Julia Roberts’ role as a Yale professor who becomes entangled in a sexual assault case involving a colleague and a student in Luca Guadagnino’s “After the Hunt” is her first chance in years to reenter the movie awards picture.
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Roberts won a lead actress Oscar in 2001 for playing a crusading real-life legal clerk in “Erin Brockovich,” a role that perfectly combined her acting strengths and star wattage.
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She has received four Oscar nominations in all: for “Steel Magnolias,” “Pretty Woman,” “Brockovich” and “August: Osage County.”
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If it seems like Roberts would have more nominations, it might be because of how she exploded out of the gate, with two Oscar nominations and two Golden Globe wins by age 23.
1989
First, Roberts received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her breakout in “Mystic Pizza,” vying against Meg Ryan and Jodie Foster (who won for “Five Corners”).
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Julia and brother Eric (1986 supporting actor nominee for “Runaway Train”) are one of five brother-sister duos to receive matching acting Oscar nominations. The others are Lionel and Ethel Barrymore; Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beatty; Jane and Peter Fonda; and Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
2014
Since Roberts’ last Oscar nomination, for “August,” she’s kept attracting accolades on the TV side, with an Emmy nomination for “The Normal Heart” and Golden Globe nominations for “Homecoming” and “Gaslit.”
2/2025
In February, Roberts received an honorary César Award celebrating her remarkable career.
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A fifth Oscar nomination for Roberts, whose performance in “After the Hunt” was better received than the film, would validate her creative risk-taking — and remind France just whose sweetheart she really is.