The daughter of Oscar-nominated actor Eric Roberts and the niece of toothy Oscar winner Julia Roberts, youthful actress Emma Roberts seemed almost destined by blood to go into the family business. Flashing the same familiar, wide smile as her famous aunt, Emma made her screen debut in the 2001 short “BigLove” (2001) starring Sam Rockwell and Mark McCormack. Her greatest claim to fame, however, came on the small screen for her role as junior high schooler Addie Singer in the popular children's television series “Unfabulous" (Nickelodeon, 2004-) and for her leap to the big screen as the iconic teen detective, Nancy Drew, in the 2007 summer film of the same name.Emma Rose Roberts was born on Feb. 10, 1991 in Rhinebeck, NY. Split by her parents’ divorce soon after her birth, little Emma grew up primarily with her mother, Julia Cunningham. Although Eric and Julia were long estranged, Emma, by all accounts, always grew up very close to her look-alike aunt – making her foray into show business almost inevitable. In fact, even when Julia and Eric had fallings out through the years, Emma remained extremely close to her aunt.
Roberts made her acting debut at age nine in the 2001 drama, “Blow” directed by Ted Demme. Although she was cast in the role of Kristina Jung, (the daughter of Johnny Depp's character, cocaine smuggler George Jung), most of her scenes ended up on the cutting room floor due to time considerations. Fortunately, Roberts would get some belated screen time a year later in “Grand Champion” (2002), a drama starring Joey Lauren Adams. Roberts’ follow-up, “Spymate” (2003), cast her as the daughter of a former spy played by Chris Potter. When one of her father’s arch-nemeses (Richard Kind) kidnaps her, it falls upon her rusty spy dad and his chimp sidekick to get their act together to save her.
The following year, Roberts was tapped for the role of Addie Singer in Nickelodeon’s hit “Unfabulous.” In it, Roberts played a clumsy, but bright teenager who fumbled her way through horrific junior high embarrassments, such as landing head first in a punch bowl. Spending much of her time holed up in her room, singing and writing songs, the Addie role proved a portent of Roberts’ budding musical career. Also in her “Unfabulous” capacity, Roberts became one of the first teen actors to write an ongoing blog about the making a TV show. As featured on the Nickelodeon web site, Roberts gave fans a primer for Hollywood lingo, such as the definition of “wrap party,” while also providing a detailed journal of the behind-the-scenes antics.
In 2005, Roberts broke into the music business with a song on the “Ice Princess” motion picture soundtrack. The movie, a vehicle for “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” star, Michelle Trachtenberg, chronicled the travails of becoming a champion figure skater. Wisely marketed directly at Roberts’ core demographic of female teens, the film ended up being a modest hit. The actress followed up with her first solo album, entitled Unfabulous and More: Emma Roberts (2005) on Columbia Records, but it debuted to little public or critical acclaim in the U.S.
Roberts was slated to appear in three films in 2006, but two of them – “Camp Couture” and “Bras and Broomsticks” – never went into full production. The third, however – the teen fantasy “Aquamarine” (2006) – did. In it, Roberts played one of two girls who finds a mermaid. Later that year, the teen starlet signed on to play the titular teen detective in “Nancy Drew: The Mystery in Hollywood Hills” (2007), the first in a planned franchise of girl-friendly mystery movies.
