Not everything is supposed to make you comfortable. That quote from Julia Roberts’ newest role in After the Hunt could just as easily serve as a definition of her career. For more than three decades, Roberts has been Hollywood’s bright smile and emotional center, gliding from rom-com royalty to serious drama giant with seeming ease.
Her ascendancy in the late ’80s was meteoric by the time Pretty Woman hit in 1990, she was on every family’s lips. But what has kept her relevant isn’t merely charm; it’s that she can surprise us. Whether swooning audiences in Notting Hill or leaving them stunned in Erin Brockovich, Roberts has a knack for accessing the human in every character.
From blockbuster behemoths to understated portraits of character, these nine performances demonstrate the extent of her range listed from greatest to great.
1. Erin Brockovich (2000)
Roberts’ Oscar-winning performance as the real on-their-side legal secretary who battled Pacific Gas and Electric is career peak. Erin is fiery, scrappy, and totally human traits Roberts achieves without blunting the hard edges.
The part called for both charm and toughness, and Roberts gave it in abundance. It’s not acting; it’s a lesson in how a star can get lost in a performance but remain electrifying on screen.
Julia Roberts’ career is a masterclass in range mingling crowd-pleasing appeal with challenging roles for herself and her audience. From the romantic highs of Notting Hill to the moral ambiguity of After the Hunt, she keeps reaching out without losing the things that got her a star in the first place. These nine performances are not must-sees for fans only they’re proof that Roberts’ status as a Hollywood legend is already secure, and she might just have her best performances yet ahead of her.
2. Pretty Woman (1990)
The performance that secured Roberts’ place in legend Vivian Ward, the Hollywood Boulevard prostitute who seduces a corporate spin doctor into her arms is one of cultural touchstones. The red frock, the shopping spree, the necklace snap: all of them became film legend.
Under the delusion, Roberts gave Vivian wit, self-assurance, and a heart, making a caricature character into one that won’t be forgotten. The $463 million worldwide box-office take of the movie confirmed her star power could not be denied.
3. The Pelican Brief (1993)
With her ’90s peak of success, Roberts was Darby Shaw, a law student whose research pursuits render her a target of cold-blooded foes. She spearheads the investigation with brains and guts with Denzel Washington.
In a traditionally masculine genre, Roberts proves herself to be the engine of the story. Her rapport with Washington provides it with spark, but it’s her mastery of the part that keeps it ticking along in suspense.
4. Wonder (2017)
In Wonder, Roberts plays Isabel Pullman, mother to a facial differences boy who is starting public school. Her performance encapsulates the steadfastness of parenting when faced with adversity balancing advocacy, protection, and letting go.
Her hallway break, when she finally does succumb to tears after maintaining her composure all day, is raw reality. It’s a measure of Roberts’ ability to create vernacular heroism as engaging as any grand cinematic movement.
5. Steel Magnolias (1989)
Prior to superstardom, Roberts earned her first Academy nomination as Shelby, the sparkplug of a young woman with type 1 diabetes. Backed by a power-house cast, she blazes with warmth and idealism even as her decisions result in horrific consequences.
Shelby’s famous line “I’d rather have thirty minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special” still hits hard. Roberts’ mix of strength and fragility here set the stage for the emotional depth she’d bring to future roles.
6. My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)
This is not your average rom-com. Roberts stars as Julianne, the anti-heroine of a woman who plots to ruin her best friend’s wedding when she finds she is in love with him. The enjoyment is seeing her schemes fail, laughably so.
Roberts’ wit and ability to be “a little bad” make Julianne unforgettable. It’s a genre twist she was a part of that shows she can win over audiences even when her character is misbehaving.
7. Closer (2004)
In Mike Nichols’ Closer, Roberts portrays Anna, a photographer entangled in an intricate web of infidelity and emotional betrayals. The sophisticated, unblinking dialogue substitutes melodrama with raw truthfulness, and Roberts is up to it.
A highlight scene in which Clive Owen’s character insists on graphic details of her infidelity from her is equally revealing, going through shame, insolence, and breakage in mere seconds. It’s a performance that demonstrates her to be as unfazed in embarrassment as she is delightful in charm.
8. Ben Is Back (2018)
Roberts translates maternal niceness into plain intensity in Ben Is Back. As Holly Burns, she waits 24 high-wire hours keeping her son fresh out of rehab at arm’s length from relapse and harm. Her performance holds the draining tension between trusting and protecting that comes with loving an addict.
Its strength is the immediacy of the film. Roberts strips away glamour to expose a mother’s desperation in unglamorous tearful moments in corridors and constant watchfulness. It makes us remember that her acting strength most often lies in the slightest, most human movements.
9. Eat Pray Love (2010)
In Eat Pray Love, Roberts drops the shiny rom-com facade to play Liz Gilbert, a woman stepping back from a life that on paper looks perfect but is full of gaps. Her travels through Italy, India, and Bali are not just about landscapes they’re about eating pasta without shame, struggling with meditation, and falling in love on her terms.
This scene appealed to the fans looking for self-discovery narratives. Roberts’ performance of vulnerability and insecurity of Liz made the character accessible to viewers and demonstrated that she could lead a film that’s inwardly change-oriented rather than outwardly spectacle-oriented.
