Emma Roberts: Having Famous Relatives Has Cost Me Jobs

American Horror Story star Emma Roberts has revealed that her celebrity lineage has sometimes worked against her in her acting career.

The 33-year-old actress, daughter of The Dark Knight actor Eric Roberts and niece of Julia Roberts, has often faced claims of being a “nepo baby”—a term used to describe those who benefit from nepotism in the entertainment industry. However, in a recent interview, she suggested that her famous last name has, in fact, hindered her professional opportunities.

“I’ve lost more jobs than I’ve gained from being in the business,” she admitted to Flaunt magazine. “People have opinions, and sometimes maybe they’re not good opinions of people in your family. I’ve never gotten a job because of it; I know I definitely have lost a couple of jobs because of it.”

Roberts also mentioned a 2022 issue of New York magazine, which depicted several “nepo babies” with children’s faces superimposed on actual baby bodies. Notably absent from the cover photo herself, Roberts questioned the intent behind the portrayal.

“Should I be offended?” she pondered. “It was a cheap shot to put all the celebrity kids on the cover of a magazine on babies’ bodies. Maybe the ‘Nepo Baby’ conversation would’ve been a more interesting article written intelligently in Vanity Fair with nuance, but instead, it was kind of this viral hating-on-people thing.”

In addition to addressing nepotism, Roberts recently discussed the box office failure of the 2024 superhero film Madame Web, in which she played a role alongside Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, and Adam Scott.

While speaking with Variety, Roberts cited “internet culture” as a significant factor contributing to the film’s poor reception.

“I personally really loved Madame Web. I really enjoyed the movie. I thought everyone in it was great,” she commented. “The director, SJ Clarkson, I think did an amazing job. She’s the reason I wanted to do that movie. If it wasn’t for internet culture and everything being made into a joke, I think that the reception would’ve been different.”

Expressing her frustration, she continued, “And that’s what bums me out about a lot of stuff, even stuff that I’ve done, is people just make such a joke out of everything now.”

In Madame Web, Roberts portrayed Mary Parker, the mother of Spider-Man/Peter Parker. The character is seen briefly as a newborn baby in the film but remains unnamed.