He had the eyes that could smolder on command, the kind of danger that casting directors loved, and the raw, unpredictable charisma that made him one of Hollywood’s most magnetic rising stars of the 1980s. But long before the red carpets, the magazine covers, and the awards buzz, Eric Roberts made a choice that would follow him for the rest of his life. At the age of 35, while the industry was celebrating him as the next big thing, he walked away from his baby daughter when she was only seven months old.
Eric was born in 1956 in Biloxi, Mississippi, and raised in a complicated, artistic family that lived and breathed drama on and off the stage. By the time he hit his twenties, he was already turning heads on Broadway. His breakout performance in Burn This positioned him as the kind of actor who could handle dangerous, emotionally explosive roles. Hollywood took notice fast. He racked up Golden Globe nominations for King of the Gypsies, Star 80, and later Runaway Train. He had the looks, the intensity, and the attitude. He was the guy studios called when they needed someone who could set a scene on fire.
But while his career skyrocketed, his personal life went the opposite direction. Fame mixed with addiction is gasoline next to an open flame. And Eric was burning from both ends.
When his daughter Emma was born on February 10, 1991, Eric wasn’t in any position to be a father. His relationship with Emma’s mother, Kelly Cunningham, collapsed quickly under the weight of his drug use and volatility. Kelly got full custody. Eric didn’t fight it. Years later, in his memoir Runaway Train, he didn’t sugarcoat what happened. “I had abandoned Kelly when Emma was just seven months old,” he wrote. “I couldn’t handle the realities of an infant coming into my life, and I couldn’t handle being a parent.”
What made the situation even more public and more painful was the involvement of his world-famous sister, Julia Roberts. For years, tabloids painted the story as a dramatic feud: the beloved America’s Sweetheart taking sides against her troubled brother. But Eric shut that narrative down with cold clarity. According to him, the truth was nowhere near as sensational.
“The question has been begged, forever it seems, whether Julia and I had a giant falling out over custody of Emma. I’d like to clear the air about that,” he wrote. “I never saw myself as someone who deserved physical custody of Emma—not in a million years. There was no custody battle. There was no betrayal. Julia helped Kelly financially because she could, and because it was for Emma. I deeply appreciated it.”
While Eric spiraled in addiction, Emma grew up with her mother, visiting her Aunt Julia on film sets and unknowingly absorbing the magic of the world she’d one day dominate. On the set of Erin Brockovich, Emma would run off to hide in Julia’s makeup trailer like it was a playground. “I remember it feeling like summer camp,” she said years later. Creativity seeped into her the way it does when a kid is surrounded by artists who love their craft.
But even as Emma built her own career—eventually starring in American Horror Story, Scream Queens, and leading several successful films—there was a hollow space where her father should have been. When asked in an interview whether she was close with him, she didn’t pretend or soften the edges. “Um… how do I say this? No, we’re not.”
Meanwhile, Eric Roberts was drifting through years he barely remembers—jobs here and there, relationships strained, family kept at arm’s length, everything blurred by the haze of addiction. But he didn’t stay lost forever. Eventually he confronted the wreckage he’d made. He got sober. He rebuilt his life. And he began trying to repair the fractures he’d left behind.
Today, at 69, he’s honest about who he was and what it cost him. “For many years, I was a practicing drug addict,” he admitted. “A lot of people were alienated—especially the family. I owe them a lot because they love me.” He speaks with the kind of brutal clarity that only comes from getting fed up with your own bullshit and deciding to stop running.
He rebuilt his marriage to Eliza Roberts. He returned to steady work, taking roles in big movies, small movies, anything that allowed him to stay sober, grounded, and contributing. He speaks about addiction without hiding from the past. “The only way to be a good example is to get through being a casualty,” he said. “Addicts aren’t bad guys. They’re just making a mistake.”
Even if his relationship with Emma never became the kind of father-daughter bond most people imagine, the love never disappeared. He posted a photo for her birthday of her as a little girl, sitting with a toy instruction booklet while he looked at her with unmistakable warmth. “I am clueless about the task,” he wrote, “but the love on my face for her is undeniable. I knew she’d grow up to be all that and more. I love you, Emma.”
He also doesn’t worry about her handling fame. In his eyes, she’s stronger than he ever was. “I’m often asked if I have concerns about my daughter being in this business,” he said. “I love this business. I didn’t realize how much it beats you up, but Emma’s much stronger than I was at that age. She has more tools to build a safe place around herself.”
For a man who once lost nearly everything—his sense of self, his family, and the chance to raise his daughter—Eric Roberts has slowly clawed his way back to something better than fame: honesty, forgiveness, and a quiet, steady kind of peace. He doesn’t pretend the past didn’t happen. He doesn’t try to polish it. He owns it. And he lives differently now because of it.
Emma Roberts didn’t grow up with her father by her side, but the deeper truth is this: he never stopped watching her, never stopped caring, and never stopped hoping she’d become exactly the woman she is today. Not from the spotlight he once chased, but from the quieter place he stands now—a man who finally understands what matters, even if he learned it the hard way.
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