Emma Roberts was born into one of the most famous families in Hollywood. Not only is her aunt Academy Award-winning actress Julia Roberts, but Emma’s own father, Eric Roberts, has been nominated for the prestigious award.
Although Emma has two good role models in terms of career, she didn’t have the advantage of celebrity-packed family dinners while she was growing up. In fact, Emma’s father and aunt were estranged for the majority of her childhood.
The family falling out began when Julia sided with Emma’s mother, Kelly Cunningham, during a 1993 custody battle.
“We’re brother and sister and we both have really strong opinions about things,” Eric told The Daily Beast in 2010 of his family feud. “It’s a lot of ‘f*** you,’ ‘no, f*** you’ and hanging up the phone.”
Eric, who is 12 years older than his sister, claimed the sibling spat was blown out of proportion by the media. However, they did go the better part of 10 years without talking before repairing their relationship in 2004.
Even though he’s now on better terms with his sister, Eric has continued to deal with his fair share of personal problems through the years. He appeared on the fourth season of Celebrity Rehab in 2010 to seek help for his medical marijuana addiction.
Eric also has a distant relationship with Emma, who was raised by her mother.
“He lives here, but I don’t really see him,” Emma said recently. “I do follow him on Twitter, though, if that counts for anything.”
In spite of her limited communication with her dad, Emma has always been very close to her paternal aunt Julia. She grew up visiting her on movie sets and the two even appeared together in 2010’s Valentine’s Day. Still, Emma maintains that nepotism never won her any roles.
“I’ve auditioned for so many things and never gotten the part,” Emma said in 2011. “Also it’s like, you know, maybe someone can get you one part but they can’t really get you 10 parts.”
Interestingly, Emma is next set to star alongside boyfriend Evan Peters in American Horror Story. The pair made big news earlier this month when it was revealed Emma was arrested for domestic assault. Evan declined to press charges and Emma was quickly released.
