Emma Roberts Biography
Summary
"Emma Rose Roberts" (born February 10 1991) is an American actress, the daughter of actor Eric Roberts and the niece of actresses Lisa Roberts Gillan and Julia Roberts. Roberts made her acting debut at the age of nine in the film "Blow" and is known for her role as the lead character in the Nickelodeon television series "Unfabulous", as well as for her roles in the films "Aquamarine" and "Nancy Drew".
Roberts is also a pop singer; her debut album, "Unfabulous and More: Emma Roberts", was released in 2005.
Biography
Family
Roberts was born in Rhinebeck, New York to actor Eric Roberts and his then girlfriend Kelly Cunningham.
Emma's half sister, Grace Nickels - the daughter of her mother and former L.A. Guns bassist Kelly Nickels - was born in early 2001. In a 2005 interview, Roberts stated that she is 'definitely closer to her mum and stepdad and she doesn't see her real father much'.
Career
During her childhood, Roberts spent a lot of time on the sets of the films that her aunt Julia Roberts was starring in. These experiences sparked a desire in Roberts, from the age of five, to follow her father and aunts into the film industry. Although her mother initially opposed, wanting her daughter to have a normal childhood, Roberts made her acting debut in Ted Demme's 2001 drama "Blow" — the first movie she ever auditioned for — at the age of nine. In the film she portrayed Kristina Jung, the daughter of Johnny Depp's character, cocaine smuggler George Jung. As the film is rated R, her mother reportedly would not allow Roberts to see it before she turns eighteen. However, director Ted Demme produced a tape for her that featured only the scenes she appeared in.
In 2001, Roberts also had a role in Leif Tilden's 10-minute short "bigLove" (which also starred her future step-father, Kelly Nickels), and was an uncredited extra in one of Julia Roberts' scenes in "America's Sweethearts".
She went on to appear in smaller roles in two family films: in 2002's "Grand Champion", as the sister of the main character Buddy (Jacob Fisher); and in 2003's "Spymate", as the kidnapped daughter of former secret agent Mike Muggins (Chris Potter), who tries to rescue her with the help of a spy monkey. "Grand Champion" had a brief theatrical release in August 2004, while "Spymate" was not released until February 2006, when it was given a theatrical run in Canada, followed by its DVD release in April 2006. In August 2003, Roberts was scheduled to shoot an independent film called "Daisy Winters", starring as the title character, alongside Rachel Weisz. However, the film, which would have been Roberts' first leading role, never began shooting due to financial problems.
Roberts became a teen idol at the age of thirteen, starring as the lead character Addie Singer in the Nickelodeon series "Unfabulous", which debuted in September 2004. While Nickelodeon had wanted to cast her for the role from the beginning, series creator Sue Rose was not convinced of her acting ability until she saw Roberts auditioning for the role, singing a song and playing along on the guitar. The teen sitcom earned Roberts a Teen Choice Award nomination and several Young Artist Award nominations. The series became one of the network's most-watched programs and was quickly recommissioned for a second season.
As her character on "Unfabulous" writes songs and plays guitar, Nickelodeon soon considered a career in music for Roberts as well, following the lead of other actress/pop singers such as Hilary Duff and Lindsay Lohan.
Roberts first contributed the song 'If I Had It My Way' to the soundtrack of Disney's 2005 film "Ice Princess". This was followed by her debut album, "Unfabulous and More: Emma Roberts", which was released on September 27 2005 and is featured as the soundtrack to "Unfabulous". The album was rather unsuccessful: it peaked at #46 on the "Billboard"'s Top Heatseekers, and the two music videos released simultaneous to promote the album, 'I Wanna Be' and 'Dummy', received only little airplay.
In 2006, Roberts returned to the big screen, starring alongside Sara Paxton and singer JoJo in "Aquamarine". The film about two teenagers (played by Roberts and JoJo) who find a mermaid (Paxton) in their swimming pool, earned Roberts a 2007 Young Artist Award for Best Supporting Young Actress in a Feature Film. Roberts also contributed a cover version of Weezer's 2001 single 'Island in the Sun' to the film's soundtrack. Following "Aquamarine", she was scheduled to star in "Camp Couture" (produced by her mother, Kelly Cunningham) and "Bras and Broomsticks" (based on the book of the same name by Sarah Mlynowski), but neither film went into full production.
On May 15 2006 Roberts was featured on MTV's "Punk'd" with pop singer Teddy Geiger. In 2006, Roberts also became a spokesmodel for Dooney & Bourke, and designed her own Dooney & Bourke handbag, named after her.
In early 2006, Roberts finished shooting "Nancy Drew", in which she stars in the title role of teen detective Nancy Drew, released on June 15 2007.
Future films
As of August 2007, Roberts is shooting "Wild Child", about a rebellious teen from Malibu sent to an English boarding school, in London. The film is scheduled to be released on April 4, 2008. Following "Wild Child", Roberts next movie is "Hotel for Dogs", based on the novel by Lois Duncan.
Roberts is also set to be reunited with "Nancy Drew" director Andrew Fleming on both "Rodeo Gal" and a "Nancy Drew" sequel.
Discography
Album
2005:"Unfabulous and More: Emma Roberts"
Single
2005:'Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town' (only available at online music stores.)
Others
2005:'If I Had It My Way' on the soundtrack of "Ice Princess"
2006:'Island in the Sun' on the soundtrack of "Aquamarine"
Awards and nominations
Awards
2007 Young Artist Award - Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actress; for "Aquamarine"
2007 ShoWest Female Star of Tomorrow
Nominations
2005 Teen Choice Award - Choice TV Breakout Performance - Female; for "Unfabulous"
2005 Young Artist Award - Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) - Leading Young Actress; for "Unfabulous"
2005 Young Artist Award - Outstanding Young Performers in a TV Series; for "Unfabulous"
2006 Young Artist Award - Best Young Ensemble Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama); for "Unfabulous"
2007 Young Artist Award - Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) - Leading Young Actress; for "Unfabulous"
2007 Young Artist Award - Best Young Ensemble Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama); for "Unfabulous"
2007 Kids' Choice Award - Favorite TV Actress; for "Unfabulous"
2007 Teen Choice Award - Choice TV Actress: Comedy; for "Unfabulous"
2007 Teen Choice Award - Choice Movie: Breakout Female; for "Nancy Drew"
2007 Teen Choice Award - Choice Movie Actress: Comedy; for "Nancy Drew"
External links
(Official music site) at Columbia Records' homepage
("bigLove") , the 2001 short Roberts appeared in, at iFilm
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Emma Roberts.
