ERIC ROBERTS

ACTOR SPOTLIGHT ERIC ROBERTS

With 600+ Movie & Television Credits Eric Roberts is a Hollywood legend

by Senior Entertainment Correspondent Bill Tush

hen word came out of the upcoming interview with Eric Roberts, I decided to watch the first movie that made him a star, 1985’s Runaway Train. A thriller about two escaped convicts that hijack a freight train in the snow-covered Canadian Rockies. The other convict is played by Jon Voight, who makes Charles Manson seem like Shirley Temple. Roberts on the other hand is the nicer of the two. (Speaking of hands, I don’t want to forget Robert’s memorable 1984 role as a small-time hood Paulie, in The Pope of Greenwich Village opposite Mickey Rourke, “They took my thumb Charlie, They took my thumb!”). Back to Runaway Train, even though the film is almost 40 years old, it’s still a thriller. Especially if you remember that back in those days, way back when there were much fewer computer effects and green screens. That was a real train! How did they do that?. That’s a story for another day (or just Google it!). As for Eric Roberts and his convict with a soft side, that snatched him an Oscar nomination and his acting career was on the fast track. Now, over 600 films later, Roberts once again finds himself trapped in another out-ofcontrol vehicle. Although this one isn’t moving. It’s The Elevator. Roberts plays a happy family man who gets called into the office on a Saturday. Well, as you might have guessed, he gets caught in a stuck elevator. “That’s a fear we all have,” says Roberts, and it certainly is one of his. “My biggest fear about that is having to go to the bathroom.” Much of the film was shot in a real elevator, according to the actor, and it was

a publicist’s dream when the real elevator did get stuck during filming, trapping the actor and the crew inside for a suffocating 4 minutes. W “That can be a long time,” admitted Roberts. The Elevator is just one of the latest films this actor adds to his incredibly long resume. From some hits like The Pope in Greenwich Village, King of the Gypsies, and Star 80, to others with titles like, Chicks Dig Gay Guys, Headshots and Handcuffs, and A Talking Cat. Roberts laughs, “I can be anywhere in the world and turn on the TV and there I am.” So, I mention a country tune called Mailbox Money, about a singer-songwriter who has penned so many tunes that every day there is another residual check in his mailbox. Again Roberts laughs, “I have a very happy mailbox!” While he was piling up the TV and movie credits, his little sister was back in Smyrna, Georgia, packing her bag for Hollywood. Julia Roberts made quite an impression with a little independent feature called Mystic Pizza. Then the same year she became a superstar and Oscar Nominee with Pretty Woman. Not quite the Barrymores but the Roberts acting dynasty added another member with Eric’s daughter Emma. She would spend time on the sets of her Aunt Julia’s movies and at a very early age decided an actor’s life was for her. Then, in what seems to be a Roberts family acting tradition, she debuted in a hit and minor classic, Blow, playing Johnny Depp’s daughter. Emma, like her dad Eric and her Aunt Julia, has already piled up the big films, the little films, TV roles, and too many awards to mention. One can only imagine the conversation at family get-togethers. That is if there is even time for family dinners? Eric has just completed work on the HBO series, The Righteous Gemstones, Headful of Honey with Matt Dillon, and he joins an All-Star cast led by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Jean Smart in Babylon. His latest, The Elevator, is on the way.