Emma Roberts recalls 'disgusting' run-ins with paparazzi when she was 8 months pregnant
Emma Roberts’s journey hasn’t always been easy.
The actress, who started her career as a child actor before branching into the Ryan Murphy universe with Scream Queens and American Horror Story, is opening up about her life in Hollywood and as a new mother in the latest cover story of the British Tatler magazine.
The actress and producer spoke candidly about how the industry has given her a thick skin, how she found her power, and the dreams she has for her 1-year-old son Rhodes, whom she shares with ex-boyfriend, Tron: Legacy star Garrett Hedlund. The two split earlier this month.
“I felt so much rejection at such a young age that it created a thick skin around me,’” Roberts, whose aunt is the legendary Julia Roberts, said of her resilience to survive in the industry. “If I’d started acting at 20, the rejection would have cut much deeper. When you’re 12, there’s still this magical wonderment to the whole process, whereas when things don’t go your way later on, you think it’s a deep reflection of you.”
“I didn’t realize back then that I was in control of my life,” she explained. “I always wanted to be involved in [film and TV] projects in a more creative way and now I’m doing it. I can decide who I want to be around, for how long and in what capacity.”
Growing up, Roberts always wanted to be a mom. But that dream was threatened when she was diagnosed with endometriosis, which can affect fertility.
For years, her symptoms went unchecked by her male doctor. It wasn’t until she decided to seek out a female doctor that she feels she was taken seriously, and was ultimately diagnosed.
“I wasn’t upset but I just felt the heaviness of the moment,” she said of that time. “I sat with myself and thought, luckily, I know older women who are great role models of the fact that you don’t need children to be happy. I either would or would not be a parent. Whichever one it was, I wanted to be in radical acceptance of it.”
Roberts froze her eggs and was ultimately able to conceive naturally, but what was supposed to be a precious moment ultimately birthed a bit of trauma.
“The way I was followed and treated when I was pregnant was disgusting,” she said of the paparazzi during that time. “I’d be driving to a doctor’s appointment and they’d be following me so closely. At one point, I remember saying to them, ‘Please don’t do that, I’m eight months pregnant.’ But they don’t care. It’s not the fun, creative part of the job, for sure.”
Despite the frenzy, it hasn't stopped the new mom from instilling important lessons upon her growing son.
“I definitely think about how I can help him be the utmost gentleman,” she said of baby Rhodes. “I want him to be respectful and intelligent at school but also in life. What it means to be a man is being rewritten right now and I hope my contribution to the world can be raising an amazing boy who turns into an amazing man. I want him to feel that there’s nothing he couldn’t ask or tell me.”
What’s written in the stars seems good enough for Roberts, and now, she’s ready to embrace a new chapter.
“I’m at a place where I can say, ‘I may not have got everything right but I like who I am more than I ever have,’” she said. “My life has changed more in the past two years than it did in the 28 years beforehand and I love where I’m standing now at the age of 30.”
Roberts is entering a new chapter in more ways than one. Earlier this month it was revealed that she’d split from Hedland after nearly three years together.
This week, the actress posted a series of photos from a Costa Rican getaway, which she described as a “beautiful reset” amid the split.
"The most beautiful reset possible in my new favorite place," she wrote on Instagram, before describing her getaway as "the most magnificent setting" with "the kindest people" and "most mind blowing experiences."
Meanwhile, Hedlund, 37, was arrested for public intoxication in Franklin, County., Tenn., on the day their breakup hit the news.
He was released on Sunday after posting bail. His court date is set for March 28.
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