The Internet Has Named the ‘Next Julia Roberts’

Certain Hollywood trends will never stop recirculating. We look at stars who are younger and say “You have the energy of [insert celebrity here]” or “So and so is the next so and so!” One that keeps coming back, but that’s hard to nail down is Julia Roberts.

America’s sweetheart with a dazzling smile, Roberts became the IT girl in the late ’80s and ’90s, and ever since, we’ve been chasing the high of a funny, charming, pretty woman (get it?) to take over Hollywood once again. People are currently naming their picks for “the next Julia Roberts” in Hollywood and some of them are a little out there.

A headline from Variety had many fans throwing their picks in for the next Roberts. Variety wrote “Daisy Edgar-Jones is the Summer’s Breakout Star. Can she be the next Julia Roberts?” First off, she gives me more Meg Ryan vibes. Second, that isn’t necessarily the defining characteristic of Roberts.

It is weird that we insist on naming a new or next version of an existing person, but what it boils down to is the desire to fill the longstanding role of “America’s sweetheart.” Which is why it is delighting me that many are claiming that Ayo Edebiri would be her next successor as the leading lady with the megawatt smile.

I love Edgar-Jones but I think that connecting her with Roberts because of box office success is fundamentally misunderstanding what the appeal of both Edgar-Jones and Roberts is. They’re very different from one another and while Edebiri’s energy also differs from Roberts, she does have that same charming quality to her. But she is her own starlet too.

We can just have the first Ayo Edebiri though

I like to talk about the energies of stars instead of who is and isn’t the “next” somebody. While many want to compare Glen Powell to Tom Cruise, he also gives me ’70s Harrison Ford vibes. Chris Pine brings the energy of old Hollywood types like Paul Newman and so on. I don’t think they’re the next version of this person but just bringing back an energy we missed in Hollywood for a time.

With Edebiri, I think she has that same All-American and charming quality to her that Roberts does and it is why people are connecting the two. But she can also just be the first Ayo Edebiri. Isn’t that something? Someday down the line, someone is going to remember Edebiri claiming she’s Irish and miss that energy and say “So and so is the next Ayo Edebiri!”

Look, I get it. We use this as a shorthand to talk about stars we love but I just want to fight the good fight and remind everyone that we don’t need repeats. We can praise and love the new wave of Hollywood creatives for who they are. But if anyone was going to bring back that feeling of the funny and beautiful girl next door, it is Edebiri.