Eric Roberts is proud of his family—but he’s been advised not to talk about it.
In a recent interview with Still Here Hollywood, Steve Kmetko asked the Pope of Greenwich Village star about his sister, Julia Roberts. You’ll have to ask her
, Roberts responded. I love my sister, but I can’t talk about her. She doesn’t wanna talk about it.
Roberts didn’t discuss the matter further and added another relative he’s not encouraged to discuss: his daughter, Emma Roberts. My daughter told me also not to talk about her, but I stumble and do
, he said. I’m not supposed to talk about either of them. But I do.
Later in their conversation, Kmetko asked Roberts about his favorite performers. Rather than cite any particular influences or heroes, the actor instead used the opportunity to praise his daughter. I am in love with my daughter’s work these days like I can’t, I can’t believe how great she’s become
, he said. I’m so proud of her I can’t see straight. Since her performance in Maybe I Do until right now, she overwhelms me with pride and just, ‘Oh my God. Here she goes again.’ And I’m just so happy to be her dad because she’s kicking ass, and I’m so proud.
When Kmetko asked if Roberts had anything to do with his daughter’s success, the actor responded, Absolutely nothing. Except I gave her that name.
Working on The Dark Knight
During the interview, Roberts recounted his memories working on The Dark Knight, where he played mobster Sal Maroni. It was just fun to be associated with that movie
, he said. [Christopher Nolan] is a real director, and he knows what he wants. And he tells you what he wants, and he gave me my favorite direction I ever got… ‘Eric Roberts, don’t be funny!’. It was just hysterical that God’s voice from the speakers told me not to be funny, and I’m not known for being funny at all. So it was a real pleasure for me to be told that.
Heath Ledger’s Memorable Personality
Roberts also said that Heath Ledger was a pleasure to work with. What a lovely person he was
, Roberts recalled. I’d been told, ‘Stay away from Heath. He’s into the character. Oh my God. He’s gone.’ He wasn’t like that at all. He was perfectly fine.
The actor shared that at one point, Ledger asked his costars for feedback on his performance as the Joker. He’s going through the monologue, blah blah blah, and he gets to the monologue… And he turns to us and he goes, ‘How am I doing?’
. He was just so charming, so likable, so sweet, so normal.
