Julia Roberts' brother Eric 'would love' to play onscreen siblings with her

Julia Roberts’ brother Eric says that he would love to play siblings in a movie with his off-screen sister, scotching long-standing rumours of a rift between the two.

Eric Roberts and Julia were rumoured to have endured a difficult relationship over the years, but the 66-year-old star of The Dark Knight says that he’s never fallen out with his sister in the way that it has been reported.

In fact, he claims he’s ‘email buddies’ with his sister, and loves the close relationship that his daughter and fellow actor Emma Roberts has with her.

While speaking on the podcast Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef, Roberts said that the whole thing has been blown out of proportion.

He explained: “Julia and I have always been fine,

“I think years and years ago, I was doing a press tour for some movie … It was just when Pretty Woman [had been] released, and so they’re asking a bunch of questions about Julia. And I said, ‘Hey, excuse me. Can we talk about me?’”

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He continued: “Suddenly … I keep hearing about [these issues] I have with my sister that I don’t [actually] have with my sister.

“They’re just popping up all over the place, and I’m asked about them as if they’re real issues. [I’d say,] ‘Oh, I wasn’t aware of that.’ …

“[It] blew up and blew up and became all these things it wasn’t and [there was gossip that] we don’t agree on a lot of things.

“My sister and I, though, we’ve always talked, we’ve always bitched. I’ve always had fun, [we’ve always] known each other.

“Simple as that.”

With that cleared up, The Expendables star has also spoken in the past about how he would love to act alongside his daughter and sister as on-screen family members.

When asked about the prospect, he said: "Are you kidding, I would love that [to work with Emma].

“I'd also love my sister to play my sister.”

However, the road hasn’t always been easy for the Roberts clan, though.

The actor has struggled over the years with addiction, and recognises that it might have made him tough to be around.

In 2018, Roberts told Vanity Fair: "I wouldn't characterise it as a falling-out. I was crazy about my sisters.

“Loved them, adored them. They were precious to me, and we had times of great closeness. We all felt very protective of each other, but the hardest person to protect yourself from is yourself."

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He added: "I was exhausting to be around: complainy, blamey, unable to enjoy enjoyment,

"Everyone in my world needed a break sometimes, and that must have included Julia."

However, the pair never had the kind of fallout that has been publicised, and when Julia and husband Danny Moder welcomed twins in 2004, Eric and his with Eliza went along to ‘drop off gifts’ and were ‘ushered into their room and was immediately awash in brotherly and uncle-ly love’.

So, it seems as if everything is fine nowadays, which is good, right?