Julia Roberts Isn’t the Only Famous Sibling in Her Family! Meet Eric, Lisa and Late Sister Nancy

When it comes to her loving family, Julia Roberts wears many hats. Not only is she a doting mom to her three kids, Hazel, Henry and Phinnaeus, and a beloved wife to her husband, Danny Moder, but the Pretty Woman star is a great sibling to her older brother, Eric Roberts, and her older sister, Lisa Roberts Gillan.

Julia is also the sister of her late half-sibling, Nancy Motes, who died at age 37 in 2014 of an apparent drug overdose. The Notting Hill actress spoke about Nancy’s death two months later, calling the situation “just heartbreak” during an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

“You don’t want anything bad to happen to anyone, but there are so many tragic, painful, inexplicable things in the world,” she emotionally shared. “But [as with] any situation of challenge and despair, we must find a way, as a family.”

Eric Roberts

The first child of the family, Julia’s older brother was born on April 18, 1956, to their parents, mom Betty Lou Bredemus and dad Walter Grady Roberts. The former couple raised Eric, Lisa and Julia together before ending their marriage after 17 years in 1972.

Despite his decades-long struggle with drug abuse, Eric paved quite the respected career as an actor. Per IMDb, he’s earned more than 700 acting credits to date, with his most famous roles in Best of the Best, The Dark Knight, Stalked By My Doctor, The Specialist, The Expendables and countless more.

With endless talent like Eric’s, it’s no surprise his only daughter, Emma Roberts, is following in his footsteps. The actor’s child — whom he shares with ex Kelly Cunningham — has become an A-lister herself, earning gigs in Scream Queens, American Horror Story and We’re the Millers.

Julia Roberts and Danny Moder Have an Amazing Family! Meet Their 3 Kids

Eric never wed his child’s mother, but he did say “I do” to his wife, Eliza Roberts. The lovebirds have been married since 1992. He is a stepdad to her two kids from a previous relationship.

In terms of his relationship with Julia, Robert said he’s “so proud” to be her sibling. “I can’t see straight,” Eric exclusively told Closer in 2019. “I’m also very proud of the fact that I gave the world the person that grew up to play Pretty Woman. Even I watch the movie once a year, just to feel good. It’s such fun.”

In September 2024, Eric began competing on season 33 of Dancing With the Stars with partner Britt Stewart.

Eric Roberts Is a Grandfather

Eric become a grandpa when Emma welcomed her first child, Rhodes Robert Hedlund, with actor Garrett Hedlund in December 2020. In addition to seeing his daughter become a mom for the first time, Eric has enjoyed watching her relationship blossom with her aunt Julia over the years. “They look so much alike that I love the pictures of them when they’re side-by-side,” the Suits actor told Us Weekly in May 2020. “It’s really cool to look at them. I love seeing them together.”

In July 2024, Eric made a shocking confession when asked about Julia during an episode of the “Still Here Hollywood” podcast.

“I love my sister, but I can’t talk about her,” he told Steve Kmetko during the episode. “She don’t want to talk about it.”

Eric explained that Emma was the one who cautioned him “not to talk about her, but I stumbled and do. I’m not supposed to talk about either of them. But I do.”

He went on to gush over Emma’s acting roles in recent years.

“I’m in love with my daughter’s work these days,” he said. “I can’t believe how great she’s become. … I’m so proud of her I can’t see straight.”

Eric Roberts Apologized to Julia Roberts

In an excerpt from his memoir, Runaway Train: Or the Story of My Life So Far, released by Entertainment Weekly in September 2024, Eric apologized to Julia for past comments about making her famous.

“Now one of the things I’d like to apologize for in this book is for publicly saying on more than one occasion, ‘If it wasn’t for me, there would be no Julia Roberts,’” he wrote. “That’s not only unfortunate, but it’s also untrue. And I hope Julie will accept this more public apology. It was an asinine thing to have said. I was proud of her, but it was pride turned on its head, to my own advantage.”

He then explained that he inspired Julia to move to New York City when she was younger, where she made her acting passions come alive.

“I was born to do this. I moved to New York City when I wasn’t even old enough to drink a beer in public,” Eric said. “If Julie had stayed in Atlanta, she’d probably have married a wealthy dude and lived a very different life. So I will take credit, once I had broken away from my father (or thought I had) and moved to New York City, for telling my sisters, ‘Come on up, girls; the water’s fine.’ That’s when, it seems to me, she saw my life as a young actor in New York, and saw what I was doing for my livelihood, and she wanted to try it.”

Eric went on to say that his sister is “a very driven woman,” and he believes someone would have “plucked her out of the crowd in a place like New York” without his help.

Lisa Roberts Gillan

Julia’s older sister was born on January 1, 1965 — less than three years before the film star arrived on October 28, 1967. As she grew up, Lisa paved a Hollywood career like her famous sister.

Per IMDb, she made her acting debut in 1988’s To Heal a Nation, and later earned credits in I Love Trouble, Friends, The Call Back, Runaway Bride, Sex and the City and more. She also worked as an executive producer on Julia’s hit show Homecoming, as well as Extraordinary Moms, Jesus Henry Christ and others.

As far as her personal life goes, Lisa has been married to her husband, Tony Gillan, since 1997.

Nancy Motes

Julia’s half-sister, Nancy, was born on May 19, 1976, during Betty Lou’s relationship with Michael Motes. Unlike her older siblings, Nancy stayed out of the spotlight for the majority of her life until it came to a tragic end in February 2014.

When Nancy died, her family released a statement, saying, “It is with deep sadness that the family of Nancy Motes … confirms that she was found dead in Los Angeles yesterday of an apparent drug overdose. There is no official report from the Coroner’s office yet. The family is both shocked and devastated.”

At the time of her death, Daily Mail reported she was engaged to her fiancé, John Dilbeck.

See Rare Photos of Julia Roberts and Danny Moder’s Eldest Son Phinnaeus

Nancy’s death was extremely hard on everyone, including siblings Lisa and Eric. “It’s only been 20 days. There aren’t words to explain what any of us have been through in these last 20 days,” Julia said at the time. “It’s so hard to formulate a sentence about it outside the weepy huddle of my family.”

Following Nancy’s sudden death, Eric candidly opened up about how he also struggled with drug abuse throughout his life. As he divulged in a 2018 interview with Vanity Fair, the Best of the Best actor was addicted to marijuana for “about 10 years” before getting clean.

“I would go to meetings with people that mattered, like Oliver Stone and Sean Penn … and I would go stoned. Woody Allen. I met him very stoned, and he dismissed me, as well he should have,” Eric recalled, noting he also dabbled with much harder drugs.

“You’d arrive [on the set], and they’d send you to the prop truck, where there’d be bowls of cocaine,” Eric shared. “I was doing it to the point where my wife said, ‘It’s me or the coke.'”

Fortunately, Eric got the help he needs and is doing better than ever today. “I was asking for help, saying, ‘You see where I’m at — now help me, because I’m worth helping,’” he said. “I get it now. I just didn’t get it when I should have.”