Julia Roberts' Net Worth Shows That This Pretty Woman Is More Than Pretty Rich
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Julia Roberts' net worth is the result of shattering a glass ceiling in terms of movie salaries.
She shot to superstardom when she was just 22 years old thanks to the success of Pretty Woman, and her paychecks and legacy are the result of one thing: Her endless ambition.
"I wouldn’t be in this business if I wasn't [ambitious]," she told The Los Angeles Times in 1991. "But 'ambition' has a bad connotation. People don't understand all the hues. It's not just money, greed, fame. My ambitions are to seek out challenges, to discover new things about myself--maybe some things I haven’t wanted to deal with. I also want to be part of a group I respect, from whom I can get an influx of ideas and creativity."
"The great thing about Julia is that she picks very diverse parts, doing things that seem mostly to be of interest to her," Jeffrey Katzenberg, then-chairman of the Walt Disney Studios, explained to The Los Angeles Times at the time. "She doesn't worry about what image she'll create. She's not caught up in the notion of servicing some audience. Her primary concern seems to be doing good work — and letting the rest take care of itself. That's very unique and almost unprecedented for movie stars these days."
Now that she's conquered movies long ago, Roberts has recently turned her efforts to television. After starring in Amazon Prime series Homecoming in 2018, Roberts starred in the STARZ limited series Gaslit. Now, Roberts is back to the big screen with Ticket to Paradise, co-starring her pal George Clooney in a classic romantic comedy.
The transition from the silver screen to the tube wasn't a big deal for the veteran, who did a handful of TV appearances before she was a household name.
"I didn't really think of it as small screen/big screen. My television is very big," she previously joked to Parade. She added, "There isn’t a distinction anymore between film and TV. Everything is so good. The bar is so high. For me, it's nice to bring something into people's homes. We're like a delivery service. We're delivering entertainment right to your doorstep."
And Hollywood is delivering those checks to hers! Find out Julia Roberts' net worth and how she earned it.
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How did Julia Roberts become famous?
Roberts is a Georgia native, and her older brother, Eric Roberts, is also an actor. This made moving to New York City to pursue acting was a relatively easy choice for her. In fact, she recalled to The New York Times in 1990 that when she graduated high school, it almost seemed like her only choice!
'I had convinced myself that I had three choices: I could get married, I could go to college, or I could move to New York. Nobody was asking to get married and I didn't want to go away to school, so I moved."
Obviously, it was a wise move. She got her first screen role in 1987 on an episode of Crime Story, also making her first big-screen appearance in an uncredited role as Babs in Firehouse the same year. She had success in 1988 as well, guest-starring in an episode of Miami Vice, nabbing a supporting role in Satisfaction as Daryle and starring in the TV movie Baja Oklahoma.
The year 1988 would also give Roberts her first starring role in a movie with the romantic comedy Mystic Pizza. Roberts was critically acclaimed for her role of Daisy in the coming-of-age film, which follows three teenage girls working at a Connecticut pizza parlor.
The following year would prove an even bigger breakout for Roberts: She appeared alongside her big brother in the much-forgotten organized crime thriller Blood Red, but it was Steel Magnolias that would make her a certified movie star. Starring as the young southern belle Shelby, Roberts kept up with veteran actresses including Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah and Olympia Dukakis—not to mention one Dolly Parton! Roberts won a Golden Globe and was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the role.
While Steel Magnolias solidified Roberts as a critical darling, it would be 1990's Pretty Woman that would make her a certified movie star — and her star only rose from there.
Related: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Julia Roberts
What is Julia Roberts' net worth?
Julia Roberts' net worth is estimated at a whopping $250 million.
How did Julia Roberts get so rich?
Remember how she starred in America's Sweethearts? Well, for a long time, Roberts was America's sweetheart.
Roberts' box office appeal made her a very wealthy woman, commanding fees that were previously unheard of in Hollywood—especially for women. For example, in 2003, she got paid a whopping $25 million for Mona Lisa Smile.
"Nowadays, female leads are usually plucked to be posterized if they’re of the comedic variety, not necessarily for their acting prowess. Julia Roberts was one of the last true actresses that earned her name above the title of a film with acting alone. That’s how big her draw was," box-office analyst Jeff Bock told The Hollywood Reporter. He added that Roberts "had a decade-long stretch from 1990-2000 that really is unmatched by an actress in terms of box office, which is why I think studios are still interested in casting her in hopes of catching just one more glimpse of the iconic mannerisms—the trademark laugh and smile—that catapulted her to $100 million-plus hit after $100 million-plus hit."
What is Julia Roberts' income?
Roberts' annual income varies depending on her projects at any given time. In addition to her movie salaries, which peaked at $25 million for Mona Lisa Smile and have gradually scaled back since, Roberts also has a long-term endorsement deal with Lancôme. She's also appeared in foreign commercials and done voiceover work for ads, a particularly lucrative career move that takes little time and nets a hefty paycheck. Because she earns so much money in ads and endorsements—and has earned so much cash throughout her career—she is able to pick and choose her projects based on their artistic and creative merits over their payday.
Related: 20 of Julia Roberts' Best Quotes on Love, Fame and Parenting
How much did Julia Roberts earn for Erin Brockovich?
Roberts was paid $20 million for Erin Brockovich, per The Hollywood Reporter—the first woman to ever get paid that amount for a film.
In addition to Roberts' groundbreaking salary to play the real-life activist, the role also won her a slew of awards, including an Academy Award for Best Actress, the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture, the BAFTA for Best Film Actress in a Leading Role and her third Golden Globe. Her universal acclaim likely increased her perceived value further in the eyes of her agents, as well as her producers and casting directors.
What does Julia Roberts get paid by Lancôme?
Roberts' first contract with high-end cosmetic brand Lancôme in 2009 was reportedly worth $20 million for a single year. When she renewed her contract for five more years, The Daily Mail reported that she would likely earn another whopping $50 million to be their spokesmodel. She's the face of their La Vie Est Belle fragrance and has also appeared in print ads for foundation and mascara for the brand.
Related: Julia Roberts Airbrushed Ad Banned In Britain
How much did Julia Roberts make on Pretty Woman?
Roberts' salary for her turn as a prostitute-turned-kept woman Vivian in Pretty Woman is significantly higher than what Vivian earned for her work with Richard Gere's Evan—100 times it, in fact, coming in at a cool $300,000, per The Los Angeles Times. The 1990 film made her a household name and earned her a Golden Globe. At the time of its release, it sold more tickets than any other romantic comedy in history, earning $463.4 million at the box office. While on its face that's already a great number, when adjusted for inflation, that's actually approaching Marvel numbers, clocking in at $965.3 million!
"People say, 'Oh, when Pretty Woman came out it must have really changed your life,'" she recalled to PEOPLE. "it’s kind of become this joke, but the truth is I was out of town when Pretty Woman came out. I was in another movie in this tiny little town that was showing Star Wars in its first run. I remember reading 'Pretty Woman came out this weekend and made this much money,' and I thought, 'Is that a lot of money? Is that good? Is that great?' I didn’t really know."
"The movie was like an avalanche for her," Joan Hyler, then an agent at the William Morris Agency, told The Los Angeles Times in 1991. "After the film took off, she got every script in the business. There was Julia Roberts ... and everyone else."
The Los Angeles Times reported that Roberts made $550,000 for Flatliners, released the same year.
Below, enjoy the iconic shopping scene: "Big mistake. Huge!"
Who Is Julia Roberts married to?
Roberts is married to Danny Moder. The couple met on the set of her 2001 film The Mexican, co-starring Brad Pitt. The couple married in the summer of 2002 and share three children.
After becoming a mom to twins Phinneaus and Hazel in 2004, Roberts took a break from acting to focus on her family.
What fragrance does Julia Roberts represent?
Roberts is the face of La Vie Est Belle by Lancôme. She's appeared in numerous print and TV ads for the fragrance, usually around the holidays. The scent is described as "the elegance of iris, the strength of patchouli, and the sweetness of the gourmand blend." The specific notes are the aforementioned iris and patchouli, as well as Arabian jasmine sambac, orange blossom, warm vanilla and spun sugar. The fragrance starts at $77 for 1 oz. or $31 for a mini rollerball.
Related: Julia Roberts Has the Best Reaction to Not Being Nominated for an Emmy for Homecoming
How much does Julia Roberts make for a movie?
Roberts was the first woman in Hollywood history to command a $20 million salary per movie, starting with Erin Brockovich. However, some Hollywood insiders think her blockbuster days may be behind her after a series of box office disappointments. Box office analyst Jeff Bock told The Hollywood Reporter of Roberts in 2016, "Nowadays, female leads are usually plucked to be posterized if they’re of the comedic variety, not necessarily for their acting prowess. Julia Roberts was one of the last true actresses that earned her name above the title of a film with acting alone. That’s how big her draw was. What happened? Well, since Eat Pray Love in 2010, she hasn’t really done anything that’s connected with audiences or the zeitgeist of the times."
However, since the article was published in 2016, Roberts has had two movies do significantly well at the box office: Wonder in 2017 and Money Monster in 2016 each made a profit in accordance with their respective budgets. However, her most recent big-screen outing, 2018's Ben Is Back, grossed just $10 million worldwide on a $13 million budget. That relatively low budget also indicates that Roberts didn't get her past sky-high salary, which would have cost more than the entire rest of the production.
How much did Julia Roberts get paid for Ticket to Paradise?
Roberts' salary for Ticket to Paradise isn't publicly known, but we do know she wouldn't have settled for less than she's worth.
"When I’m working, I work very hard. I’m ready. I’m on time. I’m prepared. I’m happy. I’m all-in. So, show me the money," she said in a recent sitdown.
Ticket to Paradise already made $60 million worldwide ahead of its United States release, so chances are if she had a back-end deal for box office grosses, she is making great money from this movie.
How much does Julia Roberts make for a commercial?
In 2010, Roberts took home a whopping $1.5 million for a 45-second Italian Lavazza coffee commercial, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That amounts to $33,000 per second! In it, she plays herself filming a project, takes a quick sip of Lavazza espresso, smiles and winks without delivering a single line—other than her signature hearty laugh.
Roberts has also appeared in ads for Lancôme and Calzedonia and done voiceovers for Nationwide Insurance.
Related: Julia Roberts Reveals Original Pretty Woman Ending, and It’s Pretty Upsetting
How much did Julia Roberts earn for Notting Hill?
Roberts played a movie star much like herself in Notting Hill, in which her character falls in love with bookstore owner Will, played by Hugh Grant. Their co-star Hugh Bonneville revealed what may have been Roberts' salary for the film in an interview with HuffPost Live, recalling Roberts' ad libs in the dinner party scene when her character is asked how much she makes per movie.
"When we did rehearsals in the script, it said $10 million. In rehearsal, she changed it to 12, and then suddenly she changed it to 15," Bonneville said. "And I said, after we finished, 'Out of interest, why did you change it?' She said, 'I'm kind of tired of lowballing!'"
The movie came out before her very first $20 million paydays for Erin Brockovich, so the numbers add up!
How much did Julia Roberts get paid for Steel Magnolias?
Roberts' salary for Steel Magnolias was relatively low at $90,000, according to The Los Angeles Times, but it's safe to say it was worth it no matter how much she was or wasn't paid for the film: She won her first Golden Globe for the film and was also nominated for her first Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. She replaced Meg Ryan as the lead and the competition was reportedly stiff, especially because by some insane Hollywood standard, some people thought Roberts wasn't pretty enough for Hollywood, but that her appearance worked for the role of Shelby—and even then, reportedly only after she dyed her hair, lost weight and changed her eyebrows. (She got the last laugh when she was repeatedly named PEOPLE's Most Beautiful Woman!)
"Something about her makes you care for her, watch her," Field told The Los Angeles Times. "And it went far beyond her looks. The part didn't call for a great beauty ... which was fortunate because no one, including Julia, agreed with me that she was one. She grew up as kind of an ugly duckling, not a ‘Pretty Woman,’ and the impression we form of ourselves in early adolescence always remains."
Roberts' chemistry with the rest of the cast of Hollywood veterans was key to making the movie work, and her co-stars were supportive of her, even when their director, Herbert Ross, wasn't. Field recalled to Us Weekly, "He went after Julia with a vengeance. This was pretty much her first big film." She said that he even asked Roberts to remove a mole near one of her eyes, adding of the rest of the cast, "Our keenest memory was how hard it was to work with our director. We hated him and we would go after him. The stronger ones of the group who were just older and had been there longer would go after him. That meant Shirley and Dolly."
How much did Julia Roberts get paid for Mirror Mirror?
Roberts' payday for the 2012 Snow White story Mirror Mirror isn't publicly known, but playing the wicked Queen was a change of pace for the megastar, who was used to playing heroines! The only people she didn't want to see her being so evil were actually her kids. She joked that all of her kids (sons Henry and Phinneaus and daughter Hazel) were able to fit under her giant costume gowns and hung out there frequently—except when they were shooting. "I wasn't saying anything I wanted them to hear, ever," she told Extra. "It was the first time they would ever come see me at work and if we started rehearsing or anything, I had to send them away, because I'm saying the most vile things!"
The movie grossed $183 million worldwide, but it had a rather small profit margin because of its $85 million budget—a film typically has to earn at least twice its budget to compensate for promotional costs as well, meaning it may have only made $13 million after costs were considered.
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How much did Julia Roberts get paid for Sleeping with the Enemy?
Sleeping With the Enemy was one of the first projects Roberts signed on to after the mega-success of Pretty Woman, and like Steel Magnolias, she got the part when another star backed out (this time it was Kim Basinger). The Los Angeles Times reported that Roberts was paid $1 million for her role as Laura, who creates a new identity to escape from an abusive marriage. The film grossed nearly $175 million at the global box office on a relatively shoestring $19 million budget.
Mike Simpson, then-co-head of the William Morris Agency's movie division, told The Los Angeles Times, "It was Sleeping With the Enemy ... that confirmed Julia as a box-office star. It showed that she could open a movie that isn't very good—and that the movie can go big. Sleeping was for Julia what Cocktail was for Tom Cruise. An actor doesn't want too many of these in his wallet, but one or two is part of what gets you the high-money deal."
How much did Julia Roberts get paid for Valentine's Day?
Roberts made $3 million for just six minutes of screentime in Valentine's Day, according to Variety. The 2010 ensemble film, helmed by Garry Marshall, was a hit at the box office. It was rumored that Roberts replaced Katherine Heigl in the film after Heigl reportedly demanded $3 million, but in retrospect that seems unlikely, given Roberts took home the same amount that supposedly made the producers balk.
Following the success of Valentine's Day, Roberts appeared in Marshall's ensemble Mother's Day, making another $3 million— but this time, per Variety, the box office didn't justify the expense. Still, insiders told The Hollywood Reporter that Roberts starred in the films "as a favor to Marshall," not as a strategic career move.
How much did Julia Roberts get paid for Larry Crowne?
Roberts' salary for Larry Crowne, released in 2011, isn't publicly known, but it's possible she accepted less than her $20 million rate for the project because its entire budget was just $30 million. The film, which co-starred Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston, was a box office disappointment, grossing just $75 million worldwide and likely giving the studio significantly narrow profit margins after promotional costs are considered. Reviews were similarly middling for the project.
Related: Ben Is Back Director Peter Hedges on Working With Son Lucas and Julia Roberts
How much did Julia Roberts get paid for Wonder?
Wonder was a surprise sleeper hit for Roberts in 2017 and her biggest box office hit in some time, with Deadline reporting that the family drama's $27 million opening weekend coming just under that of Erin Brockovich in 2000, which opened to $28 million.
It's unclear how much Roberts was paid for the movie, but it's clearly less than her $20 million rate because the film's entire budget was $20 million. Whether the pay cut was by choice or due to overall reduced box office demand is also unknown, but it may well have been a passion project for the Oscar winner. Roberts reportedly loved the story, based on R.J. Palacio's novel of the same name, which focused on a boy with facial differences entering fifth grade at a mainstream school for the first time; she reportedly signed on to the movie two years before the production was even greenlit she was so passionate about it.
Producer David Hoberman told Deadline of the project, "While you have all these huge studios\ movies, superhero movies, and fairy tale movies, I think the creative community will always want to make dramas, and there will be someone out there who'll want to make them. It's just about changing the landscape as to who’ll make those movies. Where it was the studios used to, now other companies are coming forward and wanting to do it. It's hard and harder because it’s not a five-studio shopping spree anymore. You have to get out there and work and try to expose it to as many as people as you can. But I think people want to make good stories and I think they always will."
How much did Julia Roberts get paid for Ocean's 11?
Roberts likely got paid significantly less than her usual $20 million fee for Ocean's 11. In fact, every star in the ensemble, including Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Casey Affleck, Bernie Mac, Andy Garcia, Scott Caan and more, reportedly took pay cuts to get the film made. Roberts has an "introducing" credit in the film, despite at that time being one of the most bankable and expensive stars in Hollywood at the time. This was due to her lower rate as well as a bit of an inside joke with the filmmakers.
Clooney hadn't met Roberts before working together on Ocean's 11, and he poked fun at her high salary when introducing the project to her. "I remember Julia, I didn’t know her," Clooney recalled to GQ. "I'd never met her, and she was making $20 million a film. And we just talked Brad [Pitt] into doing it, and Matt [Damon] into doing it, and we wanted Julia to do it. So I put a $20 bill on the script and I sent it to her, and I said, 'I hear you get 20 a picture now.'"
