Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#1691
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Julia Roberts represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 40 years in, and Julia is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Julia Roberts appears in 44 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Julia. Wonder is the clearest case: a film rated 8.2 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for thriller, drama, documentary. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Sam Esmail, Luca Guadagnino, Peter Hedges and others, Julia Roberts helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
Wonder (2017) as Isabel · The Happy Days of Garry Marshall (2020) as Self · Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy (2025) as Self (archive footage)
Career snapshot
Ranked #1691 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
44
1987–2027
Career length
40 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.2
Wonder
Average Nutevio score
6.3
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.1
Wonder
Most frequent director
Garry Marshall
3 films together
Longest collaboration
3×
With Garry Marshall
Most common genre
Comedy
22 titles
Average runtime
1h 49m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.1
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
6.6
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
1990s
6.7 average MV
The 1990s are where the work and the material meet. Notting Hill, Stepmom, My Best Friend's Wedding — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1990s
6.7
Across 11 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1990s
6.7
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1980s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Firehouse.
Most productive era
2010s
13 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | — | 6.85 films | 6.95 films | 6.88 films | 6.23 films |
| Action | — | 6.71 film | 6.01 film | — | — |
| Thriller | — | 6.73 films | 7.03 films | 6.42 films | 3.22 films |
| Comedy | 5.71 film | 6.87 films | 6.26 films | 6.07 films | 6.41 film |
| Crime | — | 6.61 film | 6.84 films | 6.41 film | — |
| Romance | — | 7.05 films | 6.45 films | 5.95 films | 6.41 film |
| Horror | — | 6.61 film | — | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1987Firehouse
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Babs (uncredited).
Highest rated performance · Career peak
2017Wonder
8.2 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer. Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
2027Panic Carefully
The current state of the argument.
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
44 of 44 films
as Isabel
Directed by Stephen Chbosky
as Erin Brockovich
Directed by Unknown
as Anna Scott
Directed by Roger Michell
as Vivian Ward
Directed by Garry Marshall
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
Loading credits…
The defining work
#1
Isabel
Wonder (2017)
Performance score8.4
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Isabel gives Julia Roberts a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Erin Brockovich
Erin Brockovich (2000)
Performance score8.0
Erin Brockovich asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Erin Brockovich is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Anna Scott
Notting Hill (1999)
Performance score7.9
Notting Hill asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Anna Scott is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Vivian Ward
Pretty Woman (1990)
Performance score7.9
Pretty Woman asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Vivian Ward is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Isabel
Start here. Wonder is the clearest statement of what Julia Roberts does — accessible, 113 minutes, and rated 8.2 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Julia at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
Pretty Woman (1990)
A deliberate change of key after Wonder — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Notting Hill (1999)
Keeps the romance register of Pretty Woman but asks for a colder reading of it.
Erin Brockovich (2000)
A deliberate change of key after Notting Hill — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
The Happy Days of Garry Marshall (2020)
Same director as Erin Brockovich, different problem to solve. Watching them in order shows how much of the effect was the collaboration.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Garry Marshall
Director
3 films together
Notably Pretty Woman
Mike Nichols
Director
2 films together
Notably Closer
Ryan Murphy
Director
2 films together
Notably The Normal Heart
Sam Esmail
Director
2 films together
Notably Leave the World Behind
J. Christian Ingvordsen
Director
1 film together
Notably Firehouse
Joel Schumacher
Director
1 film together
Notably Flatliners
Steven Spielberg
Director
1 film together
Notably Hook
Alan J. Pakula
Director
1 film together
Notably The Pelican Brief
Robert Altman
Director
1 film together
Notably Prêt-à-Porter
Woody Allen
Director
1 film together
Notably Everyone Says I Love You
Neil Jordan
Director
1 film together
Notably Michael Collins
Richard Donner
Director
1 film together
Notably Conspiracy Theory
P.J. Hogan
Director
1 film together
Notably My Best Friend's Wedding
Chris Columbus
Director
1 film together
Notably Stepmom
Roger Michell
Director
1 film together
Notably Notting Hill
Joe Roth
Director
1 film together
Notably America's Sweethearts
Gore Verbinski
Director
1 film together
Notably The Mexican
George Clooney
Director
1 film together
Notably Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Mike Newell
Director
1 film together
Notably Mona Lisa Smile
John A. Davis
Director
1 film together
Notably The Ant Bully
Dermot Mulroney
Director
1 film together
Notably Love, Wedding, Marriage
Tom Hanks
Director
1 film together
Notably Larry Crowne
Tarsem Singh
Director
1 film together
Notably Mirror Mirror
John Wells
Director
1 film together
Notably August: Osage County
Jodie Foster
Director
1 film together
Notably Money Monster
Kelly Asbury
Director
1 film together
Notably Smurfs: The Lost Village
Stephen Chbosky
Director
1 film together
Notably Wonder
Peter Hedges
Director
1 film together
Notably Ben Is Back
Luca Guadagnino
Director
1 film together
Notably After the Hunt
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Garry Marshall
Director
3 films together · 6.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Pretty WomanRyan Murphy
Director
2 films together · 7.0 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Normal HeartMike Nichols
Director
2 films together · 6.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
CloserSam Esmail
Director
2 films together · 3.2 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Leave the World BehindStephen Chbosky
Director
1 film together · 8.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
WonderRoger Michell
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Notting HillChris Columbus
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
StepmomJohn Wells
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
August: Osage CountyMike Newell
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mona Lisa SmileSteven Spielberg
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
HookGeorge Clooney
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Confessions of a Dangerous MindRichard Donner
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Conspiracy TheoryNeil Jordan
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Michael CollinsPeter Hedges
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Ben Is BackP.J. Hogan
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
My Best Friend's WeddingAlan J. Pakula
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Pelican BriefJoel Schumacher
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
FlatlinersWoody Allen
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Everyone Says I Love YouKelly Asbury
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Smurfs: The Lost VillageJodie Foster
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Money MonsterTom Hanks
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Larry CrowneGore Verbinski
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The MexicanTarsem Singh
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mirror MirrorJohn A. Davis
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Ant BullyLuca Guadagnino
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
After the HuntJoe Roth
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
America's SweetheartsJ. Christian Ingvordsen
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
FirehouseDermot Mulroney
Director
1 film together · 5.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Love, Wedding, MarriageRobert Altman
Director
1 film together · 5.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Prêt-à-PorterSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
Wonder
as Isabel
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Wonder
as Isabel
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Wonder
as Isabel
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
The Happy Days of Garry Marshall
as Self
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Wonder
as Isabel
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Julia Roberts has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
40 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Comedy Legend
Awarded
22 catalogue titles in comedy, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
Wonder
as Isabel
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Ocean's Eleven
as Tess Ocean
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Eat Pray Love
as Elizabeth 'Liz' Gilbert
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Leave the World Behind
as Amanda Sandford
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Wonder
as Isabel
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Conspiracy Theory
as Alice Sutton
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
as Patricia Watson
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Firehouse
as Babs (uncredited)
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
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Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
David Krumholtz
Built a career in the same territory: action and adventure
Cillian Murphy
Built a career in the same territory: drama and history
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