TV & Movies

31 Stunning Throwback Photos of Rom-Com Queen Julia Roberts

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Photo: Getty Images

To paraphrase the Elvis Costello rendition of “She” that plays in the beloved rom-com Notting Hill, Julia Roberts has a face you can’t forget—just think of that grin, those sparkling eyes, the big, curly red mane. She’s impossible to miss—or, at least, she has been ever since she broke out as the charming wild child Daisy in 1988’s Mystic Pizza. Then came Steel Magnolias, a certain instant classic called Pretty Woman, and everything from My Best Friend’s Wedding to Erin Brockovich, with the latter marking the prolific actor’s official transition from glamorous romantic lead to Oscar-winning powerhouse.

It’s a delight, then, to discover the earliest red-carpet images of the future A-lister, in which she’s nearly unrecognizable—sporting a mousy, feathered, micro-fringed bob; crystal chandelier earrings; and shiny, textured button-downs. Back then, in the mid-’80s, she had just landed on the scene at the age of 18 and still had no credits to her name, an aspiring performer who was attempting to follow in the footsteps of her older brother, Eric Roberts, who had already parlayed a career in soap operas into a string of lauded, Golden Globe-nominated parts.

It didn’t take her long: She made her screen debut in 1987, as a traumatized teen in the NBC procedural Crime Story, and racked up a flurry of other roles before going stratospheric the following year. It’s easy to see why. Whether onscreen, at glittering industry events, or off-duty on the streets of New York or LA, her star power has always been apparent.

Now, in honor of of her 57th birthday today, we present 31 stunning throwback photos of Roberts from the first stage of her career, from her first Oscars (with then-fiancé Kiefer Sutherland) to her kicking back on Oprah’s couch with co-stars Shirley MacLaine and Dolly Parton.

  • Photo: Getty Images
    1/31

    1985

    Back in the mid-’80s, Julia Roberts was, astonishingly, best known as the younger sister of Golden Globe nominee Eric Roberts. Here she is, aged 18—wearing distinctly era-appropriate hair, big earrings, and a satin shirt—with Eric, their sister Lisa, and a young Jon Voight at the New York premiere party for Voight and Eric’s latest release, Runaway Train, which would go on to earn the pair Oscar nods a few months later.

  • Photo: Getty Images
    2/31

    1986

    On the streets of New York with her brother, Eric. A year later, Julia would make her screen debut in the NBC drama Crime Story.

Radhika Seth is the film culture editor at British Vogue. She works across both the magazine and the website’s Arts Lifestyle section, writing and editing pieces on film, TV, and awards season, as well as travel and food. She previously held the same role at Vogue Global Network, ... Read More