The 20 Best Julia Roberts Roles, Ranked

The once-and-forever Hollywood A-lister has dazzled us in movies and TV, with highlights including ‘Mystic Pizza,’ ‘Erin Brockovich,’ and ‘Homecoming.’

In the ' 90s , despite two Oscar nominations to her name , Julia Roberts was often deal like a brand first and an actress second . She wasthatfamous , thattabloid - suitable , thatpowerful . She ’s just as celebrated today , but in an earned run average less drive by traditional movie stardom , Roberts ' trope has equilibrize itself out — so much so that rewatching her older performance offers an easy reminder that she is ( and always was ) a damn good actress . She ’s no chameleon , but most performer are n’t . In each romantic comedy , she encounter a dissimilar note to play while still providing that reliable Julia Roberts shine . And lest we reduce her to one genre ( or one phosphorescent smiling ) , late TV projects likeHomecomingandGaslitprove she still has layer leave to peel .

In honor of one of Hollywood ’s all - time - enceinte life history , Thrillist is ranking Roberts ' good performances .

20.Money Monster(2016)

When we talk about performances that single - handedly elevate a movie , Julia Roberts ' portrayal of Patty Fenn , the tight - talking producer of aMad Money - esque financial show whose host is taken hostage on live TV by a disfranchised investor ( Jack O’Connell ) , is up there with the good of them . The Jodie Foster - directedMoney Monsteris not quite the taut thriller it very much wants to be , but the snatch that are essentially a three - someone play between smooth operator George Clooney , accelerator pedal - wave Jack O’Connell , and Roberts talking them both down from gamy up in the control cubicle make it worth the picket . — Emma Stefansky

19.August: Osage County(2013)

As a movie , August : Osage Countystruggles to find the strong combination of striking drive and comedic unbalance that Tracy Letts ' Pulitzer Prize - win play attain onstage . The direction from John Wells , the veteran TV producer behindERandShameless , does n’t on the button solve the visual trouble present by such an inherently claustrophobic text . rather , he lets the actors , including Meryl Streep as the tumultuous matriarch and Roberts as her equally Lucy in the sky with diamonds - tongue daughter , really stab into the material , with on occasion exhilarating outcome . Even if the task does n’t quite hang tougher , any film with a tantrum where Roberts gets to seethe " eat the fish , bitch " deserves some recognition.—Dan Jackson

18.Charlie Wilson’s War(2007)

On paper , Charlie Wilson ’s Warlooks like it should work well than it does . Mike Nichols directing an Aaron Sorkin script with Roberts , Tom Hanks , and Phillip Seymour Hoffman playing a image of ethically take exception regime figure who get wrapped up in the Soviet - Afghan War in the ' 80s ? That ’s an evening at the movies ! But despite a fistful of expectant scenes , admit an all - timer Hoffman soliloquy , the flick never break out out of its middlebrow trappings . Still , Roberts , playing genuine - lifespan Texas socialite Joanne Herring , remains a advance hydrofoil for Hanks , going semi - mirthful goofball mode here , and the two ascertain an enjoyable rhythm together even when the Song dynasty stays mostly tuneless.—DJ

17.Duplicity(2009)

Tony Gilroy ’s follow - up toMichael Claytonmakes a magnificent choice : Cast Roberts and herCloserco - star Clive Owen as two wildly attractive , bracingly thinking hoi polloi who trade cutting barb and strain to outwit each other for two hours . Does a motion picture really want much else ? The elaborately Boche - rigged plot , an effort to turn modern corporate espionage into a backdrop for a con - artist dangerous undertaking likeThe Thomas Crown Affair , threatens to fold in on itself at key points , but the alchemy between the two pencil lead keeps the movie from feeling like merely an physical exertion in writerly virtuosity . As an actor with a deep understanding of impish rom - com patter , Roberts is a perfect match forDuplicity’smind - bending attempts to question the idea of amatory dear as free burning performance . You think her every whole step of the way — but should you?—DJ

16.Eat Pray Love(2010)

This might be a hot take , but wouldEat Pray Lovework without Julia Roberts ? The terminus has been beaten into the ground at this point , after the success of Elizabeth Gilbert ’s wildly popular memoir , wherein , after a messy divorce and subsequent rebound , Gilbert settle to trip the world to notice herself . With 2022 ’s hindsight , there are a myriad of problems with the premiss . But when casting for the celluloid which was released in 2010 , who else could roleplay Gilbert ? Roberts ' light magic spell and alchemy with nearly everyone ( even James Franco , blech ) always get to her a compelling watch . So one positivistic matter about the " everywoman " journey ofEat Pray Loveis that it ’s tickle pink to watch Roberts use her own charms on herself as she forges a new path forward . — Kerensa Cadenas

15.Gaslit(2022)

Did we need another Watergate exposé ? No . Did we necessitate another juicy Julia Roberts television purpose ? Of course . The Starz seriesGaslit , produced by Roberts’Homecomingcollaborator Sam Esmail , mold the actress as Martha Mitchell , a gossipy Republican socialite who became an improbable Watergate whistleblower amid her married man ’s involvement in Richard Nixon ’s infamous malicious gossip . Donning a chunky Southern accent and a performative appealingness that conceal deep layer of hurt , Roberts command an ensemble show that would gain from a little less ensemble and a portion more Roberts . — Matthew Jacobs

14.Mona Lisa Smile(2003)

take at the prison term to be Roberts ’ next big Oscar vehicle , Mona Lisa Smilefaded from the awards derby when middling reviews annulled its likely glory . critic did n’t eff a upright matter when they saw it . The underrated dramedy starring Roberts as a immature Wellesley art story professor in 1953 who pep up her student to want more for themselves than hubby should not be send away because its portrait of mid - century gender dynamics traffic in frothiness alternatively of headiness . Surrounded by an all - star digest shape ( Kirsten Dunst ! Maggie Gyllenhaal ! Julia Stiles ! Marcia Gay Harden ! ) , Roberts is the movie ’s fiery , likable focal point , suitably earnest in a role that plays to her strong determination . — MJ

13.Ben Is Back(2018)

The ever - shifting moral force between Ben , a struggling junky played by Lucas Hedges , and his female parent Holly , take on with nerve and determination by Roberts , give this small - scaled quality study its much - require striking billing . Even if the plot occasionally feels contrived , attempting to gin up suspense and tenseness with some mostly unwelcome thriller measure , the strained relationship between Hedges and Robets remains wisely graduated and cautiously observe . The two are incredibly strong together , grounding the melodrama around them . The insights into dependance volunteer up byBen Is Backare shopworn — nothing you have n’t examine from standardised tales of upper - social class domestic life disrupted by drug use — but the performance keep the flick from drift into after - school - special territory.—DJ

12.Stepmom(1998)

Just thinking aboutStepmommakes me tear up . Julia Roberts plays the titulary stepmom , Isabel , a lensman who live in the shadow of Jackie ( Susan Sarandon ) , her boyfriend ’s kids ' mother , who is fiercely devoted to them and skeptical of Isabel , to say the least Roberts apply that infamous smile and appealingness to endeavor to squirm her style into the child ’s hearts , but when Jackie is diagnosed with a terminal sickness , the scenes between Roberts and Sarandon are absolutely electric . It ’s like watching a master form between two incredible actresses during their heights.—KC

11.The Pelican Brief(1993)

Roberts ' early-’90s youthfulness is put to good use by director Alan J. Pakula at the outset of this still - thrilling John Grisham version . In its early moment , she ’s a queer law student who comes up with a theory as to who is behind the execution of two Supreme Court Book of Judges . But when the masses in power get wind of her oeuvre and she ’s under fire , that sunny inquisitiveness turn into haunt paranoia . The Pelican Briefalso copulate Roberts with Denzel Washington , a squad - up that should have breed several more film . Washington , playing a journalist , part pursuing Darby as a origin , but they become more like pardner , slowly open up up to each other . There ’s no amorous patch contrast between them , but they crackle nevertheless . — EZ

10.Closer(2004)

Cate Blanchett was initially slated to play the Julia Roberts role in Mike Nichols ' big - screen adaption of Patrick Marber ’s Tony - nominated play . Today , Blanchett ’s casting seems distressingly obvious . Part of what ’s novel aboutCloser — a sultry , slippery dramatic play about negotiations between lover — is seeing Roberts in what is probably the close she ’s ever come up to an art - house role . She arrive the flick ’s best line , burst out as she tells her swain ( Clive Owen ) that her doxy ’s ejaculation " tastes like you but sweeter . " This is n’t America ’s lulu capitalize on the firebrand she ’d built ; in her brooding restraint , Roberts finds liberation . — MJ

9.Mystic Pizza(1988)

Not every actor come by a star - making role as they ’re launching their career , but Roberts ' breakout role inMystic Pizzais proof that she was always destined to be an A - lister She was among the terra incognita ( also including Annabeth Gish and Lili Taylor ) who conduce this amount - of - age celluloid about three teenage female child working at a Connecticut pizzeria and learning to voyage class , love , and sex . As the effervescent , outspoken Daisy , it ’s hard to nail on the button where Roberts became America ’s sweetheart . It could be when she scramble the prep at puddle , tells off her date , or pours a barrel of fish into his Porsche . Maybe it ’s all of the above , since she makes Daisy feel like every ballbuster you wished you were friends with . In hisreviewof the film , Roger Ebert wrote , " I have a tone thatMystic Pizzamay someday become screw for the movie stars it showcased back before they became adept . " He could n’t have been more right : It was all there in Roberts ' enchant comportment and cheek - to - cheek smile , soothe and quick as a pizza pie . — Sadie Bell

8.Sleeping with the Enemy(1991)

It would have been well-off for Julia Roberts to call on her case , Laura — a woman trying to piece her life back together after escaping a horrifically scurrilous husband ( Patrick Bergin)—into a flinch violet , yet another cliché in a movie work up on the sort of twists and plot beats you could find in a punk Lifetime movie . But , because this is Julia Roberts we ’re speak about , she alternatively plays Laura with a hidden sword , hinting with gestures rather than words at her luxurious program to fake her last and escape her idyllic prison , rat her emotion with only a devious flick of an centre or the twitching of an arm . Her embodiment of Laura is so double-dyed that when she smiles her renowned joyful smile you may only feel stand-in , and when she set her jaw with the line " I ’ve just kill an intruder " delivered justly to the face of the military man who ruined her life , you may only cheer . — ES

7.Notting Hill(1999)

Julia Roberts is possibly the only genius in Hollywood who can maintain the meta power of her own stardom to such capital effect , andNotting Hillis a pure example of it . In the Richard Curtis - script romantic comedy directed by Roger Michell , she play Anna Scott , a movie star who is a lot like Julia Roberts . One day Anna wanders into a quaint travel bookstore owned by Hugh Grant ’s William Thacker , and the next thing you know , she ’s just a girl , standing in front of a male child , asking him to love her . With another star , the self - mention might seem annoying , but Roberts manages to equilibrise her unmistakable twinkle with echt humanity . It ’s a role only Julia could nail . — EZ

6.Ocean’s ElevenandOcean’s Twelve(2001 and 2004)

Steven Soderbergh ’s adorably glitzy , winningly ego - referentialOcean’strilogy school a boys'-club mental capacity , sell the spectator on a fantasy of manly friendly relationship defined by intriguer suits , sarcastic quips , and elaborate schemes . But it ’s gentle to bury how much the first movie relies on Roberts , trifle ex - married woman Tess to George Clooney ’s ex - con Danny Ocean , to sell the fundamental premiss and furnish a dollop of pathos to the caper narration . More than the money , she ’s the whole reason for the rip-off . If that dinner view between her and Clooney , filmed with a like sensory faculty of sexual tautness Soderbergh brought toOut of Sight , does n’t work , then the whole movie does n’t go . It succeed because Roberts bring a steely elegance and a melancholy centre to Tess : When she shout Danny a " liar " and a " stealer , " the word sting . That she gets to have so much fun going meta in the ( still underrated ) sequel feels like the wages for having pull off something so precise , plenteous , and difficult in the original.—DJ

5.Steel Magnolias(1989)

Roberts had testify to the world a class prior that she was an actress to yield tending to when she stole the show inMystic Pizza , but her dramatic breakout came 12 months later on , when she and the rest of its star - dot cast wrung our snag ducts dry withSteel Magnolias . Roberts plays Shelby Eatenton , a bride - to - be whose hopes of starting a family with her succeeding married man ( Dylan McDermott ) are strained by her rare and extreme cast of diabetes , put up an anchor around which the cast whirl in ever - faster ambit . Going toe - to - toe with the divas of the silver screen — Sally Field , Dolly Parton , Shirley MacLaine , Daryl Hannah , and Olympia Dukakis — so early in her career was no jape , but Roberts was more than up to the challenge , essay herself an adequate to the veteran names that bolstered the rest of the moving-picture show . Lines like " I would rather have 30 minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing particular " would fathom saccharine from anyone else , but Roberts knows on the button where to put the wrinkle in her brow and the wobble in her vocalisation to make them classic . — ES

4.Homecoming(2018)

By 2018 , when Roberts starred in the Amazon seriesHomecoming , the kinds of picture show that made her a star were n’t being made any longer . In the post - Big Little Lieslandscape , the juicy character for women of her geological era were on video . Thankfully , Homecominggave Roberts one of those roles . In the twisty serial ground on a podcast and farm byMr . Robot ’s Sam Esmail , she ’s Heidi , a therapist at the cryptic Homecoming Initiative work with traumatize veterinarian . But when the narrative jumps ahead into the time to come , Heidi ca n’t retrieve any of her yesteryear . Roberts navigates these timelines excellently , but it ’s her relationship with Stephan James , playing a former soldier questioning the process , that makes this one of her top performances . — EZ

3.Pretty Woman(1990)

Meg Ryan , Michelle Pfeiffer , Molly Ringwald , and many other A - listers auditioned for or turned downPretty Womanbefore theatre director Gary Marshall acquire a chance on a comparatively nameless 21 - twelvemonth - old Roberts . But like the movie ’s " Cinder - fuckin - ella " story , it ’s what launched her into right stardom . She was n’t just the perfect pick to play sex worker Vivian Ward because of the way she ruffle down Hollywood Boulevard in second joint - high iron heel , though ; Roberts translate and convey with nuance how of import both the fairy - tale romance and capitalistic underpinnings were . Like Richard Gere ’s Edward Lewis , we ’re charmed by her as she ’s singing Prince in the bathtub ( in a famouslyunscripted tantrum ) and cackling with laughter when she feel out of post in a ballgown . She ’s lovely , smart , and witty , and makes you feel elated with every rewatch when she finally gets to one - up the snobs on Rodeo Drive . Even still , it ’s an dead priceless performance . — SB

2.My Best Friend’s Wedding(1997)

The movie that resuscitate Roberts ' rom - com running in the ' 90s and coronate hertherom - com fagot was a subversive spin on the writing style . By no means is this a display case for Roberts the charmer : Her character , Julianne , gets about as maniacal as any rom - com will allow , undertake to countermine her best champion ’s ( Dermot Mulroney ) wedding . The star proudly suppose " I do " to all of the foul high jinks that result in a manner that lets her comedic chop shine . ( She ’s so convincing , we ’re still not sure if we ’d need to dokaraokewith her . ) But even in all that spitefulness , she find a fashion for the audience to root for her up until that black final chase succession because she taps into how bereft and lonely Julianne must be . It ’s safe to say that this topsy - turvy rom - com may not have had the lasting bequest that it did without Roberts ' star baron and balancing bit as the anti - heroine.—SB

1.Erin Brockovich(2000)

It may be a pig - out to put Roberts ' Oscar - winning film at the top of this list , but her work inErin Brockovichas the nominal effectual aid wrick activist is so unimpeachable it belongs here . Steven Soderbergh give Roberts the perfect vehicle to show off the wealth of her talents in this biopic . The character meet her bravado and charm in equal measures , as she stamp around in a push - up bra with a funky mouth and the passion to correct a rich wrong . Erin Brockovichis great because of Soderbergh ’s uptight counselling , his cryptical well of anxiousness that makes it more upsetting than your distinctive feel - unspoiled " based on a true story " saga , but it ’s Roberts ' charisma funnel into this image that makes it an all - timer . — EZ

julia roberts best movies