Emma Roberts thinks fame is ‘really scary’

Emma Roberts finds fame “really scary”.

The ‘Adult World’ actress, 33, who made her acting debut aged nine in 2001’s ‘Blow’ alongside Johnny Depp and Penélope Cruz, said she has seen the effects of being in the spotlight on her aunt Julia Roberts and says it leaves her petrified of the concept.

She told the ‘Table for Two’ podcast with Bruce Bozzi: “(I) saw very up close what (being famous) really looks like (with Julia.)

“It’s obviously fun and it’s great but there is a part of it that’s really scary.

“(For me), fame has never been the goal, because fame at a certain level is kind of scary... when you’ve seen fame like that up close and you see what that really does to people (and) their families.”

Emma, who is the daughter of Julia’s actor older brother Eric Roberts, 68, has been open over the years about her relationship with her aunt, and how she never felt any pressure to match the level of her career.

She told Tatler in 2022: “I never aspired to be (Julia.) I love her so much, I love her work, but I’m just doing my own thing.”

Emma added about how she has mixed roles in mainstream and indie movies with surprise parts on TV: “My favourite parts have been ones that people don’t expect – when Ryan Murphy cast me in ‘American Horror Story’, for example. “People saw me as this nice, teen girl and I couldn’t get older, edgier roles at the time.

“(Ryan) gave me that opportunity, and I’d love to do that for others.”

Emma also tackled criticism of Hollywood’s growing number of “nepo baby” actors during her podcast appearance, saying about how she thinks it focuses more on females: “Everybody loves the kind of overnight success story. And so 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…’.

“And I always joke like, ‘Why is no one calling out George Clooney for being a nepo baby? Rosemary Clooney was an icon’.

“I feel like young girls get it harder with the nepo baby thing.

“Like, I don’t really see people calling out sons of famous actors… not that they should be called out.”