Emma Rose Roberts (born on February 10, 1991 in Rhinebeck, New York) is an American actress. Given her first break by Nickelodeon thanks to Unfabulous, she's gone on to hang around mermaids, English boarding schools, canines, and Hayden Panettiere (both advertised Neutrogena, both appeared on the soundtrack to Ice Princessnote though only Hayden actually appears in the movie as well, and both have key roles in Scream 4).
She was engaged to Evan Peters from 2014 to 2019. From 2019 to 2022, she was in a relationship with Garrett Hedlund, with whom she has a son, Rhodes. She is also the daughter of Eric Roberts and the niece of Julia Roberts.
Selected filmography:
- Blow (2001) as Young Kristina Jung
- America's Sweethearts (2001) as Girl in Purple T-Shirt
- Unfabulous (2004 — 2007) as Addie Singer
- Drake & Josh (2004)
- Aquamarine (2006) as Claire Brown
- Nancy Drew (2007) as Nancy Drew
- Wild Child (2008) (2008) as Poppy Moore
- The Flight Before Christmas (2008) as Wilma (voice; English dub)
- Hotel for Dogs (2009) as Andi
- Valentine's Day (2010) as Grace Smart
- 4.3.2.1 (2010) as Joanne
- It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010) as Noelle
- Take Two with Phineas and Ferb (2011): Herself
- Scream 4 (2011) as Jill Roberts
- Celeste and Jesse Forever (2012) as Riley Banks
- Family Guy (2013) as Amanda Barrington (voice)
- Adult World (2013) as Amy Anderson
- We're the Millers (2013) as Casey Mathis
- American Horror Story (2013 —) in various roles:
- American Horror Story: Coven (2013) as Madison Montgomery
- American Horror Story: Freak Show (2014 — 2015) as Maggie Esmerelda
- American Horror Story: Cult (2017) as Serena Belinda
- American Horror Story: Apocalypse (2018) as Madison Montgomery
- American Horror Story: 1984 (2019) as Brooke Thompson
- American Horror Story: Delicate (2023) as Anna Victoria Alcott
- Scream Queens (2015 — 2016) as Chanel Oberlin
- The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015) as Joan
- Nerve (2016) as Vee Delmonico
- Billionaire Boys Club (2018) as Sydney Evans
- Little Italy (2018) as Nicoletta "Nikki" Angioli
- Paradise Hills (2019) as Uma
- UglyDolls (2019) as Wedgehead (voice)
- The Hunt (2020) as Yoga Pants
- Abandoned (2022) as Sara
- Madame Web (2024) as Mary Parker
- Space Cadet (2024) as Rex Simpson
Tropes associated with Emma Roberts:
- Actor Allusion: In an episode of Scream Queens she makes a Nancy Drew joke to Grace. Emma herself has played Nancy Drew in a movie.
- Career Resurrection: Scream 4 made her a truly desirable actress again after the underwhelming results of Hotel for Dogs.
- The Danza: Last name variety. She plays Jill Roberts in Scream 4.
- Dye Hard: A natural brunette who is best known as a blonde. In 2025, Emma even dyed her hair red👁 Image
, prompting the inevitable comparisons with her aunt Julia. - Futureshadowing: As it turns out, Scream 4 wasn't the first time Emma donned the Ghostface mask - she had also worn it when she was 7 years old👁 Image
. - Genre Killer: Hotel for Dogs marked the swan song for Roberts' family-friendly image and Nice Girl roles, while Scream 4 gave birth to a darker but spunkier Roberts, rebooting her acting career. Roberts would not return to the family genre until UglyDolls.
- Kaleidoscope Hair: Much like her aunt Julia Roberts before her, Emma Roberts has been known to dye her natural brunette hair blonde, other shades of brown, and even red.
- Playing Against Type: Playing a crazed fame whore in Scream 4 was originally a surprise twist. Since then, Emma has played a Bratty Half-Pint in Wild Child and Alpha Bitches in American Horror Story and Scream Queens, effectively resetting her image. Since then, Nerve played against her new type, by giving her a return to more sympathetic characters.
- Reality Subtext: She is a huge JoJo fan, which helps add to the dependency her character Claire feels to Jojo's Hailey in Aquamarine.
- Romance on the Set: Began a seven-year relationship with Evan Peters after they met on the set of Adult World.
- Those Two Actors: She's made three films with Rory Culkin (Lymelife, Twelve and Scream 4) and also stars with Billie Lourd in Scream Queens, Billionaire Boys Club and three seasons of American Horror Story.
- Tom Hanks Syndrome: During her Unfabulous years, Emma did family-friendly films. After the series ended, she went to a mature and darker route with films such as Wild Child and Scream 4.
- Typecasting: In her teen star days, she was likely to play a Plucky Girl or some kind of Woobie. Since entering her twenties, she's carved out a niche playing various Alpha Bitches.
- What Could Have Been: She was offered the role of Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad before Margot Robbie was cast, but turned it down due to filming commitments to Scream Queens. The producers of 2021's Dune wanted Roberts for Princess Irulan, but she wasn't free.
