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Discourse surrounding "nepo babies," celebrities that have family already involved in some facet of the industry, has grown over the past few years, and many of the celebs themselves have shared their thoughts on the matter. Now, a new familiar face has weighed in on the subject.
Emma Roberts, who comes from a famous Hollywood family that includes the likes of her father, Runaway Train actor Eric Roberts, and A-list actress aunt Julia Roberts, said there are "two sides of the coin" when discussing nepo babies and that people shouldn't be "called out for wanting to follow their dream," per Entertainment Tonight.
While appearing on a recent episode of the Table for Two podcast, the American Horror Story actress, who made her acting debut at 9 years old in the movie Blow, said must of the conversation surrounding nepo babies focuses on young girls and women finding their way in the industry and seems to let it slide when it comes to men.
"I always joke, 'Why is no one calling out George Clooney for being a nepo baby? [His aunt] Rosemary Clooney was an icon,'" she said. "I feel like young girls get it harder with the nepo baby thing. Like, I don't really see people calling out sons of famous actors."
The Unfabulous actress also said that people looking at her career from the outside don't understand all that went in to her landing acting roles.
"People only see your wins, because they only see when you're on the poster of a movie — they don't see all the rejection along the way," she said, adding, "People like to say, you know, you have a leg up because you have family in the industry. But then the other side to that is, you have to prove yourself more. Also, if people don't have good experiences with other people in your family, then you'll never get a chance."
While acknowledging that she had help breaking into the TV and film industry, Roberts noted that it's not all fun and games, pointing to the "really scary" aspects of fame that she saw "very up close" with her Pretty Woman star aunt, something she doesn't want for herself.
"Fame has never been the goal, because fame at a certain level is kind of scary," she said, adding, "There's nothing scarier to me than being so famous that you're never left alone, but also you're not getting good jobs."