Emma Roberts on Nepotism in Hollywood: Young Girls Face More Challenges

Emma Roberts isn’t a fan of the backlash that comes along with being labeled a nepo baby.

The 33-year-old – who is the daughter of Eric Roberts and niece of Julia Roberts – recently shared that she doesn’t see the same criticism for men as she does for women in the entertainment industry. 

‘I feel like young girls get it harder with the nepo baby thing,’ she revealed on Tuesday’s episode of the Table for Two with Bruce Bozzi podcast. ‘I don’t really see people calling out sons of famous actors – not that they should be called out. I don’t think anyone should be called out for wanting to follow their dream.’

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Take George Clooney, for example.

Emma Roberts -who is the daughter of Eric Roberts and niece of Julia Roberts – recently shared that she doesn’t see the same criticism for men as she does for women in the entertainment industry

‘I always joke, “Why is no one calling out George Clooney for being a nepo baby? [His aunt] Rosemary Clooney was an icon,”‘ Emma quipped.

But all jokes aside, the American Horror Story actress explained that people shouldn’t assume that the offspring of the rich and famous didn’t have to work hard to get where they are.

‘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,’ Emma said. ‘They don’t see all the rejection along the way.’

Which, in turn, has led the Unfabulous alum to be transparent in her own career. 

‘That’s why I’m always very open about things I’ve auditioned for and haven’t gotten the part for,’ she confessed. ‘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. But of course it looks like that to the outside perspective or to the naked eye.’

As for why Emma feels the public is so quick to label someone a ‘nepo baby’ despite years of hard work? 

As she put it, ‘I think there’s something to be said where everybody loves the kind of overnight success story.’ 

‘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,”‘ Emma noted.

The Holidate star first made her acting debut at age 10 in the 2001 crime drama Blow.

The 33-year-old teased: ‘I always joke, “Why is no one calling out George Clooney for being a nepo baby? [His aunt] Rosemary Clooney was an icon”‘

Then in 2004, she gained notoriety for her role as Addie Singer in the three-season Nickelodeon sitcom Unfabulous.

Fans may also remember falling in love with the young actress after she co-starred in the 2006 hit movie Aquamarine.

And since then, the jobs have kept coming.

As an adult, Emma has starred in countless movies, from Holiday rom coms to horror films and everything in between. 

She has also been a recurring character in Ryan Murphy’s anthology series American Horror Story since 2011 and played the lead in his horror comedy show Scream Queens, which aired from 2015 to 2016. 

The star first made her acting debut at age 10 in the 2001 crime drama Blow before gaining notoriety for her role as Addie Singer in the three-season Nickelodeon sitcom Unfabulous

The mom-of-one shared about the nepotism debate in Hollywood: ‘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”‘

However, Emma’s priorities shifted after watching her aunt – who rose to stardom in the 1988 film Mystic Pizza – become an A-list superstar. 

‘I saw very up close what that really looks like with my aunt Julia,’ she recalled. ‘It’s obviously fun and it’s great, but there is a part of it that’s really scary. So I’ve wanted to kind of carve my own path…Fame has never been the goal, because fame at a certain level is kind of scary.’

And Emma felt that way during her younger years in the spotlight, too. 

‘Even in my later teens, I was like, I never want my fame to outweigh my work,’ she continued. ‘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.’

A route that Emma saw many others in Hollywood take.

Back in 2022, Eric gushed that watching his daughter’s acting career over the years has been ‘so much fun’

The American Horror Story actress’s priorities shifted after watching her aunt become an A-list superstar: ‘Fame has never been the goal, because fame at a certain level is kind of scary’

‘That was kind of happening to a lot of people when I was in my teens and early 20s,’ she reflected. ‘I never wanted that to happen to me.’

But nevertheless, Emma boasts an impressive list of credits, much like her dad. 

And Eric doesn’t take his daughter following in his footsteps for granted, telling Page Six in February that he’s proud of Emma ‘every day.’

As for which film is the 68-year-old’s go-to? Well, as he put it, Emma’s 2023 rom-com Maybe I Do is ‘my favorite so far.’

While talking to the outlet, Eric labeled his only child as his ‘precious daughter’ and noted that he knew she would ‘grow up to be all that and more.’

Back in 2022, Eric gushed that watching Emma’s acting career over the years has been ‘so much fun.’

‘And she’s never had any training,’ he expressed to the Hollywood Reporter, ‘so she’s been on-the-job training her whole career, and it’s been lovely for me to watch her become an actor, and she has. I love her work.’