Emma Roberts on Her Career and College
Emma Roberts may share a surname with her superstar aunt Julia and cult actor father Eric, but the 20-year-old star of the coming-of-age drama The Art Of Getting By owes her success to no one. "Nobody encouraged me to get into acting," she says of her career, which already spans more than a decade. "I always wanted to do it. At home everyone would not talk about it, hoping I would forget."
But Emma didn't forget. By the time she was nine, the only thing her mother could think of to shut her up was to take her to an audition. Despite just "goofing around," she got the part, making her acting debut as Johnny Depp's daughter in gritty drug drama Blow. The acting bug bit, fuelled by time spent watching her aunt at work. Nine years later, the pair shared a set for similar-sized roles in ensemble drama Valentine's Day. "That was so cool for me," says Emma, "I never in a million years thought that I would see my name on a poster with her name."
By that point, though, Emma had paid her dues. Three seasons starring in Nickelodeon sitcom "Unfabulous" led to a steady succession of family films but in 2008, the then 17-year-old gambled her clean-cut collateral on dark indie drama Lymelife. "I went to the audition on a whim. I wanted to do something different, something where I played my own age."
Emma at the premiere of I Don't Know How She Does It, September 2011
Since Lymelife, Emma has mixed studio fare like this year's Scream 4 with indie choices like Brit heist flick 4.3.2.1. It's something of a surprise to find her playing a teenager again in The Art Of Getting By, but she insists her character Sally is not your standard schoolgirl role. "Sally's popular and pretty but she's also smart," says Emma. "With a lot of the female roles you see, if a girl is pretty, then she has to be dumb. If she's smart, she's wearing glasses. Those stereotypes are ridiculous." Sally also serves as the object of obsession for young artist George Zinavoy, played by Freddie Highmore.
While Emma plans to continue acting into adulthood, she's decided to put her career on the back burner while she attends college. This fall she became the most famous co-ed at Sarah Lawrence University in New York. "I'm so excited!" she told Us Weekly at the Missoni for Target Pop-Up Store Launch this week. "I've never been to college and I just wanted to get away from everything for awhile and try something new, explore some other stuff." As for her career, "I think I'll just see what happens."
But Emma didn't forget. By the time she was nine, the only thing her mother could think of to shut her up was to take her to an audition. Despite just "goofing around," she got the part, making her acting debut as Johnny Depp's daughter in gritty drug drama Blow. The acting bug bit, fuelled by time spent watching her aunt at work. Nine years later, the pair shared a set for similar-sized roles in ensemble drama Valentine's Day. "That was so cool for me," says Emma, "I never in a million years thought that I would see my name on a poster with her name."
By that point, though, Emma had paid her dues. Three seasons starring in Nickelodeon sitcom "Unfabulous" led to a steady succession of family films but in 2008, the then 17-year-old gambled her clean-cut collateral on dark indie drama Lymelife. "I went to the audition on a whim. I wanted to do something different, something where I played my own age."
Emma at the premiere of I Don't Know How She Does It, September 2011
Since Lymelife, Emma has mixed studio fare like this year's Scream 4 with indie choices like Brit heist flick 4.3.2.1. It's something of a surprise to find her playing a teenager again in The Art Of Getting By, but she insists her character Sally is not your standard schoolgirl role. "Sally's popular and pretty but she's also smart," says Emma. "With a lot of the female roles you see, if a girl is pretty, then she has to be dumb. If she's smart, she's wearing glasses. Those stereotypes are ridiculous." Sally also serves as the object of obsession for young artist George Zinavoy, played by Freddie Highmore.
While Emma plans to continue acting into adulthood, she's decided to put her career on the back burner while she attends college. This fall she became the most famous co-ed at Sarah Lawrence University in New York. "I'm so excited!" she told Us Weekly at the Missoni for Target Pop-Up Store Launch this week. "I've never been to college and I just wanted to get away from everything for awhile and try something new, explore some other stuff." As for her career, "I think I'll just see what happens."