Eric Roberts is clearing up some rumors about his relationship with sister Julia Roberts. “Julia and I have always been fine,” the Dark Knight actor, 66, explained during a June 1, episode of the “Behind The Velvet Rope With David Yontef” podcast. “I think years and years ago, I was doing a press tour for some movie … it was just when Pretty Woman [had been] released, and so they’re asking a bunch of questions about Julia. And I said, ‘Hey, excuse me. Can we talk about me?’”
The actor noted that he thought his comment was “very funny” but the reporters in attendance of the presser didn’t get his sarcasm. “And of course, then it’s like, ‘Oh, they have a problem.'”
Eric then haphazardly ended up fueling the years following that interview by not giving in to reports about an alleged fallout with the My Best Friend’s Wedding star.
“Suddenly … I keep hearing about [these issues] I have with my sister that I don’t [actually] have with my sister. They’re just popping up all over the place, and I’m asked about them as if they’re real issues,” he explained. “[I’d say,] ‘Oh, I wasn’t aware of that.’ … [It] blew up and blew up and became all these things it wasn’t and [there was gossip that] we don’t agree on a lot of things.”
Despite the speculation on the matter, Eric revealed he and Julia have a typical sibling relationship with its various ups and downs. “My sister and I, though, we’ve always talked, we’ve always bitched. I’ve always had fun, [we’ve always] known each other. Simple as that,” Eric stated.
He continued, “I love knowing my sister. She’s a cool chick, my sister. … She’s doing a lot of stuff and … I don’t ignore it. I just stay out of her hair with the press. That’s all. And she stays out of mine. I mean, honestly, if you’re doing a movie of your own … and the press just wants to talk about any member of your family, it is kind of a little like, ‘Why?’”
Although he’s always possessed a particular affection for his younger sister, he did confession in a Jan. 2018 interview with Vanity Fair that his past substance abuse did negatively affect their relationship.
“I wouldn’t characterize it as a falling-out. I was crazy about my sisters. Loved them, adored them. They were precious to me, and we had times of great closeness,” he told the outlet at the time. “I was exhausting to be around: complainy, blamey, unable to enjoy enjoyment. Everyone in my world needed a break sometimes, and that must have included Julia.”