Trivia - Eric Roberts

When I was a teenager back in the 1980s, one of the biggest movie stars around was Eric Roberts. With his bad-boy good looks, magnetic screen presence, and intense acting style, he was the kind of star who made headlines — and made hearts race.

From his breakout in King of the Gypsies to The Pope of Greenwich Village and Star 80, Roberts brought a raw, sexy realism to the screen that made women swoon and men want to be him. Over a career spanning five decades, he’s proven to be a true Hollywood chameleon — slipping effortlessly from one role to the next, always surprising us with his versatility.

So when I recently had the privilege of speaking with him for a full hour on my podcast, I’ll admit — my teenage self was absolutely starstruck. In celebration of that incredible conversation (featured in Hollywood Obsessed Episodes 143 & 144), I’ve put together a fun, nostalgic, and slightly obsessive trivia list highlighting some of the most fascinating moments from his remarkable career.

So grab your popcorn and get ready to test your knowledge about this legendary Hollywood star!

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He was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, and raised in Atlanta, Georgia.

His parents, Betty Lou Bredemus and Walter Grady Roberts, were actors and playwrights who co-founded the Atlanta Actors and Writers Workshop and ran a children’s acting school in Decatur, Georgia.

He is the older brother of Julia Roberts and Lisa Roberts Gillan.

He graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1977.

Before breaking into films, Roberts appeared on two soap operas — Another World and How to Survive a Marriage — where he originated the role of Ted Bancroft.

He became a star at just 22 years old with his first film, King of the Gypsies (1978), which earned him his first Golden Globe nomination.

Producer Dino De Laurentiis originally wanted Richard Gere or John Travolta for the lead role of King of the Gypsies before casting Roberts.

Director Peter Bogdanovich was originally attached to direct King of the Gypsies; a few years later, Roberts would play Paul Snider in Star 80 (1983) — a story connected to Bogdanovich’s real-life relationship with model & actress Dorothy Stratten.

His performance in Star 80 as Paul Snider earned him a Golden Globe nomination, and both Hugh Hefner and Bob Fosse (the film’s director) praised the portrayal — Fosse even told Roberts that Snider was the kind of man he might’ve become had he failed in show business.

On June 4, 1981, he was driving in Connecticut with then-girlfriend Sandy Dennis's German Shepherd in the passenger seat when he crashed his jeep into a tree. While the dog escaped serious injury, Roberts spent 72 hours in a coma and was hospitalized for more than a month, forcing him to drop out of the Broadway show Mass Appeal.

He co-starred with Mickey Rourke in The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), one of the definitive cult classics of the 1980s.

He starred in Runaway Train (1985), earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the escaped convict Buck; the award went to Don Ameche for Cocoon.

Runaway Train received three Oscar nominations total but won none.

Some of his boxing choreography in the film Runaway Train was done by Danny Trejo.

In The Coca-Cola Kid (1985), his love scene with Greta Scacchi was famously filmed in a single take.

He won the Theatre World Award in 1987 for his Broadway debut in Burn This.

He made only one film with his sister Julia Roberts — Blood Red (1989).

He studied martial arts for Best of the Best (1989) and earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do after extensive training with co-star Chris Penn.

Roberts starred in It’s My Party (1996), one of the first major films to address AIDS and dying with dignity. Due to the film’s limited budget, he lent his own white horse for flashback scenes, while director Randal Kleiser used his own home for filming.

That same year, he portrayed murderer Perry Smith in the miniseries In Cold Blood (1996).

Also in 1996, Roberts became the only non-British actor (and the only Oscar nominee) to play the Master in Doctor Who: The Movie. He remains the only performer to have played villains in both the Doctor Who and Batman franchises.

He co-starred with Jon Voight again in Most Wanted (1997).

From 2002 to 2005, he appeared on the sitcom Less Than Perfect, earning a Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor.

In the early 2000s, Roberts became a fixture in music videos — appearing in Ja Rule’s “Down Ass Bitch” and “Down 4 U,” Mariah Carey’s “It’s Like That” and “We Belong Together,” and The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” and “Miss Atomic Bomb,” reprising the same suave villain in both.

He has worked with Mickey Rourke in four films: they co-starred in 1984's The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), in 2002's Spun (2002), Roberts had a glorified cameo in Rourke's film and in 2010's The Expendables (2010), Rourke had more of a glorified cameo to Roberts' bad-guy role, but they had no scenes together in this one and A Hitman in London (2015).

He appeared as mob boss Sal Maroni in The Dark Knight (2008), who hires the Joker to kill Batman — a role originally wanted by James Gandolfini. Roberts later called filming The Dark Knight “one of the most pleasant experiences” of his career.

He appeared in Rihanna’s music video “B**** Better Have My Money” (2015).

He played a bartender in Enrique Iglesias’s “El Baño” (2018).

He appeared as Robert Roy, the father of Margot Robbie’s character, in Babylon (2022). Though his scene with Robbie was cut, he praised her performance as “electric.”

He has filmed movies in more than 17 countries worldwide.

In 2024, Roberts released his memoir Runaway Train: Or, The Story of My Life So Far, co-written with Sam Kashner and published by Macmillan. It explores his early life, career, addiction struggles, and family relationships.

He competed on Dancing with the Stars Season 33, partnered with Britt Stewart, and finished in 10th place.

The fourth season of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew documented his dependency on medical marijuana.

Eric Roberts has now amassed over 700 film and television credits, making him one of the most prolific English-speaking actors in history.

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Some facts in this post were sourced from IMDb and Wikipedia.

If you enjoyed this list of fun facts, take an even deeper dive into Eric Roberts’s incredible life and career with my brand-new two-part interview with the Oscar-nominated actor on the latest episodes of Hollywood Obsessed Podcast!

Episode 143 – HERE

Episode 144 – HERE

Packed with exclusive behind-the-scenes stories and never-before-heard memories, this is one conversation no movie fan should miss!