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 A few people know that Julia Roberts was literally
programmed for commercial success. This is probably wouldn't do justice to the
acting talents of the Hollywood diva, but Roberts' name is hardly associated
with the prestigious awards she received such as the Golden Globe and Oscar.
Apart from her roles and dazzling smile, she is known as one of the
highest-paid actresses in the world, topping the Hollywood Reporter's annual power
list of top-earning female stars from 2002 to 2006, and the first Hollywood
actress to be paid $20 million for a movie. However, as it turns out even one
of her first movies, «Pretty Woman», which brought Roberts fame and recognition,
was initially called «$ 3000». Say what you like, but money makes money.
Julia Roberts made her film debut playing a supporting role
with her brother, Eric, in «Blood Red» (she has just two words of
dialogue),
which, although filmed in 1987, was not released until 1989. Roberts
first
caught the attention of moviegoers with her performance in the
independent film
«Mystic Pizza» in 1988; that same year, she had a role in the fourth
season
finale of «Miami Vice». And while Roberts began her acting career as
«Eric
Roberts' baby sister», she soon became known for her own achievements
and today,
as for the last 20 years, her brother Eric has had to put up with being
«Julia
Roberts' older brother».
Traditionally, Roberts started at the bottom of the Hollywood
career ladder, her first significant fee $ 50,000 for the role in 1988
indie
movie «Mystic Pizza». However, the following year, she was featured in
«Steel
Magnolias» as a young bride with diabetes and got her first Academy
Award
nomination (as Best Supporting Actress) for her performance and her
acting fee
rose significantly. Roberts became known to worldwide audiences when she
co-starred with Richard Gere in the Cinderella story «Pretty Woman» in
1990.
Roberts won the role after the first two choices for the part, Molly
Ringwald
and Meg Ryan, both turned it down. The role also earned her a second
Oscar nod,
this time as Best Actress. Her fee for «Pretty Woman» was $300,000.
Phenomenal box office success of «Pretty Woman» has changed
everything for Roberts. She quickly became one of the Hollywood
A-listers with
the seven figure fee. Her next box office success was the thriller
«Sleeping
with the Enemy», playing a battered wife who escapes her demented
husband and
begins a new life. This movie brought Roberts her first million dollars.
She
played Tinkerbell in Steven Spielberg's «Hook» in 1991 ($7 million), and
also
played a nurse in the 1991 film «Dying Young» (3 million). This work was
followed by a two-year hiatus, during which she made no films other than
a
cameo appearance in Robert Altman's «The Player» (1992).
In 1993, she co-starred with Denzel Washington in the
successful «The Pelican Brief», based on the John Grisham novel. In 1995
she appeared
in season 2 of «Friends». Over the next few years, she starred in a
series of
films that were critical and commercial failures, such as Stephen
Frears' «Mary
Reilly» (1996), though for Roberts it was successful - she got past $10
million
mark. However, the actress overcame these failures with the commercial
and
critical success of «My Best Friend's Wedding» ($12 million) in 1997. In
1999,
she starred with Hugh Grant in the film «Notting Hill» ($15 million).
That same
year, she also starred in «Runaway Bride», her second film with Richard
Gere,
that brought her $17 million.
In 2001, Roberts received the Academy Award for Best Actress
for her portrayal of Erin Brockovich, who helped wage a successful
lawsuit
against energy giant Pacific Gas & Electric and was the first
actress ever
to be paid $20 million for a role. Roberts teamed up with «Erin
Brockovich»
director Steven Soderbergh for three more films: «Ocean's Eleven»
(2001), «Full
Frontal» (2002), and «Ocean's Twelve» (2004). Later in 2001, she starred
in the
road gangster comedy «The Mexican» (another $20 million). In 2003, she
was paid
an unprecedented $25 million for her role in «Mona Lisa Smile». As of
2009,
Roberts's net worth was estimated to be $140 - 150 million.
Roberts's films have grossed over $2.3 billion at the
American box office, making her the highest grossing female movie star.
She was
placed at the pinnacle of the Ulmer Scale, a comprehensive guide to the
global
star power of actors and directors in independent and studio films
created by
James Ulmer, ahead of such other luminaries as Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks.
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