movie roles,
and before he knew it, he had done around thirty films in just a few years.
"How's this feel?"
"I don't want you as her doctor."
He went on to explain,
"Suddenly it's like 250 movies, and I realize, I went from being a joke that'll do anything
to being, 'Is there anything he can't do?'"
In fact, by taking these roles, Roberts found himself making some unusual deals for compensation.
Speaking with The A.V.
Club, he recalled how legendary camp producer Roger Corman only got him to agree to star
in Sharktopus after he allowed Roberts to bring as many guests as he wanted to stay
for the entire month-long shoot in a Mexican resort town.
Roberts said,
"So I brought everybody I ever met, everybody I've ever been related to, and we all had
a great time in Puerto Vallarta while I made a bad movie."
On top of his seemingly endless film and TV credits, he's also become the "king of music
videos," and you'll recognize him alongside some of music's biggest superstars as they
belt out their hit songs.
Roberts in Russia
Roberts revealed to Vanity Fair that he has an inexplicably large following in Russia,
which he traces back to his Oscar-nominated performance in Runaway Train, as well as the
Best of the Best action flicks.
According to Roberts, he's, quote, "like Elvis" in Russia, and he even had to hire bodyguards
while visiting Moscow because of the frenzy he caused just by walking down the street.
Violent history
Back in 1985, Roberts opened up to People about the traumatic 1981 car accident that
left him in a three-day coma.
Decades later, he revealed to Vanity Fair that he was high on cocaine at the time, and
he had to, quote, "learn how to walk again and talk again."
In 1987, Roberts was arrested for drug possession, harassing a woman, and assaulting a cop.
Eight years later, he was arrested again in connection with violence against his wife,
Eliza — who called 911 after an argument.
Police told the New York Daily News that Roberts had, quote, "pushed the victim, causing her
to hit her head against the wall," but both he and his wife later denied any physical
abuse.
Bro and sis
Roberts went through an ugly custody battle with Kelly Cunningham, the mother of his daughter,
Emma Roberts, and according to People magazine, Cunningham got assistance from Julia at the
time.
It was a move that apparently served as a final straw in the brother and sister's already
strained relationship.
Eric took all of the blame for the fractured family relations, and claims his younger sisters
finally just grew tired of his self-destructive behavior.
He later told Vanity Fair that it was a surprise invite to the hospital for the birth of Julia's
twins in 2004 that sparked what has now become a lasting reconciliation.
"The most common question fans ask me is 'do you and your sister get along?' and we do."
Eric was also quick to take credit for his superstar sister's career.
"I got her started… I'm very proud of that. I got her her
Screen Actors Guild card."
Celebrity Rehab ruse
In 2017, Roberts finally made an epic appearance on Eric Roberts is the F***ing Man, a project
described as a "woefully misguided podcast examining the life, career, and works of actor
Eric Roberts."
In the interview, Roberts revealed his motivations for doing Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew in
2010.
Thinking it would be a way for him to connect with the show's younger audience, his wife-slash-manager
encouraged him to take the gig and try to play up a heavy addiction to marijuana.
Roberts showed up and was clearly not as in need of rehab as the other cast members, so
according to him, producers encouraged him to stir up drama to make up for it.
"Who was the girl I called the 'C' word?"
Oh right, Janice Dickinson!
Janice Dickinson. She's so mean to everybody."
These days, Roberts doesn't claim to be sober, but he does say that he was born an addict
who knows how to use marijuana in a way that works for him.
And hey, no judgement — the guy's IMDB page shows he's already got dozens of projects
lined up for 2018 alone, so clearly he still gets the job done.
"Let's go get 'em."
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