Julia Roberts was born on October 28, 1967 in Atlanta, Georgia. When she was young she had no aspirations of becoming an actress as she was intent upon become a veterinarian and helping animals. But she started to notice the success her brother Eric Roberts was having in his movie acting career so Julia Roberts decided she would give acting a try. She tried her hand at a couple smaller roles and then in 1988 she wound up being cast in the movie Mystic Pizza. Even though she was 21 years old at the time, Julia Roberts played a teenage girl working in a pizza parlor and learning about life and the mysteries of growing up. Audiences fell in love with the pretty Julia Roberts and soon she was receiving offers for other roles that played on her good looks and her appeal as an actress. But Julia Roberts had other ideas and soon she set out on a career path that she had hoped would make Hollywood take her seriously.

In 1989 Julia Roberts took the role of Shelby in the emotionally charged movie Steel Magnolias. This well written story about a group of southern women living their day to day lives was not an instant box office hit but the performances by some of the actors involved won high critical praise and Julia Roberts found herself nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar at the 1990 Academy Awards show. She was only 23 years old and her film resume was only a couple of movies long but already Julia Roberts was gaining a large name for herself among not only the power players in Hollywood but with an ever growing legion of movie going fans as well. With the notoriety of an Oscar nomination added to her credit Julia Roberts set out to conquer the world and it did not take very long at all.

In 1990 Julia Roberts landed the role that would make her a superstar in Hollywood. She played Vivian Ward in the runaway hit Pretty Woman and this was Julia Roberts’ first truly big box office smash hit and the movie made a large profit at the box office. Large profits at the box office are not made without large amounts of people seeing the movie and Pretty Woman gained Julia Roberts an even larger movie going audience and is the movie that broke her through to the next level of stardom. She received another Oscar nomination and this time it was for best actress in a leading role. With all of her success it was still very much a man’s world in Hollywood and Julia Roberts’ salary per movie was no where near what the men were making even though she has a two time Oscar nominee. All that would change.

By 2000 Julia Roberts had established herself as a top tier actor and was finally commanding one of the highest salaries in Hollywood. People loved to see her in the movies and they also wanted to find out more about her private life. Julia Roberts had a failed marriage to musician Lyle Lovett and she decided that the public glare on her personal life was too much and she put a cloak over her personal life. In 2000 she starred in the huge hit Erin Brockovich and she finally won her Oscar for best actress in a leading role. With her career on the rise and her place as a star in high demand solidified, Julia Roberts got re-married and dropped out of the public eye to have 3 kids. She now chooses her roles carefully now and has begun to work again more frequently now that she appears secure in her home life.