Emma Roberts Has One Famous Parent — But It's Not the Person You're Thinking

We know what you're thinking, but Emma Roberts is not the daughter of Julia Roberts. However, you’d be forgiven to think that the 33-year-old actress is the offspring of the 56-year-old actress. They do kinda look alike, don’t they?

While Julia is not Emma’s mom, Emma does have some relatively famous parents. With American Horror Story: Delicate premiering soon and Emma sharing a kiss with another person with relatively famous parents in the trailer, Kim Kardashian, it has us wondering — who are Emma Roberts’s parents?

Emma’s parents are Eric Roberts and Kelly Cunningham. The pair had Emma on Feb. 10, 1991, and the two were a couple from 1988 until after Emma was born.

Emma’s dad Eric is a well-known actor, and to say that he works a lot is an understatement. He has a whopping 730 acting credits on IMDB, with 74 upcoming roles. You may remember him from The Dark Knight, The Expendables, Suits, The Righteous Gemstones, Runaway Train, Star 80 and 700 (!!!) more roles.

If you don’t recognize Eric from one of his hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of roles, he also played the bad guy in The Killers' music video for “Mr. Brightside.”

Oh, and did we mention that he's also the older brother of aforementioned Julia Roberts? That's right — while Julia isn't Emma's mom, she's actually her aunt. So, they are related after all.

Unlike her former partner Eric, Kelly Cunningham was not an actress. The relatively private woman is a former teacher and was the parent who primarily raised Emma.

She’s a proud momma and grandma, which is obvious if you follow her on Instagram. Her bio is, “Mama to Emma and Grace. Mims to Rhodes. Very thankful. Be kind,” and most every post is about her children and grandchild.

When Emma appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live in October, 2020 she shared that her mom accidentally revealed Emma’s pregnancy on Instagram: "I was keeping my pregnancy pretty low-key, but unfortunately my mother has Instagram. She spilled the beans."

Emma gave birth to Rhodes Robert Hedlund on Dec. 27, 2020, and Kelly has been sharing photos and videos of her grandson ever since.

In the March 2022 Tatler cover story about Emma, she spoke about the influence of her aunt, Julia Roberts, visiting the sets of Erin Brockovich, and being an extra on America’s Sweetheart: “I’d write the wardrobe tags and organize the make-up brushes and watch how they did their continuity books. I would ask questions without a filter. This industry really is 'learn as you go.'"

When asked about living up to her famous aunt’s stature, Emma dismissed it as a concern. “I never aspired to be her. I love her so much, I love her work, but I’m just doing my own thing.”

Julia had similar sentiments about her niece a decade earier. In a Los Angeles Times piece from Dec. 26, 2013, she said, "When she comes to stay with us, I always think, 'Please let her be the same' — and she is still the same magical girl she used to be. I think so much of it has to do with your intentions in taking on a business like this. If you have a pure view of what you want to accomplish, I think you can maintain your sense of self."

The father of Emma’s son is Tron: Legacy and Mudbound actor Garrett Hedlund. People reported they broke up in January 2022.

Their child's godfather is also a name you’ll recognize: country music star Tim McGraw.