Eliza Roberts
From as early as 1976, in an episode of the groundbreaking sitcom All In The Family, Eliza Roberts, wife of Eric Roberts, has been acting in theater, television, and film. She was born into the business. Eliza has been in such classics as Animal House (1978), St. Elsewhere (1986), and in her current film projects she teams up with her husband in the upcoming film, The Way Shower (2010) and First Dog, which is soon to be released.
Independent Film Quarterly’s Rich Rossi talked with Eliza Roberts about growing up in show business and her working relationship with her husband Eric Roberts.
IFQ: Can you tell you tell me about your acting career and how you got started in show business?
Eliza Roberts: I grew up in the business. My mom, Lila Garrett, was a writer, producer and director, and she now has a radio show. She introduced me to theater, television, and film. My biological father, David Rayfiel, is a screenwriter and my adopted father , Don Garrett, was a publicist for everything from Screen Gems to The Flintstones and The Jetsons to The Supremes and The Jackson 5. I started acting as a child and so did Eric. I always was an actress.
IFQ: You are working on a film with Eric currently titled The Way Shower, which is directed by Jsu Garcia. Have you worked on films with Eric in the past?
ER: We did Love Is a Gun together with Kelly Preston, and we acted in other films together as well.
IFQ: What was it like working with your husband on a film?
ER: Actually, the hardest thing I had to with my husband was a love scene, because I had to do a love scene with him and another actor in the same movie. Other than that, I find him really fun to work with. We always run our lines together. Anyway, so we pretty much work together 24 hours a day.
IFQ: How do you find relaxation away from the business?
ER: We’re really involved in some causes like child abuse prevention. We have this motto: “When in doubt, give.” We do a lot of hands-on work. We work with kids, anger management, anti-violence and lots of animal rescue organizations. Our kids are involved with that stuff also.
IFQ: Is there ever a time that you just want to escape from everything and take a vacation and forget who you are and the business that you are in? [Laughs.]
ER: [Laughs.] Definitely, we love to stay home.
IFQ: [Laughs.] So a vacation for you is not to take a vacation, but to stay home and hide out from the world?
ER: [Laughs.] Exactly.
IFQ: Eric has done everything from the big blockbuster films to the smaller independent films. It’s wonderful that you give filmmakers hope that they can work with actors of his and your nature and talent. Can you tell us why you do the independent and low-budget films?
ER: That’s good to hear. I’m glad it has that effect on filmmakers—the idea of making someone’s dream by showing up. What a fantastic gift that is for us!
IFQ: What is your role in your current film project ?
ER: Eric and I play husband and wife, which we’ve done before.
IFQ: [Laughs.] You do it in real life, as well.
ER: [Laughs.] Yeah, how do you like that? Hollywood would not usually cast a contemporary of his. It’s usually someone much younger, so it’s unique and special. I’m very close friends with David Duchovny; I just went to see his movie, The Joneses, that just opened with Demi Moore. That was interesting because they play a grown-up couple, as well. In our movie, it’s a true story about real people. I play Eric’s wife in this and it spans over 20 years. The film is about mining.
IFQ: What are you working on next?
ER: We’re working on a reality show called Working Actor. It’s about coaching, prepping and the business of the business. There are people who are very interested in acting, but have no access to the business. This gives aspiring actors access to the inner workings of the business. In addition, we are in the process of releasing our most recent film, First Dog.
IFQ: You were with Eric when he was working on The Expendables. What’s it like being on set with Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li, and Bruce Willis?
ER: When it’s that kind of cast and group, you really know you are a part of film history. It was like The Dark Knight; it’s a big deal. That was really fun.
*Photo Credit: Eliza Roberts