Emma Roberts claims she’s lost jobs because of famous family members: ‘People have opinions’

In a new interview with Flaunt, the “Scream Queens” actress, whose father is actor Eric Roberts and aunt is Academy Award-winning actress Julia Roberts, opened up about the pros and cons to having famous family members and explained how her acting career has been affected.

“I’ve lost more jobs than I’ve gained from being in the business,” said Roberts. “People have opinions, and sometimes maybe they’re not good opinions of people in your family. I’ve never gotten a job because of it, I know I definitely have lost a couple of jobs because of it.”

One of her “biggest heartbreaks” came when she was only nine years old when she lost out on the role of Wendy in the 2003 film, “Peter Pan.”

“I came very close. I had a British accent,” she recently told Variety. “I was very impressed with myself, but I didn’t get the part.”

“The one that got away in the beginning was ‘I Am Sam,’ which the amazing Dakota Fanning obviously got,” she added. “I came close, but the feedback was, ‘You’re a little on the older side,’ and I was nine. To be told you’re on the older side at nine, I was like, ‘There’s my thick skin. It grew right there.’”

Last month, Roberts questioned whether men have it easier than women when it comes to the controversial Hollywood discussion surrounding “nepo babies.”

“I think there’s two sides of the coin, you know. People like to say, ‘You have a leg up, because you have family in the industry,’ but then the other side to that is, you know, you have to prove yourself more,” she explained. “Also, if people don’t have [a] good experience maybe with other people in your family, then you’ll never get the chance.”

“I think there’s something to be said where everybody loves the kind of overnight success story,” she continued. “And so, if you’re kind of not the girl from the middle of nowhere that broke into Hollywood, you know there’s kind of an eye roll of like, ‘Well, your dad was this.’ I always joke, I’m like, ‘Why is no one calling out George Clooney for being a nepo baby? [His aunt] Rosemary Clooney was an icon,'” she said of the late singer and actress.

Though Roberts has previously stated she’s never aspired to be her aunt, she admitted she’d “love to find the perfect project” for them to work on together.

“I know that there will be something. But it’s never been the right thing,” she told Variety. “She’s the best, and I want to do something with her. We send each other books and talk about stuff, but it hasn’t been right.”

“I watch her movies when I’m on location, and I’m by myself,” she added, referencing some of Julia’s classics. “I have movies of hers downloaded on my computer that I watch for comfort. ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ and ‘America’s Sweethearts’ are my safe movies.”