There Will Never Be a "Next Julia Roberts": Debunking Hollywood's Favorite Fruitless Comparison

"I think it's a positive thing because she's a really great actress, but yeah, sometimes it can be a little annoying," Emma Roberts, who surely knew going in that she would end up compared to her famous aunt at some point (or lots), admitted in 2008.

To be sure, it probably doesn't always feel awesome to turn in a great, crowd-pleasing performance and then be rewarded with the question of whether you're, at best, just like somebody else. But generally no disrespect was meant to the many, many ladies—from Sandra Bullock, whose breakout role came just a few years after Roberts', to Jennifer Garner, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Stone and the star's own niece—who've been subject to the comparison over the years.

Rather, the frequency with which that phrase has been used says much more about the woman whose name apparently connotes the ultimate in cinematic appeal.

"She's like Julia Roberts," The Last Song director Julie Ann Robinson told E! News in 2010, referring to her film's star, Miley Cyrus. "I feel Miley can do anything—action, comedy, drama. She's got it all."

"When I was younger, someone once told me, 'You kind of look like Julia Roberts in profile,'" Meghan Markle, who counted Roberts among her biggest inspirations as an actor, told Glamour in 2017. "It was the best compliment of all time."

Lamenting the decrease in Roberts' screen time in the '00s after Ocean's Eleven, when she married Danny Moder and had her three children, various producers talked to the New York Times in 2009 about the Julia Roberts-shaped hole in the Hollywood landscape and whether any actress was capable of filling it.

"Nobody has stepped into the vacuum...Right now, people are desperate for the heir apparent to be Katherine Heigl," one producer said.

That didn't turn out quite as those people intended, but the point was that Hollywood was positively cheering Roberts' return to a big leading role that year in Duplicity.

"Julia has a unique ability to be steely, but winsome and lovable all at the same time," Universal production president Donna Langley told the Times.

Emphasis on "unique," but the qualities that insiders would espouse as being specific to Roberts never stopped anyone from seeking those qualities out in others—and then speculating on whether those women could match or even exceed Roberts' appeal.

"Why is there plenty of room for guys in this business and they don't pit them up against each other? It's so stupid," Bullock remarked in 1996. "There's room for everybody. I think Julia and I should do a film where we make fun of this whole thing, like we're not even the leads. They just have an outtake of like a movie premiere where we get into a huge fight or something. That would be hysterical."

In 2003, Roberts recalled to Oprah Winfrey being the subject of an article called "The Next Julia Roberts" that was actually funny—"because in his story, I am the next Julia Roberts."

Funny how that did not put an end to the conversation, though.

contd

Amy Adams was the "next Julia Roberts" du jour in 2007 after the success of Enchanted, and the baton was passed to Emma Stone in 2011 after she impressed in Easy A and The Help.

The minute Anne Hathaway flashed her own mega-watt smile...well, what do you think happened? Garry Marshall, who directed Roberts in several films, including Pretty Woman and Runaway Bride, called the Princess Diaries star "a combination of Julia Roberts, Audrey Hepburn and Judy Garland."

Meanwhile, Roberts isn't the only person whose very name represents hope for a second coming, but the people who get that treatment are usually a rarefied bunch. The "next Michael Jordan." "The next Lucille Ball." "The next Barack Obama."

Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, etc.—all came of age on the court in that "next M.J." shadow. Lauren Holly, Debra Messing, Ellie Kemper and Sofia Vergara are among the many who've been mentioned in the hallowed "next Lucy" conversation that pops up every so often. And, well...the search continues for the "next Obama."

So, as you can see, sometimes it does take awhile to arrive at a theoretically obvious conclusion, so enticing is the idea that lightning will strike twice in the same arena.

The careers of Bullock, Stone, Hathaway, et al. certainly don't seem to have suffered from initial comparisons to Roberts, while having a bunch of starlets knocking at her door never seemed to hurt Roberts' career, either. But having learned when she was barely 21 just how dicey the fame-and-success game really is, the veteran star feels for those who have come up in her wake.

But as EW.com pointed out in 2000, comparisons to Ball never helped anybody, considering how utterly inimitable she was. And in 2010, Bleacher Report published "Kevin Durant Will Be the Next Michael Jordan" one week and, one week later, "Why Kevin Durant Is Not the Next Michael Jordan."

And then, in 2017, "Why There Isn't a Next Michael Jordan Anymore."

contd

"I was lucky that I made a few movies in a row that people really responded to—not me particularly but the films as a whole were appreciated," Roberts told Vanity Fair in 2012. "Then you have a couple that aren't what you think they're going to be, and that's O.K. You can keep going. People can keep hiring you. But that doesn't happen now, and it's a pity because it is a way to develop yourself and figure out what kind of actor you are."

Meanwhile, even the Julia Roberts has known what it's like to be heralded as the "next" person-who-came-before, having fetched her own share of Audrey Hepburn comparisons. (Hepburn, a fan, asked Roberts to accept her SAG Life Achievement Award on her behalf in 1993 when the Breakfast at Tiffany's star, who died that January, was too ill to attend.)

Though there was only one Audrey, Roberts has proved to be similarly timeless. Her influence on Hollywood is secure, as is her status as one of the all-time great contemporary movie stars. She can't help but continue to be a really big deal, while at the same time she's aware of how subjective and arbitrary being a really big deal actually is.

So though she frequently champions the ambitions of her fellow actresses, she is doing her best to keep them from following in at least one pair of her footsteps, made by what has always sounded like her least favorite pair of shoes.

"How many are there of us?" Roberts asked with mock seriousness when MTV News' Josh Horowitz inquired in 2013 about a new addition to the "America's Sweetheart" club that the actress has unwittingly been president of for the better part of 30 years.

"I was going to ask you that, because the newest inductee is obviously Jennifer Lawrence, which is great, congratulations," Horowitz responded, fairly tongue-in-cheek as well.

"She shoots flaming arrows," Roberts pointed out with skepticism. "Like, this is a new cupid tactic?"

Asked if that meant she was hesitant to admit J.Law, the actress said, "But you know, my [membership] card has expired and I didn't get a new one, so perhaps..."

"That was a clerical error," Horowitz assured her.

"I mean, I think she's fabulous," Roberts said. "But she doesn't seem, um... She seems cooler than me."

But that's just wishful thinking.

This is a joke, right? I mean, we’re talking Julia Roberts!

[quote] It's meant as a compliment

It shouldn't be...

And even she's doing streaming series now. She might still be A-list, but that's been the great equalizer.

This article is from October 2019 but has already aged like milk.

Calling out Jennifer Lawrence as a potential successor to the throne? Oh gurl, NO. Just no.

Roberts need never lift a finger again, but if she wants to remain relevant, she should choose her streaming projects carefully.

Yes, no one will ever be able to play a whore quite like her.

A lot of actresses seem 'cutesy' with 'small' energy these days. It does seem strange they can't find someone with a certain ability to emanate some steel and power as well as glamour like Roberts, Joan Crawford, Hepburn et al.

[...]

Were you born in 2005, dearie , r10?

Sandra Bullock has had a career comparable to Roberts. Not quite as long, but with higher peaks.

You know why? Because Julia herself will never allow it. She sabotages anyone’s career who gets close to maintain that air of exclusivity about herself. Until she’s dead and buried there won’t a replacement.

"How many are there of us?" - Gurrrrrl. Bitch was not having any of it. Like a true star she quickly shoved aside some little cunt trying to take her titles.

R12 Bullock just didn't inspire the same levels of aspiration and envy in women. Sandy, like Doris Day, was non-threatening milquetoast. Boyfriends didn't want to fuck Sandra Bullock like they did Roberts.

Bullock is the only actress since Roberts’s breakout that has matched that trifecta of quirky beauty/screen presence/box office power. I remember the critics gushing like mad over Sandra’s performances in Speed and While You Were Sleeping, and it’s been a roller coaster ride on the A list for her ever since, with six of her ten theatrically-released movies since 2009 alone garnering over $2 billion at the worldwide box office (not including the record breaking success of Bird Box on Netflix).

I’ve been a Sandra fan since the early ‘90s. She was great (and at her sexiest) in the indie 1992 flick When The Party’s Over.

Julia has never publicly acknowledged Sandra nor has she ever taken a picture with her. She knows Sandy is her equal, more popular, and the only one who can possibly replace her.

^I’ve always found that odd as well. These two iconic A-list actresses, who run in the same circles and have worked with a lot of the same people in the industry over the years, have never so much as even photo-op’d on the red carpet. Can you imagine the press if they ever did do a movie together?

I do remember a magazine interview that Julia did around the time of My Best Friend’s Wedding where the interviewer mentioned Sandra to her and she said something along the lines of “I’ve never met her, but I’m sure she’s been working a lot longer than I have.”

^ She also said it would be "unfair to comment" because she'd never seen a Sandra Bullock movie. Meow bitch.. She's "I don't know her"ed on several occasions.

The "Movie Star" financial model is dead, actors' names weren't what was putting butts in the seats before the pandemic hit and the seats went away. What does put butts in the seats is franchises or corporate brands like Disney, and its subsidaries Pixar and Marvel, people don't want to see the latest Matt Damon film, they want to see the new Disney or Marvel movie.

IMHO if there's ever an actor that bucks the trend and becomes a reliable draw, it'll be a comic actor who carries a comic persona and reliable laughs from film to film.

[quote]She also said it would be "unfair to comment" because she'd never seen a Sandra Bullock movie. Meow bitch.. She's "I don't know her"ed on several occasions.

I remember that too. Translation: I’m quaking because this Bullock bitch is hot on my heels.

Julia has the ability to speak perfect bitch with a smile on her face like what she's just said is drenched in compliments and kindness.

It's funny that during the 2013 award season everyone was greatly anticipating a Julia/Sandra picture and it never happened. They were at so many of the same events, and yet no picture together. Sandra should've run over during the famous Oscar selfie and planted a kiss right on Julia as Bradley Cooper took the pic.

I think Sandra did mention Julia at a speech she gave that year, something about them having to share custody of Clooney.

Emma Stone is the contemporary Roberts.

Sandra Bullock speaks of her graciously, it's Julia who will never reciprocate.

^That's too bad. The press a movie co-starring both of them would generate would be epic. Can you imagine the online stan-wars?

[...]

I'm not the biggest fan of Sandra's movies (or Julia's for that matter), but Sandra displays actual wit and warmth, particularly in interviews/public appearances. I never trust either aspect of Julia--she can "play" funny and/or warm but I never completely believe it.

Julia has skills but I'm not sure she has actually has a sense of humor.

Julia has not had a hit movie in years. She’s in her 50’s and is not top of anything anymore.

Datalounge speaking highly of Sandra who was married to far right Nazi for years is par for the course.

r31 Her last mainstream movie Wonder grossed more than 300 million. Keep up, toots.

R31 Wonder was a huge hit. And it seems she's concentrated more on smaller films in her later years.

Sandra B fan all the way

[...]

Agree about Sandra. While I don't know if she was ever bigger than Julia, I think she has been more consistent. And she's been able to transition into the streaming era (with Bird Box) more effectively. Plus, unlike Julia, she still prefers to be the star/lead of her films, whereas Julia is often part of a big ensemble or seems to care more about character parts than leading roles.

Sandra's last two films, Ocean's Eight and Bird Box proved she can still lead a film and draw audiences at both theatres and streaming.

Her likability is a huge part of that. Even a film like The Blind Side which is criticized for the white savior aspect would probably be more criticized if it DIDN'T star Sandra Bullock. I think it doesn't get as much vitriol is because people like Sandra and feel they may be attacking her if they attack the film. Also, how she was treated by Jesse James seems to have endeared her more to people. She's more relatable than Julia "A Low Vera" Roberts.

She was supporting in Wonder. She’s not bankable as a lead anymore.

The two bitches missed their chance to do a remake of The Turning Point,

She nailed raging bitch tits Brockovich

Julia’s al about scorched earth.

Angry Screaming Tits in the Searing Desert 🌵 Sun ☀️

Julia's new show, co-starring Sean Penn, is going to Starz. STARZ. I mean, that's a little embarrassing for both of them. WTF happened to Penn's career?

Don’t they have to be a cunt, to be like Julia?

Have you seen Sean Penn lately? He’s lucky he’s getting that gig. He looks like a guy that runs a pawnshop.

Karma, baby.

Not everyone is a Julia fan, but people in the biz have been standing in line to hate Sean Penn for decades now.

He's a better actor than Julia, but a far bigger asshole.

These 2 are going to eat each other alive

Julia & Sandra should remake “Baby Jane”

"Academy Award Winner" shouldn't be a phrase we associate with Roberts. It SHOULD'VE been "Two-Time Academy Award Winner ELLEN BURSTYN".

And I've always liked Bullock, but I'm not sure that phrase belongs in front of her name, either.

We don't need another Julia. One is more than enough.

R47 positively delicious. You just know who would never take the crippled role.

I didn't realize that this position in the Hollywood hierarchy - America's Sweetheart - was specific to Julia, though she did hold the title for a long time. Many have held it before (Debbie Reynolds comes to mind) and after Julia it went to Sandy, then Reese, then they tried it with Jennifer Lawrence and now seems to be an outdated and sexist idea.

Young and vibrant DL fave CZJ made a movie about it, when she was in her early thirties. Julia had a much less impactful role in the same picture. Ah, the 90s and the 00s....when Billy Crystal could be cast as a leading man. They must have been on some great drugs.

^Crystal wrote that script and actually wanted Roberts to play the movie star but she refused to do it again after Notting Hill so he rewrote it for her to play the sister who gets the guy. It was a hit but most of the audiences wanted Julia to play the movie star.

R51 - she was America's Sweetheart from Pretty Woman to at least Erin Brockovich/Ocean's movies. What part of over a decade is not a long time?

What was Meg Ryan? Another America's Sweetheart?

R51 I thought CZJ was Wales Sweetheart?

Anne Hathaway is the new Julia.

Young and vibrant DL fave CZJ made a movie about it, when she was in her early thirties. Julia had a much less impactful role in the same picture.

That movie was stupid because Julia was trying to play the plain best friend when she looked just as good if not better than Zeta Jones.

Julia is much more famous than Sandra overseas.

[quote]Julia & Sandra should remake “Baby Jane”

Outrageous Fortune.

The Old Maid.

Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte.

I'd love to see Juya and Sandy in a Death Becomes Her or Drop Dead Gorgeous-type black comedy about aging rivals.

Julia was meh in Ben is Back and Homecoming. She is still overpaid but no one jumps for joy with her dreary performances. She and Sandra are completely average, and lucked out.

I am by no means a Julia Roberts fan, but I do think she has more acting ability than many of the women discussed in this thread—admittedly, the competition is not stiff.

Her Erin Brockovich is better than many of the performances that won Oscars for the it girls of the moment, and the Academy never pushed her as hard as they did that hack Jennifer Lawrence (an undeserved win at 22 and 4 nominations by 25).

R54 Meg was the one who was America's Sweetheart very briefly until the Julia Roberts Mack truck ran her over through no fault of her own. Pretty Woman just became an international sensation. She was still well liked until she cheated on her husband who coincidentally Julia may have had herself.

Miss Roberts is just used to being the Queen Bitch. She's not about to share it with anyone.

I think JLaw was have remained a big star is she didn't have to spend most of the her time wiping the cum off her face.

R12 not true. No one ever payed Bullock 25 million before a camera has even been rented. Sandra has always benefited greatly from taking the scraps other actresses turn down and then getting lucky. Most of her romantic comedies and Blind Side Julia turned down and Gravity she only got because the studio wouldn't give Angelina the 20 million she wanted. Same reason she got The Proposal and The Blind Side to begin with because she was willing to take less. Julia had no interest in Blind Side because she thought it was the same character as EB which it was. Just the Disney version. And The Proposal she didn't wanna do but would of done it for 20. Bullock has always been there to scab on other actresses passes or mistakes (Angelina shoulda taken the Sandra deal--less money and backend) although the movie on paper had to look hideous. The script was terrible. The production values were first rate however. Sandra seems quite real and down to earth but she is a very sneaky opportunist don't kid yourself.

r66 You are spot on.

This really all started with Mary Pickford.

This entire thread seems like satire. Julia Roberts isn’t even the next Julia Roberts.

Illuminate us then with the vast array of female movie stars who have a comparable career to Julia Roberts in the last 50 years? Let me guess you think Julia Roberts is the next Kim Kardashian?

R68 just you try and convince Julia Roberts.

Things really took a turn when she played Harriet Tubman.

R72 wouldn't you be curious to see the reaction when it was presented to her?

Julia's highest salaries - $25 million Mona Lisa Smile, $20 million Erin Brockovich, $17 million Runaway Bride, $15 million Notting Hill, $12.5 million My Best Friend's Wedding, $10 million Eat Pray Love/Pelican Brief. Hon, neither Hepburn ever did that.

We didn't want the first one. The only reason we put up with her in [italic]Steel Magnolias[/italic] is because she died at the end.

Why so much hate? The gays love their movie stars to be brassy bitches with attitude.

I'll take Sandy every day. I don't care if Julia made more at her peak. (And Sandy's a close second in that respect anyway.) And while they both made mostly fluff, but I like Sandy's fluff better. She's so much more likable.

And she has the best guilty pleasure movies ever: While You Were Sleeping, The Net, Two Weeks Notice, Practical Magic, A Time To Kill, Hope Floats. I can watch all of those films over and over. And I have...

Sandra has huge box office draw. The Blind Side was the first film in history to pass the $200 million mark with only one top-billed female star. Just one of her movies alone in the past decade made over a billion worldwide (Minions) and another came close (Gravity).

I'm not the next anyone but I AM AMERICA'S SWEATHEART. No one fills the screen with snot and sweat like me.

I like Julia the same way many elder gays love the stars from the old studio system. She’s a bitch, like Joan Crawford, but it works for me. She was also so pretty and still looks good as an aging beauty. Others won’t like her but I tend to watch Julia’s movies. I’m a 90s baby so I’ve only know Julia Robert’s as a big deal actress. My mom loved her movies so it feels familiar when I see Julia on screen.

Speed was one of my favorite movies growing up so Sandra also has a warm place in my heart. I don’t get what the fuck was up with her ex and the adopted black baby she adopted soon after the divorce and Nazi paraphernalia. Was he a PR baby? I still like her on screen as well as Reese Witherspoon and Anne Hathaway (gasp). I haven’t found a contemporary actor worth that type of loyalty.

If you really look at her career, she really was not consistently popular. Pretty Woman launched her. Flatliners did OK and Sleeping with the Enemy was a big hit but then Dying Young bombed. Her next hit was Pelican Brief in 93 but then flops until 1997's My Best Friend's Wedding. She had her romance movie resurgence for a few years but Erin Brockovich in 2000 was really the end of her popularity

Are you mental, R15? Sandra Bullock is eminently more fuckable than Julia Roberts, whether in 1994 or 2021. Don't get carried away with her publicist's hype.

This is not the scandal the article at OP makes it out to be.

Before Meryl and Julia became Meryl and Julia, they - and most other actresses of their era - were constantly compared to other veteran actresses.

The only actress of the last 40-50 years who hasn't, quite frankly, is Whoopi Goldberg, and that's because there's no earlier comparison to make.

Where was Julia’s Crash? Where?

[...]

I'm still waiting for the next Sandra Dee.

R85 Alfonso Curon that's who.

[...]

Angelina Jolie gets pumped up because of her brash personality, her looks, the Bragelina bullshit, her gaggle of kids and the fact that her father is Jon Voight. Talented Oscar winner that she is, she has never been on a par with Sandra Bullock in terms of sheer star power and box office cache alone.

[...]

[...]

Jolie is such a non-starter in film. I remember watching her steal GIRL INTERRUPTED from Winona Ryder and then the GIA movie--back 20-21 years ago. She was exciting to watch, and I wondered what she would do next.

Little did I know that she would peak with TOMB RAIDER. Sigh.

Talk about being famous for being famous.

Bullock seemed like a dull but nice person, but was married to Jesse James, who collected Nazi regalia. Like Dita Von Teese, who was married to Marilyn Manson, who I judge to be a Bad Person from Day 1.

Bullock always seemed like a Julia Roberts knockoff or the poor man's JR.

Bullock also seems really boring in her roles, like she should be on Lifetime or Hallmark.

However, Bullock now looks better than Roberts, IMO.

Sandra's comic timing could be seen in the woefully underrated LOVE POTION NO. 9, which she starred in pre-A-List fame with her then-boyfriend Tate Donovan. She and Tate shined in their roles as nerds-turned-social butterflies due to the titular potion.

Boyfriend? Isn't Sandy lez? I find her extremely likable but get nothing from her in the form of estrogen.

DL has me yearning for a trashtastic Baby Jane remake with America's favorite actresses in drag down all out bitch fest.

I hope it’s a gruesome psychological horror movie 🍿

R96, I think most of us in the 35-50 age range would LOVE a Sandra v Julia remake of Baby Jane.

Obviously, Julia Roberts would play the Baby Jane / Bette Davis part.

Yes, R95, Sandy and Tate were an item back then.

Sandra B. went to high school with some of my friends in Arlington Va. She was the nicest person, I’ve never heard a bad thing about her. A lot of stars went to Washington Lee HS—Warren Beatty, Shirley MacLean, Geena Rowlands.

Why the redheads? Roberts is a brunette.

I've always liked them both. Fun and entertaining movies and both good in most things.

Bullock and the others mentioned might be better actors, but Roberts at her peak was beautiful and unique looking. Think of how she looked in Sleeping With the Enemy of Mystic Pizza, with those big eyes and huge sexy smile. Who cares if she wasn’t the best at acting?

That said, she doesn’t seem like a nice person and as her looks have faded, she’s become more brittle. I remember the Low Vera shirt, lol.

My point is that Bullock, Adams, Lawrence, Stone, Hathaway - none have the radiant beauty Roberts did when she first made it big.

When Julia first made it big, she was exciting to watch. She was so radiant in Satisfaction (which she stole from the film's star, the dull Justine Bateman), Mystic Pizza, Steel Magnolias, Pretty Woman and Sleeping with the Enemy. The gorgeous hair, the lips, she had so much charisma. Then her career started to flounder with the Kiefer Sutherland/Jason Patric scandal and Dying Young and Hook were not as good as her previous films.

But from 1988 to 1991, watching Julia become a star was something to behold. You really don't see that anymore.

[quote]Sleeping With the Enemy of Mystic Pizza

Saucy.

More than any actress, Youtuber Brooke Bush, who so excellently pimps out her gorgeous brother Clayton, reminds me of Julia.

Her filmography is full of shit. Lots of nostalgic fraus here.

^ I agree. My intro to Julia Roberts was PRETTY WOMAN, a dreadful and sexist movie that I despised (for reasons beyond her performance; I realize I'm in the minority, though). Almost no project she's headlined since has ever impressed me.

If you follow film history--movie stars are remembered for great work in great films. Not outstanding turns in mediocre films that don't stand up over time. Lots of once-popular actors fall by the wayside.

How many truly great films can Julia Roberts claim?

I hate Pretty Woman and all of her howling and fake down to earth shtick in it, but she was beautiful. I could never suspend disbelief to think being a street walker is a cute profession and that some cold soulless asshole will save you with money. She looked like a healthy middle class suburban girl, so what was she doing out on the streets giving blowjobs? Such an idiotic movie.

[quote]Datalounge speaking highly of Sandra who was married to far right Nazi for years is par for the course.

Because you gotta blame the women around the men who do bad things as much (or more!) than the men themselves, I guess.

Many here were convinced James was just a beard and they probably didn't have a lot to do with each others' lives. James was trouble from the beginning and the general consensus was that Sandra had chosen her beard poorly, especially when he got arrested for some motorcycle scam a couple years after they were married. When it came out that he was fucking a bunch of women on the side, Sandy dumped him, and he tried really hard to NOT get dumped, but he was too much baggage by that point.

The Nazi pictures came out after the cheating revelations, and they were taken before he married Sandy, so why would we blame her?

[quote] First of all, purely semantically, it's impossible. Unless there's another person named Julia Roberts who is standing in line behind the one we all know, there's no next one.

Ah, celebrity journalism.

[quote]She and Tate shined in their roles as nerds-turned-social butterflies due to the titular potion.

Oh, dear.

Wasn't Sandra Bullock seen crying at the Oscars one time and people thought it was because Julia was rude to her?

[quote]First of all, purely semantically, it's impossible. Unless there's another person named Julia Roberts who is standing in line behind the one we all know, there's no next one.

It was never meant literally. Obviously meant figuratively unless you have a hard time reading things non-literally.

Julia Roberts beautiful? Maybe to some Americans who consider large mouth, gummy smile, and horsey teeth beautiful, but even at her peak looks years she wasn’t ever the beauty standard for Hollywood movie stars in other parts of the world.

In Asia where Hollywood has been increasingly banking on for box office in the past couple of decades, its Bullock who’s considered the prettier and more popular. Bullock’s movies also had wider appeal, not just to women. Guys didn’t have to be reluctantly convinced to go watch The Heat as they would with Runaway Bride. Bullock’s screen persona gives off more of a guy- friendly vibe. Even in her turn as romantic lead to the ungodly beautiful Keanu Reeves, she was more pretty gurl next door, even a bit tomboyish than the next screen goddess.

Bullock also fared better in buddy comedies, she never overwhelms the other costars to make these comedies work. and It’s not about lack of screen presence either. Many of these movies fail because one actor refuses to relinquish his/ her star turn.

Sandra was a fan favorite of little girls during her peak. I had to take my then 10 yr old daughter and friends every SB movie that came out in the late 90s...never once did they ask me to take them seeRoberts in anything

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

I vaguely recall Pauline Kael's dismissive review of PRETTY WOMAN. Kael described Roberts and fellow streetwalker Laura San Giacomo as "giddy graduate students" (or something similar) rather than believable whores.

Why do people think that Sandra Bullock is a lez? Because she’s never given birth? Because she doesn’t parade her relationships around like some desperate attention-whoring slag? I’ve never heard of her being even remotely involved with any other woman romantically.

I thought SB molested an underaged Ryan Gosling?

Julia Roberts also became involved with her husband when he was still married, yet she got none of the hate from fans calling her home wrecker that Angelina Jolie did. She benefited from her cunty behavior being hidden until stories came out when her career was downtrending.

I did think JLAW was going to be the next JRoberts but she picked a couple of duds after American Hustle.

Maybe dating Aronofsky got her too dark. She wasn't playing much of the sweetheart. Mother was disaster.

Joy and Serena - flops, she couldn't open a picture anymore.

r122, she did get a bit of flack about Danny Moder. But he wasn't married to TV's sweetheart as Brad was.

Julia Roberts was great in the late 80s/90s and 2000s, she was great. She just doesn't translate well now to the mother role or something of more substance that an older woman actress has to portray.

J. Lawrence was the next Renée Zellweger. Both captured on film/photos cozying up with Weinstein.

Bullock has had a better career in terms of diverse fanbase and relevant longevity. Bullock’s fans go see her movies because off camera she comes off as genuine, a bit goofy, something that Roberts never had.

IMO, Roberts had the goofy factor (the laugh, etc.). I can see Asian markets preferring Bullock to Roberts. Bullock is probably more conventionally pretty. Roberts is not really corn-fed, but maybe attractive in an American way with the teeth, loud laugh, etc.

Many people in the Asian film markets are always perplexed when Americans say Julia Roberts is pretty. When Pretty Woman came out, people were confused ‘you mean the woman with the large mouth and teeth is the pretty woman?’

From the article I’d linked in R126 “ However, Bullock’s star shined brightest decades after Demolition Man, Speed and While You Were Sleeping, even amid mega-budget fantasy franchises becoming the dominant blockbuster of choice. Considering her reputation, fan loyalty, commercial consistency and deep bench of multi-generational favorites during deeply inconsistent Hollywood eras, we may have to include Bullock in the same rarified category alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.”

Bullock’s movies appeal to more people, and it’s amplified by her likability. Roberts, not so much, she’s more of a star that people may admire but not like or love.

You bitches forget just how many times People Magazine has put me on their prime annual cover and crowned my beauty.

[...]

[quote]Young and vibrant DL fave CZJ made a movie about it, when she was in her early thirties.

Excuse me, but I am STILL in my early thirties!

[quote]Things really took a turn when she played Harriet Tubman.

But it was Lena Dunham as Mammy that got all the best notices.

R129 all I see are her horsey chompers. She was a prettier Sarah Jessica Parker; same narrow forehead and gummy smile but with ginormous horsey teeth.

Julia is almost the spitting image of her brother Eric. They even have some of the same acting tics. Sometimes when I’m watching Julia onscreen, it’s like I’m seeing Eric in a dress, and vice versa.

Where do the lesbian rumors about Sandra come from? She’s never been linked to an actual woman and she doesn’t particularly ping to me as a lesbian. I’ve always seen her as straight but a guy’s gal, like the Mary character in There’s Something About Mary.

R135, meet R120.

^ OK, and? That doesn't answer either of our questions.

Lesbians want her to be one of them. It’s the same as how gay guys think that all hot male movie stars are secretly gay.

[quote]It’s the same as how gay guys think that all hot male movie stars are secretly gay.

Because many of them are lol!

I'll attempt to explain lesbian rumors. (No, Bullock doesn't ping to me, but just conjecturing why rumors exist.)

She seems like a frau. However, a straight frau would definitely want to get married, get pregnant, and have a baby. Instead, she gets married to the very busted Jessie James (ugh!) and never gets pregnant. Superfrau Jennifer Garner lives in the L.A. area. Bullock lives or used to live in Austin, TX. An ambitious, straight frau actress would live in the L.A. area.

She also seems kind of private, hence, she's "hiding" that she's a lesbian.

I like Sandra a lot. But I do not find her in the rarified air of the top female movie stars of all time. Julia Roberts is revered like she is is because before her the female movie star ceased to exist for decades and then Hollywood found this actress that every girl wanted to be namely fraus. Julia is beloved by the fraus. They can't relate to her in any way but she fills that representation for their ideology. Every actor she works with respects her despite her "difficult" ways looks at her as a great star. Even that gorgeous guy from Homecoming said when he met her he said "wow that's Julia Roberts". She has the aura about her that while I do feel it from Sandra a bit she doesn't quite have the cuntitude of the old movie stars of the past. Roberts is head to toe movie star all the way.

IMO, she was terrible in Erin Brockovich.

Ellen Burstyn should've won the Oscar that year for Requiem For A Dream. That was a heartbreaking, brilliant performance. The kind of performance that stays with you for a long time afterwards.

Her bestie Brad has said "you do not wanna cross Julia". Interesting choice of words.

R98 Yaaaaas kweeens.

Julia is not beloveds She has been in the down slope for years. In show business she is known as a cunt.

A gay Gen Xer's dream R98. Stop!

R114 that rumor began because Cate Blanchett and Julia were seen gossiping and drinking together at the the bar before Cate won her BJ Oscar and said something about Sandra's Gravity performance seeming like it went on forever and then telling Julia to "suck it". But it was about a completely different thing. She said it because Woody Allen first offered Blue Jasmine to Julia who turned it down.

Julia Roberts changed film.

My mom does not keep up with pop culture and has never kept up with names of actors and actresses but she knows who Julia Roberts is. So I will give it to Julia for that.

R148 Cate got an Oscar for giving a blow job?

[...]

I've always found Sandra much more likable. I'd rather hang out with her. I feel like Julia Roberts was telling us who she really was in My Best Friend's Wedding. A scheming, conniving woman behind all the big hair and flashy smiles. I think that's her best work, but I also remember being so surprised by how good she was in August: Osage County especially in her scenes with Meryl who was chewing up so much scenery that it couldn't have been easy to give a performance that real and grounded.

That said, they're both two of the last true movie stars. People really did go see their films simply because they were in them. You don't see that much anymore.

My darlings, none of the above matters in the least. It doesn't matter you what YOU think; it doesn't matter what I think either. Julia Roberts is the last of the movie stars. It was preordained. End of subject.

[quote] I've always found Sandra much more likable. I'd rather hang out with her.

I never understood feeling this way. I realize that in marketing, they want people to feel this way: "I could have a beer with him!" But, come on, there's no way in hell Sandra (or "Sandy" as some posters have called her) Bullock would be hanging out with anybody posting on DL.

I hung out with Rupert! He's an honorary DLer!

R152 I'm pretty sure he offered it to Roberts first. Fun fact: Cate was supposed to play the part Julia played in Closer but got pregnant.

R156 she's dropped Everett very much like Madonna for talking out of school. He closest gay ally is now Ryan Murphy who loves her like an eldergay.

Julia is no longer a movie star so how could she be the last one? That makes no sense. The world has moved on from Eat, Pray, Love.

True. She's nowhere near the film star Kylie Jenner is.

Back to romantic comedy

I don't want a new Julia Roberts. I never even had any use for the one we were stuck with.

If they hadn't been smart enough to photoshop Julia's head on Shelley Michelle's body she never habe become a star to begin with.

I love the boots

Who will be the next Dorothy Dandridge. That is the mafuckin question. Racist.

R46 they're actually friends so I don't expect that kind of drama and I think they've even fucked in the past. She took part in his Fast Times table read too

A new romantic comedy with people on their 50’s? Pass.

[quote]A new romantic comedy with people on their 50’s? Pass.

Pretty Dry Pussy

I Love Viagra

Mona Lisa Menopause

Dying Not So Young

Sleeping With Sleep Apnea

Notting Hill Makes My Knees Ache

[quote] A new romantic comedy with people on their 50’s? Pass.

Would you watch a new romantic comedy with people in their 20s or 30s?

George Clooney is 60

I am available to play their daughter. Thanks

I love you, R167

MY BEST FRIEND'S ROTTING

CYSTIC PIZZA

OCEAN'S ELEVEN, DINNER'S AT FIVE

SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT (BESIDES THE DIABETES)

FLATLINERS

Funny r171!

I've got nothing against Roberts with one big exception: "August: Osage County".

I hated Streep's performance, too. I can't remember a more miserable experience at the cinema than when I made the mistake of deciding to see that POS.

I hated everything about, and, Chris Cooper excepted, everybody in the cast of that film.

"August: Osage County" tried so hard to not be pretentious that it was the most pretentious thing ever.

Kathy Bates should've played Meryl's role in that movie. She would've been perfect.

I think the difference is that her private life was tabloid fodder x 100. She left Kiefer at the altar to fly to Ireland with his best friend? If Emma Stone did that, who would care?

Pertinent

^OMG!! 😂😂😂😂

What's the backstory on the heroin thing people always mention here?

R178 she had an issue with around the Hook-Jason Patric time. Isn't she still America's favorite actress. My sister and her frau friends think she's the greatest thing ever..

she's respected

The heroin period came right at the time she worked with Steven Spielberg who vowed to never work with her again. Strange in that Steven has been able to get people cancelled before but she was at the height of her Pretty Woman worldwide fame at the time. And she is still very close with many people Spielberg is friends with. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson make no secret of being extremely close with her Tom Hanks is one of her closest Hollywood pals. Julia's even mentioned that Tom is a great gossip buddy.

R171 can we date?

Can't believe that bland white women run Hollywood.

Sandra and Julia working together is in Julia's court because I think Sandra would be all for it. She has only ever said kind words about Julia but Roberts just refuses to acknowledge her.

r183 race troll

Hun, our Julia is anything but bland. Bitch has been drama since she first got on her knees and sucked Liam Neeson's huge dick.

There was an ancient blind item that said that Julia had fertility issues because of the after effects of a STD she got from Liam. The blind also claimed that it allegedly was the result of their love of anal.

Julia is a wild child. She seemed to be quite sweet and likable pre-Oscar. She became harsher in appearance and quite stuck up in some of her interviews.

[...]

I remember when I heard daily that Piper perabo was going to be the new Julia but it never happened.

I'm not a huge fan of Roberts but one thing I appreciate about her and other 90s starlets is she had actual zest and energy. Even Gwyneth Paltrow had a lively spark to her at her peak, as bitchy as she is. So did Sharon Stone. So many of these current female critical darlings ( Michelle Williams, Naomi watts, and Amy Adams) are so passive, bland, and washed out. Every scene is just them fighting back tears.

Where is our new Sandy Duncan? Our Joyce Bulifant?

Her giant mouth distracted me in every movie I tried to watch of hers.

R188 she was in Everyone Says I Love You

[quote]r152 Pretty sure Woody Allen wrote that part specifically for Blanchett.

Well, after he was done ripping off Tennessee Williams.

[quote]I think Sandra did mention Julia at a speech she gave that year, something about them having to share custody of Clooney.

It was this hilariously self-deprecating speech at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. (well, the first three minutes are funny, then it gets serious).

[quote] Sounds silly, but authenticity is the lifeblood of these movie star types who rely far more on their charisma than acting skills.

This holds true for musical entertainers today too. Hence why someone like Madonna is not translating well in the social media era. Say what you will about Adele but there's no gimmick to her star power; what you see is what you get.

[quote] If you follow film history--movie stars are remembered for great work in great films.

I wonder how history will treat Meryl. She's been in, what, one or two truly classic films? And that was way back in the 70s. I'm thinking of Manhattan and The Deer Hunter.

Did anyone watch her Watergate series? I passed because I'm tired of stories about Watergate and the people involved but I'm wondering if it was any good.

Roberts isn’t classically beautiful, her mouth is too big, her eyes are kinda weird but it just works on camera. Her rise to stardom was something to behold. She had movie star charisma in spades, which has nothing to do with being a great actress which she wasn’t.

I personally always liked Bullock more, she is genuinely funny and picked better projects.

I love them both. Charisma in both. I will rewatch their movies again and again. Even the less famous movies like "Something to Talk" about or "Hope Floats". These ladies are movie stars, There aren't many movie stars anymore. Too many movies, too many actresses and our too short attention spans. I think social media, the rotten paparazzi and the lowering of basic civility in this country has caused Hollywood to lose its lustre.

If they ever did a movie together it should be a horror film. It would be an instant camp classic.