Emma Roberts Says She Has ‘Lost More Jobs Than I’ve Gained’ Because of Her Famous Family

Emma Roberts is sharing how she believes her famous family has affected her acting career.

While speaking with Flaunt magazine, the actress, 33, joked about whether she should have felt affronted by a 2022 New York Magazine cover story regarding Hollywood’s “nepo babies” that did not include her in its list, even though her aunt is Julia Roberts and father is actor Eric Roberts.

“It was a cheap shot to put all the celebrity kids on the cover of a magazine on babies’ bodies,” she said of the larger conversation. “It’s like maybe the ‘Nepo Baby’ conversation would’ve been a more interesting article written intelligently in Vanity Fair with nuance, but instead, it was kind of this viral hating-on-people thing.” 

“I’ve lost more jobs than I’ve gained from being in the business,” she added, when asked if she believes her family ties have benefitted her own career.

“People have opinions, and sometimes maybe they’re not good opinions of people in your family,” Roberts said. “I’ve never gotten a job because of it. I know I definitely have lost a couple of jobs because of it.”

The We’re the Millers star recently opened up about “nepo baby” discourse during a June 25 appearance on iHeartMedia’s Table for Two with Bruce Bozzi podcast, in which she emphasized that she has auditioned for plenty of projects over the years that she ultimately did not get hired for.

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“That’s the thing that I always talk about — people kind of only see your wins because they only see when you’re on the poster of a movie. They don’t see all the rejection along the way,” Emma said at the time. “That’s why I’m always very open about things I’ve auditioned for and haven’t gotten the part for.”

The star has been acting for the screen since 2001. While speaking with Flaunt, she identified 2003’s Peter Pan and 2007’s Bridge to Terabithia as two movies she auditioned for early in her career that she was turned away from.

“I think it’s important to talk about, otherwise people just think everything’s been so great and linear and easy, and no, it’s not at all,” she said of being open about past rejections on the Table for Two podcast. “But of course it looks like that to the outside perspective or to the naked eye.”