Eric Roberts feared his acting career was over at the age of 27 after being involved in a car accident.
The 69-year-old actor told how he fell into a deep depression after suffering ‘short-term memory loss’ and difficulties with hand-eye co-ordination after the crash so it came as a surprise when he was cast in Bob Fosse’s 1983 movie Star 80.
Asked what life was like when he was cast in the movie during an appearance on the It Happened In Hollywood podcast, he said: ‘It was a really odd, peculiar, hard time for me because the year before that I had an automobile accident and I was in a coma for a little bit.
‘And, so I thought my days as an actor were probably over, if not very much numbered and, was going through the deepest depression I’ve ever had in my life,’ said the older brother of Hollywood queen Julia Roberts.
During his dark period, Eric received a call from his manager who had been given a ‘Bob Fosse script’ by a casting director who hadn’t been supposed to pass it on.
Eric Roberts feared his career was over after being involved in a car accident that placed him in a coma then a deep depression, he told the It Happened In Hollywood podcast. Seen in2021
Even though he was not feeling well, he still starred in the film Star 80 about Playboy model Dorothy Stratten
His manager said: ‘I’m giving it to you to read because I think you should go for it. I know you’re a big fan of Bob Fosse.’
However, the script – which told the story of Playboy model Dorothy Stratten who was murdered by her husband Paul Snider, who went on to take his own life – failed to capture Eric’s interest but he still auditioned to play Paul because of his interest in working with the director.
He said: ‘I didn’t like it because it seemed too black and white to me.
‘It seemed too bad guy, good girl, put upon, oppressive. It just seemed too black and white, and it wasn’t interesting. Even though it was a true story, it didn’t light me up.
‘So I was not really interested in it as a script, but I was interested in it because of Bob Fosse.’
Eric worked ‘very hard’ on his audition and after ‘five or six’ appearances in front of the director, he was offered the role of Paul.
And after spending three months researching the part, the actor grew to understand the point of the movie.
He said: ‘Everybody thinks it’s [an] unusual tale because of how it ended, but Paul Sniders are a dime a dozen.
In his twenties he had a busy career as he was famous before his sister Julia Roberts. Seen in the late 1980s
Roberts and his younger sister Julia seen at the Baronet Theater in New York City in the 1980s
Eric, Julia Roberts and their sister Lisa Roberts with Angelina Jolie’s father Jon Voight in 1985 at The Plaza Hotel in New York City
‘They surround us. They’re all around us.’
He noted that working in showbiz, people are surrounded by ‘obnoxiousness,’ ‘ego’ and ‘pointless coolness’ all day.
He added: ‘They are not unusual. That’s why the story is so valuable. These guys are not unusual. . . . They just don’t end up murder suicides. But that goes on all the time.’
Eric’s daughter is Emma Roberts. Seen in January in LA
The Runaway Train actor has notched up over 700 acting credits over the years and previously admitted he feels like ‘one of the luckiest guys in Hollywood’.
He told The Hollywood Reporter: ‘We get anywhere from eight to 30 offers every single day from all over the world.
‘It’s just so much fun to have all these offers and get to play such an extreme range of characters.’
His sister Julia Roberts has also been talking about her past. Earlier this year she said she wouldn’t star in Pretty Woman if the film were made today.
The 58-year-old actress played prostitute Vivian Ward in the 1990 rom-com but claims that it would be ‘impossible’ for her to appear in such a picture now because world views have changed.
Julia told Deadline: ‘Oh, it’s impossible. I have too many years of the weight of the world inside of me now that I wouldn’t be able to kind of levitate in a movie like that, right?
‘I mean, not weight of the world, like, negative, but just all the things that we learn, all the things we put in our pockets along the way. It would be impossible to play someone who was really innocent, in a way.
‘I mean, it’s a funny thing to say about a hooker, but I do think that there was an innocence to her, kind of… I guess it’s just being young.’
His sister Julia Roberts has also been talking about her past. Earlier this year she said she wouldn’t star in Pretty Woman if the film were made today. Seen in January
The 58-year-old actress played prostitute Vivian Ward in the 1990 rom-com but claims that it would be ‘impossible’ for her to appear in such a picture now
Opinions on Pretty Woman – in which Julia’s character forms a relationship with wealthy corporate raider Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) – have shifted over time and Roberts can understand why some are now uncomfortable with the movie.
The Erin Brockovich star explained: ‘Well, I think anytime you have a huge passage of time and cultural shifts…
‘Think about all the movies and plays of the ’20s and ’30s and ’40s – you would look at them now and just be like, ‘How are people saying these things, doing these things?”
Julia added: ‘I think these are the choices that we make as artists, as art appreciators and people that love to read books and go to the theatre and yeah, times change, people change, ideas change.’
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