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Emma Roberts, an actress known for being the daughter of actor Eric Roberts and niece of actress Julia Roberts, has established her own career in television and film.

Synopsis

Emma Roberts, born in Rhinebeck, New York, on February 10, 1991, first gained attention as the daughter of actor Eric Roberts and the niece of megastar Julia Roberts. However, she has gradually established her own career as an actress, moving from “tween” fare like Nancy Drew and the Nickelodeon series Unfabulous to more adult screen appearances in Lymelife, It’s Kind of a Funny Story and Scream 4.

Childhood and Family Background

Emma Roberts was born on February 10, 1991, in Rhinebeck, New York, to actor Eric Roberts and his girlfriend Kelly Cunningham. Her parents split when she was less than a year old, and Roberts was raised by her mother and became estranged from her father. However, she remained close to her father's sisters, actress Lisa Roberts Gillan and movie star Julia Roberts. She later recalled that her early love of acting came from time spent on movie sets with "Aunt Julia." When Roberts was only 8 years old, her famous aunt helped to place her in a small, uncredited role in the 2001 romantic comedy America's Sweethearts.

Early Roles

At the age of 10, Roberts began to go on auditions. She was cast as the daughter of Johnny Depp's character in Blow in 2001 and then received small parts in several other films. She attended The Archer School for Girls in Los Angeles for a short time, but she received most of her education through homeschooling and tutoring on movie sets.

From 2004 through 2007 Roberts starred in the Nickelodeon television series Unfabulous, playing Addie Singer, a junior high school student who writes songs about her own life. She also performed on the series’ soundtrack album, Unfabulous and More, released in 2005.

Film Career Takes Off

Around the time of Unfabulous, Roberts was also beginning to receive roles in films geared toward a "tween" audience. In 2006 she appeared in the fantasy-comedy Aquamarine, a story about two friends who discover a mermaid living in a swimming pool. The following year she played the title role of Nancy Drew in a film inspired by the classic detective stories. This performance brought Roberts greater name recognition and parts in other family-friendly films, including Wild Child in 2008 and Hotel for Dogs in 2009.

Meanwhile, Roberts started to make a transition into more serious roles in more adult-oriented films. In 2008 she was featured in Derek Martini's independent film Lymelife. She was especially busy in 2010: She was cast as a self-mutilating teen in the offbeat comedy-drama It's Kind of a Funny Story; she had a central role in the flashy crime thriller 4.3.2.1.; she took part in the ensemble cast of the romance-themed Valentine's Day (which also featured Julia Roberts) and she appeared opposite Chace Crawford in Joel Schumacher's crime film Twelve.

After a brief enrollment at Sarah Lawrence College, Roberts returned to acting full-time. She worked with director Wes Craven in the slasher sequel Scream 4 in 2011, and in 2012 she played fictional pop star Riley Banks in Celeste and Jesse Forever, an independent romantic comedy starring Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg.

Recent TV and Film Work

Emma Roberts might have turned into one of Hollywood's busiest young actresses along the way, as roles in a string of recent films, such as We're the Millers (2013), Adult World (2013) and Palo Alto (2013), paved the way for a seamless transition into TV dramas. Roberts made a huge splash on the third season of the campy horror series American Horror Story (2013), and Scream Queens, another horror show, landed next. And in 2015 alone, she had three films in production: Ashby, February and Nerve.

Personal Life

Roberts is single, and she has been romantically linked with actors such as Zac Efron, Wild Child co-star Alex Pettyfer, Taylor Lautner (another Valentine's Day cast member), Chord Overstreet from the television series Glee, and Evan Peters a co-star from American Horror Story.

In July 2013, it was reported that a 22-year-old Roberts had been arrested on a domestic violence charge in Montreal, Canada, after allegedly fighting with Peters and giving him a bloody nose.