31 Stunning Throwback Photos of Rom-Com Queen Julia Roberts
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 Images1/311985
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 Images2/311986
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.
Photo: Getty Images3/311989
After a string of smaller parts, Roberts broke out with 1988’s Mystic Pizza and began work on 1989’s Steel Magnolias, falling for her onscreen husband, future American Horror Story actor Dylan McDermott, in the latter. In the spring of 1989, the couple attended the fourth edition of the Independent Spirit Awards, where a 21-year-old Julia was nominated for best female lead for Mystic Pizza and wore a black suit with a bare face and mane of curls.
Photo: Getty Images4/311989
Flashing that famous megawatt smile at the New York premiere of Miss Firecracker, dressed in a simple black blazer.
Photo: Getty Images5/311989
A studio cast portrait showing Roberts in character as Steel Magnolias’s vivacious Shelby, alongside co-stars Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Dolly Parton, and Daryl Hannah.
