Summary

• Julia Roberts shines in a variety of film genres, demonstrating strong comedic chops and emotional depth in her performances.
• Roberts has maintained her star power and continues to play well-written, fully developed characters.
• From psychological thrillers to romantic comedies, Roberts delivers standout performances that make her films memorable.

Though Julia Roberts might be best known for her work in the romantic comedy genre, she has been a part of many other amazing films throughout her career. She shines as the romantic lead in many of these movies, but this is not only because of her charm and intrigue. Roberts has proved time and again that she has strong comedic chops as well as the ability to handle weighty emotional subjects with characters that have undergone intense trauma.

Making the transition from ingénue to adult woman working in the film industry is no easy task considering the discrimination that women face in Hollywood as they age. However, Roberts is an excellent example of a talent with too much star power to fade and has maintained both her romantic roles and the strong women she has always been known to play. As her career has progressed, Roberts has made it clear that she intends to play well-written and fully developed characters under the direction of visionary filmmakers.

10 Sleeping With The Enemy (1991)

As Laura Burney

As Laura, a desperate woman fleeing from abuse in Sleeping With The Enemy, Roberts forges into new territory with her work in the psychological thriller. After faking her death to escape her violent husband, Laura assumes a new identity and tries to keep herself safe as he searches for her. The film's plot was criticized for being too predictable and not having interesting twists, but Roberts' performance has always been heralded as the film's best part. She balances vulnerability with the strength of will to lift herself out of a dire situation.

9 Wonder (2017)

As Isabel Pullman

In one of her more contemporary roles, Roberts plays Isabel, the mother of Auggie (Jacob Tremblay), a boy with Treacher Collins syndrome, which causes his face to look different from other people's. She is a loving and ive force in his life as he decides to start attending school with other kids and putting himself out there. There's nothing more important than a mother who unconditionally loves her child, and Roberts embodies this characteristic with ease. Overall, the film is an uplifting tale that allows each character to grow and develop and gives Roberts the easy job of protecting her son.

8 Pretty Woman (1990)

As Vivian Ward

Pretty Woman had a major hand in launching Roberts' career, and her chemistry with co-star Richard Gere, as well as her rich portrayal of Vivian, are part of why. Vivian is a sex worker whom Gere's Edward hires her, but they end up falling in love. Not without its social and ethical problems, Pretty Woman still delivers a complex character for Roberts to work with. Vivian is her own person and is not an object for Edward to toy with, which she makes clear in all of their interactions. While the plot may not have aged quite so well, Roberts is still a standout in the film.

7 Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind (2002)

As Patricia Watson

Written by Charlie Kaufman, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind has plenty of twists and turns in the spy thriller to keep the audience guessing until the very end. The all-star cast includes Roberts, Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore, and George Clooney, who also directed. Roberts plays Patricia, a CIA agent who gets involved with Chuck Barris (Rockwell), a television star by day and CIA assassin by night. Patricia turns out to be a double agent and becomes one of Barris' enemies. The devious spy is a new role for Roberts, but she wears it well. The audience questions her motives and position, making her an unreliable, but intriguing figure.

6 Steel Magnolias (1989)

As Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie

One of her more tragic films is Steel Magnolias, in which she plays Shelby, the sweet Southern belle who becomes the martyr of the film. She's getting married, but her mother M'Lynn (Sally Field) worries about how having children will affect her diabetes. Told through the lens of Shelby, M'Lynn, and the other women in their lives who prove their strength and resilience in the face of hardship. Though M'Lynn is the most central character in the movie, her relationship with Shelby is what defines the plot.

Though young and sensitive, Shelby proves herself to be capable of making her own choices, even if they mean risking her life. She ultimately decides to have a child, but it comes at the cost of her life. Steel Magnolias paints every woman in the film with empathy, but it's Roberts' ability to convey an air of wisdom and sensitivity well beyond her years that makes the story so memorable.

5 The Pelican Brief (1993)

As Darby Shaw

In the 1993 thriller starring Denzel Washington and Roberts, their characters grow closer as Washington's Gray Grantham helps her evade the assailants targeting her. Darby Shaw is a law student who correctly identifies the conspiracy behind the murder of two Supreme Court Justices and is then hunted by the people responsible. When she teams up with Grantham, the plot against her life only becomes more unbelievable, but her chemistry with Washington is off the charts. The thriller unpacks plenty of political intrigue but also takes the time to delve into the development of both Darby and Gray.

4 Ocean’s Eleven (2001)

As Tess Ocean

Clooney and Roberts teamed up again for the 2001 reboot of Ocean's Eleven as the estranged married couple, Tess and Danny Ocean. It takes a long time for Tess to open up and let Danny in again, and for good reason, as Danny is up to his old tricks. Though Roberts doesn't have the most fun part of the caper film in Tess as an object of desire, she still brings everything she can to a role that wouldn't have had half the emotional impact if someone else had played it. In a plot where the men around her make inane decisions, Tess is a grounding force in the story.

3 My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)

As Julianne Potter

Roberts' Julianne is deliciously devious and sneakily sympathetic in My Best Friend's Wedding. Asked to be in her best friend's, Michael's (Dermot Mulroney), nuptials, she realizes that she's in love with him, and sets out to stop the wedding. This is an interesting spin on the rom-com formula and is part of the reason the film has stood the test of time. The other reasons can easily be summed up by everything about Roberts' portrayal. She's unafraid to go the extra mile to humiliate herself and seem irredeemable but wrapped up in the beautiful and charming Julia Roberts package, it's impossible not to root for the morally ambiguous Julianne.

2 Notting Hill (1999)

As Anna Scott

Though not a self-portrait, Notting Hill does tackle the role of fame in a developing relationship and has Roberts playing a movie star not unlike herself. Hugh Grant co-stars as a mild-mannered bookstore owner who becomes entangled, and deeply in love with the movie star, Anna. Both actors live up to their reputations as the king and queen of the romantic comedy and maintain understated yet effective performances throughout even the most emotional scenes and monologs.

It's Roberts who delivers the most iconic line of the movie: "I'm also just a girl standing in front of a boy asking him to love her." Which has gone down in history as one of the greatest pieces of dialogue in a rom-com. Notting Hill is the perfect rom-com because it can balance the dramatic grand gestures with the small moments of intimacy, as are its actors.

It's Roberts who delivers the most iconic line of the movie: "I'm also just a girl standing in front of a boy asking him to love her."

1 Erin Brockovich (2000)

As Erin Brockovich

Based on the true story of the real-life Erin Brockovich, there are many amazing quotes in Erin Brockovich the film that exemplify Roberts' embodiment of the woman. It's truly a tour-de-force performance in which Roberts exemplifies how Brockivich was a champion for people unable to advocate for themselves. She is the inarguable star and life force of the film and has the enormous job of being in almost every scene of the movie. Fortunately, she is more than up to the challenge and brings a touching portrait of humanity to life.