Julia Roberts collects $20 million for Erin Brockovich
With Erin Brockovich released on this day in 2000 Julia Roberts becomes the first actress ever to command 20 million per movie.Born in Smyrna Georgia on October 28 1967 Roberts followed her brother Eric into acting making her film debut in 1988s girl-band drama Satisfaction.Her bona-fide breakout onto Hollywoods A-list came in 1990 with the release of the box-office smash Pretty Woman.As Vivian Ward a Hollywood Boulevard prostitute who charms a wealthy businessman (Richard Gere) into a happily-ever-after ending Roberts grinned her way to her first Best Actress Oscar nomination.
She had previously snagged an Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category for her performance in the 1989 tear-jerker Steel Magnolias.After another blockbuster (1993s The Pelican Brief) and a string of relative disappointments (including 1996s Mary Reilly) Roberts returned with a box-office bang in My Best Friends Wedding (1997) in which she deftly upended her Americas sweetheart reputation by playing a character who desperately schemes to steal another womans fiancee.In 1999 Roberts made two more high-profile romantic comedies Notting Hill and The Runaway Bride which re-teamed her with Gere though critics panned the latter film both were huge hits.Roberts then signed on for the title role in the director Steven Soderberghs Erin BrockovichBy that time 20 million had become the standard paycheck for Hollywoods A-list male movie stars including Mel Gibson Tom Hanks Tom Cruise and Sylvester Stallone among others.Roberts was the first female performer to command this amount.
As was reported in Newsweek at the time of Erin Brockovichs release Universal Pictures was initially reluctant to hand Roberts her record-breaking paycheck.Her agent Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas reportedly convinced the studio by pointing out the injustice of Hollywoods double standard.With five movies that grossed more than 100 million Goldsmith-Thomas argued Roberts was well worth the same paycheck as male stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio or Adam Sandler each of whom had commanded 20 million after scoring only one hit of that magnitude.Roberts Erin Brockovich haul put her far out in front of her closest peers at the time Meg Ryan and Jodie Foster who had reportedly each made 15 million for a single movie.
In Erin Brockovich Roberts proved worthy of her enormous paycheck leading the film to more than 125 million at the U.S.box office and five Oscar nominations including Best Picture.Dressed in black-and-white vintage Valentino a tearful and triumphant Roberts took home the statuette for Best Actress at the 73rd annual Academy Awards.
Though other actresses including Cameron Diaz Renee Zellweger and Reese Witherspoon have since passed the 20 million mark Roberts smashed the glass ceiling again in 2003 earning 25 million for Mona Lisa Smile.The film was a relative disappointment at the box office and her paycheck alone equaled almost 40 percent of its domestic earnings.
