The Best of Julia Roberts

Since she first hit the big screen in the '80s, Julia Roberts has established herself as more than just a killer smile. In the mystery thriller 'Secret in Their Eyes,' the Oscar-winning actress turns in another powerful performance as an FBI agent searching for the killer of her teenage daughter. Here's a look at some of her other memorable roles that made her a true movie star.

This coming-of-age story charts the lives of three waitresses working at Mystic Pizza in Mystic, Connecticut. The film stars a very young Julia Roberts and Annabeth Gish as sisters whose rivalry has no limits, and Lili Taylor as their wisecracking coworker. Fresh out of high school, the three embark in romantic relationships as they attempt to escape their small town.

Roberts had us in tears in 'Steel Magnolias' and her performance garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Based on Robert Harling's original stage play, the film follows the lives of six Southern belles in Louisiana. Roberts plays Sally Field’s daughter, whose deteriorating diabetic state leads the group of women to grow closer together.  

Who knew that playing a hooker could win so many people over? Fresh off playing a terminally ill housewife in 'Steel Magnolias,' Roberts took a role that many A-list stars turned down. Originally intended to be a dark drama, this romantic comedy catapulted Roberts to stardom and became one of the highest moneymakers of the ‘90s. 

With a budget estimated at $25 million, 1996's 'Michael Collins' became one of the most expensive films Ireland had ever produced. The film is a historic biopic starring Liam Neeson as General Michael Collins, the Irish patriot and revolutionary who died in the Irish Civil War. Roberts plays his fiancée.

Roger Ebert called 'Everyone Says I Love You' some of Woody Allen’s best work. The musical comedy stars Roberts, Goldie Hawn, Edward Norton, Drew Barrymore and Natalie Portman as a well-off group of people with romantic troubles.

Julianne Potter, a 27-year-old restaurant critic (Roberts), finds out that her longtime friend is getting married in just a few days. Back in college, the two made a pact that if they weren’t married by 28, they would marry each other. It becomes an old promise Julianne can’t shake off so she decides to sabotage her best friend’s wedding and win him back.

It was only a matter of time before Roberts was paired with British rom-com king Hugh Grant. The two romanced each other in 'Notting Hill,' one of the highest grossing rom-coms of the year. Set in London, Grant plays a bookstore owner whose life changes when he meets an A-list Hollywood star (Roberts).

Steven Soderbergh’s biographical film took Roberts from being America’s sweetheart to bona fide Oscar winner. The film follows the story of an unemployed single mother of three who lands a filing clerk job -- and uncovers a California company polluting a city’s water supply. The film received numerous awards including five Oscar nominations. Watch Roberts' Oscar acceptance speech here .

Mike Newell’s 'Mona Lisa Smile' crowned Roberts the highest paid actress in Hollywood, earning a whopping $25 million for the film. In it, she plays a progressive professor at a conservative liberal arts college during the 1950s hoping to influence the next generation of women to seek careers. Teaching others to be freethinkers, though, proves to be a daunting task.

Reteaming with Steven Soderbergh, Roberts joined the celebrity ensemble cast of 'Ocean’s Twelve,' the sequel to 2001’s 'Ocean’s Eleven.' Danny Ocean (George Clooney) recruits one more team member (Roberts) to successfully pull off three heists. Roberts, who plays Clooney’s wife, assists by playing -- a pregnant Julia Roberts. 

Roberts plays Anna, a photographer based in London who cheats on her boyfriend (Clive Owen) with Dan (Jude Law), an unsuccessful British writer who's dating a young American girl named Alice (Natalie Portman). Directed by Mike Nichols, the film earned positive reviews and Roberts went on to work with Nichols again in 2007’s 'Charlie Wilson’s War' alongside Tom Hanks.

Roberts, Reba McEntire, Oprah Winfrey, Kathy Bates and Steve Buscemi lent their voices to E.B. White's classic children's story adaptation 'Charlotte’s Web.' Roberts voices Charlotte the spider, who helps Wilbur the pig scheme a plan so that he never becomes dinner.

Roberts reunites with her 'Closer' costar Clive Owen as a pair of corporate spies who share a steamy past. Together, they try to pull off the ultimate con job on their bosses.

Based on Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-selling memoir comes the drama 'Eat Pray Love' with Roberts as Elizabeth Gilberts, a married, successful modern-day woman who has it all but is still unhappy. Desperately trying to find herself, she divorces her husband and takes off on a round-the-world journey. Javier Bardem, James Franco and Richard Jenkins costar.

Playing a captain in the U.S. Army on a one-day leave, Roberts joined the A-list ensemble cast of Valentine’s Day. Directed by Gary Marshall, the film follows the lives of couples and singles in Los Angeles trying to cope with the pressures and expectations brought on by Valentine’s Day. Roberts shares her on-screen moments with Bradley Cooper. Anne Hathaway, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Topher Grace, Ashton Kutcher, Patrick Dempsey and Jessica Alba round up the cast.

After working on 'Charlie Wilson’s War' it seemed almost inevitable that Tom Hanks and Roberts would once again join forces. Roberts plays a community college professor who finds herself strangely attracted to her new student, Larry Crowne. Hanks, who wrote and directed the film, plays Larry, a middle-aged man who reinvents himself by going back to college after losing his job.