Julia Roberts

By SARA TEMPLETON

You've probably read a few tabloids that have - in general - been generally kind to one of Hollywood's most-loved actresses, Julia Roberts.

There's been stories about marriage and divorce and most of them have been quite positive.

It's a wonder that she's been so unscathed by a weight problem, or a low self esteem, or perhaps even a penchant for cheap tequilas and poor quality karaoke.

But for some reason - her smile? her acting style? - she's always been held in incredibly high regard. She is an almost-untouchable celebrity who commands more than $30 million for every feature she stars in, and right here, right now I am going to look at how she reached such an unattainable level of success in an industry that has a track record of making people cry themselves to sleep.

In Smyrna, Georgia, Julia Roberts came into this world on October 28, 1967 thanks to her mother and father, a church secretary and a vacuum cleaner salesman respectively.

From her humble beginnings, Julia Roberts contended with her siblings for thespian supremacy, as it's a little known fact that Julia's brother and sister were keen to break into Hollywood as well.

When she was 17-years-old, a fresh-faced Julia moved from her home state of Georgia to New York, where she joined her sister. Wanting to break her amateur shackles, she started modeling to get by, and went to an acting school to improve her dramatic talents.

Julia landed her first major production in the big-haired days of mid 1980s when her brother, Eric Roberts, allegedly roped the director of a film (Blood Red) to cast Julia as Maria Collogero. Unfortunately the movie existed in Hollywood limbo for the next handful of years, and wasn't released until 1989.

Having movie credits on her resume - not to mention her modeling credentials - helped in securing further roles in television shows for the promising upstart actor, and late in the decade (1988) she secured roles in features such as Mystic Pizza, which was a romantic 'coming of age' comedy about three teenage girls who worked at a pizza parlour in Mystic, Connecticut.

In 1989, Julia's reputation as a hard-working and dedicated actress was piquing the interest of many producers and directors, and was summarily validated when she appeared in the much-loved Steel Magnolias, for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

With the Oscar nomination came yet more recognition, and what was perhaps the pivotal role in her acting career came along in the form of Pretty Woman, where she co-starred alongside the scrumptious Richard Gere.

She turned in a heartfelt and believable performance as Vivian, a prostitute transformed into a beautiful socialite, and again won yet another Oscar nomination for Best Actress, which, hot on the heels of her nomination from Steel Magnolias, elevated her to the Hollywood A-list.

Now that she commanded the attention of all the Hollywood movers and shakers, she could sit back and take her time choosing scripts, rather than just jumping at any old B-movie.

Her box office record following Pretty Woman was hard to argue with and subsequent flicks, such as the challenging Flatliners and even the mediocre Sleeping with the Enemy, managed to rake in big bucks.

However, it wasn't all rose petals and lip gloss for the leggy brunette, as in the early 1990s films like Hook, directed by Steven Spielberg, and Dying Young were panned by the media and the box office didn't respond well either.

Julia Roberts personal life also took a few twists and turns in tandem with her professional life, particularly when Kiefer Sutherland cancelled their wedding just days before the big event.

After the botched wedding, she took time out from the often harsh Hollywood spotlight to reflect on her life, and made her comeback with the film The Pelican Brief, where she co-starred alongside Denzel Washington, who many critics believe is one of our era's greatest actors.

The film put Julia back into the winners circle, and her following features including Everyone Says I Love You and Something to Talk About proved to be successes.

Despite a few hiccups in the mid 1990s with enjoyable flops like Prêt-à-Porter, I Love Trouble and Mary Reilly, Julia became Hollywood's highest paid female actor, and in 1997 she was back in award mode, nominated for a Golden Globe for her work on My Best Friend's Wedding.

In the late 90s, after starring alongside powerhouse actors like Mel Gibson and being reunited with Richard Gere in Conspiracy Theory and Runaway Bride respectively, it appeared as though the Julia Roberts we knew from Pretty Woman was back on track, and Notting Hill was well accepted as well.

In the year 2000, Julia Roberts was finally rewarded with an Oscar thanks to her performance in the film Erin Brockovich, and along with Oscar success came monetary success as she now commanded roughly $20 million per film.

She also had a much-admired three-year relationship with the hunky Benjamin Bratt.

Early in the new millennium films like The Mexican and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, while enjoyable, didn't fare as well as hoped at the box office, but in 2003 Mona Lisa Smile proved popular and made a handy $63,000,000 in America cinemas.

After becoming romantically attached to cinematographer Danny Moder, the couple wed in July 2002 and after much heartache, Julia is now pregnant with twins, which are due in early 2005.

Ocean's 12 and Closer are next on the hit list for Julia Roberts career, and there's is no doubt that the famous actor will go down in history as a true great, who also comes across as humble: "I'm just an ordinary person who has an extraordinary job." - Julia Roberts.

And will the media of the future be as kind to Julia as it has been in the past? Only time will tell...