Emma Rose Roberts (born February 10, 1991) is an American teen actress, singer-songwriter, spokesperson, and designer. She is the daughter of actor Eric Roberts and the niece of actress Julia Roberts.Emma Roberts rose to prominence for her lead role as Addie Singer in the Nickelodeon television series Unfabulous, a role for which Roberts garnered various awards and critical acclaim. Following the success of the show in September 2005, she released her debut album, which also served as the show's soundtrack Unfabulous and More. Roberts then pursued a solo singing career by recording two songs for the soundtracks of Ice Princess and Aquamarine (in which Roberts starred as one of the leads). Roberts then began to focus on her acting career, the title character in the 2007 film Nancy Drew, and her voice-over debut in The Flight Before Christmas.
In 2008 and 2009 Roberts began to star in a number of coming-of-age and young adult roles the first being Wild Child, this was followed by Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac and Lymelife. Roberts appeared in the 2009 family film Hotel For Dogs and The Winning Season. As of May 2009, Roberts' upcoming films include the drama/thriller Twelve and the horror film Grimm. Roberts also signed onto star in Rodeo Girl and the Nancy Drew sequel, but both films have recently been put on hold and have not entered production.
Early life:Roberts was born in Rhinebeck, New York, United States. She is the daughter of actor Eric Roberts (who was born in Biloxi, Mississippi but raised in Atlanta, Georgia) and his then-girlfriend Kelly Cunningham. Roberts is the stepdaughter of Eliza Roberts. Roberts has one stepsister and one stepbrother, Morgan Simons and Keaton Simons. She is the niece of actresses Julia Roberts and Lisa Roberts Gillan. Roberts said in an interview, "I've just always wanted to act. Ever since I was really little I've wanted to do it. But my mom didn't want to get me into it too young. So, it's just been something I've always wanted to do."
Music career:In 2005, Roberts had a debut album Unfabulous and More, which helped her garner recognition as both a singer and musician. The album was released on September 27, 2005 through Columbia Records and Nick Records. It also served as the soundtrack to the popular television series, Unfabulous, in which Roberts stars as the leading role. The album peaked at #46 on Billboards Top Heatseekers chart. In September, two promotional singles were released from the album: "I Wanna Be" and "Dummy". The album includes several original songs (among them "Dummy" and "I Wanna Be", both of which were also released as music videos, "I Have Arrived", and "This Is Me", which was co-written by Roberts), as well as some of Addie's songs from the first season, including "Punch Rocker" and "New Shoes" (both from the episode "The Party"), "94 Weeks (Metal Mouth Freak)" (from "The Bar Mitzvah") and "Mexican Wrestler" (which had previously appeared on Jill Sobule's 2000 album Pink Pearl and in the episode "The 66th Day" from Unfabulous). Heather Phares from Allmusic praised her "fresh" and "genuine voice", and also claimed that the album was "filled with, sweet idealistic songs sung by a young girl who sounds like a young girl instead of a pop tart". During the same year, Roberts recorded "If I Had It My Way" for the soundtrack of the 2005 Disney film Ice Princess. In 2006, Roberts covered the song "Island in the Sun", which was originally recorded by Weezer in 2001; she recorded the song for Aquamarines soundtrack, a film here she starred as one of the leads.
Roberts said in a 2007 interview, "Right now I am focusing on movies, I am getting ready to start a new movie this summer so that is taking a lot of my time. I think when I am a little bit older it is definitely something I’d like to pursue." Regarding continuing her music career, she stated, "it seems like everyone records an album now. It doesn’t seem very special anymore." In another interview, she said, "My musical career is indefinitely on hold. I don’t like people who become like ‘actor slash singer.’ I think people should be one or the other because usually you’re not going to be great at both. You’re going to better at one, so you might as well stick to the one you’re good at. I’m going for acting."
Personal life:Roberts has cited actress Anne Hathaway as a role model and has stated Rupert Grint is one of her favorite actors. She stated, "My most prized possession, though, is an autographed picture of Rupert Grint, who plays Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films" Roberts has also stated she is a big fan of Gwyneth Paltrow. "I've Netflixed all of the Gwyneth Paltrow movies. I'm a huge fan of hers. She's kind of my idol at the moment. I really like Kirsten Dunst. She did a lot of cool, fun teen movies, and she's also done some serious roles. I like her style, and I think she seems pretty interesting." She is close friends with her Aquamarine co-star Joanna 'JoJo' Levesque and good friends with fellow Nickelodeon stars Devon Werkheiser and Jamie-Lynn Spears. Some of Roberts favorite books include Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin and the A-List novels. Some of her favorite books are A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris. She also enjoys Chuck Palahniuk books, Invisible Monsters, and said her favorite book is The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.
In her April 2009 Teen Vogue interview Roberts remarked, “I used to have a crush on Nick [Jonas], but he’s kind of making his rounds in Hollywood, and I don’t know if I like that.” Roberts had sparked controversy for saying that, which drew the media attention. Roberts then began to feel bad about the comment so then at the 2009 Kids' Choice Awards Roberts wrote Nick Jonas a hand written apology. The note read: "Nick, I love you. Sorry about the quote" Roberts said that she and her Lymelife co-star Rory Culkin are "good friends", so their on-screen romance "wasn’t really that awkward. We talked about it before and that made it much easier. Rory is really a great guy. I mean, I was definitely nervous. I kind of felt uncomfortable, but at the same time I think it worked for the scene because it is supposed to be our first time, and we are supposed to not know what we are doing.” On January 15, 2009 Roberts appeared on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. She admitted, "I failed my driving test and then my permit expired. And then I failed my permit test when I retook it. I didn’t know you had to stop before going right on red, so I just swung around the corner really quickly.” Roberts has also appeared as part of Teen Vogue’s Best Dressed list multiple times (including June 2007, September 2008, December 2008, February 2009, and March 2009). She said that some of her favorite movies are: Juno and Little Miss Sunshine. Roberts said that some of her musical influences are Michelle Branch, Skye Sweetnam, and The Veronicas.
Education:Roberts attended Archer School for Girls in Brentwood, California from 2004-2005 for 7th and 8th grade. Roberts said in a 2007 interview on her education that: "Oh yes, I have a tutor and we have three hours of school every day. That way I am caught up on my work and then when I am not doing school work I am shooting something or other." Roberts had shown interest in attending two colleges in New York City, Sarah Lawrence College and New York University.
Charities/Endorsements:
In 2006, Roberts became a spokesmodel for Dooney & Bourke, and designed her own Dooney & Bourke handbag, named after her, the "Emma Bag." In February 2009, she was named the brand ambassador for Neutrogena; she will star in print and commercial ads for the company. Roberts said in an interview with JustJaredJr.com on being the face of Neutrogena: "it’s important to me to be associated with Neutrogena because they instill confidence and beauty in young women.” Roberts was a spokesperson for the second annual National "Drop Everything and Read" Day (D.E.A.R Day) on April 12, 2007. Roberts planned to participate in the Children’s Cancer Research Fund’s Kids 4 Kids Run/Walk in Los Angeles. She stated: "I am so honored to be an ambassador for the 4th year in a row, for the CCRF’s Annual Run/Walk. It has become an important tradition for me and I look forward to seeing all the great kids."
