It’s a delight, then, to revisit the earliest red-carpet images of the future A-lister, in which she’s nearly unrecognizable—sporting a feathered, micro-fringed bob; crystal chandelier earrings; and shiny, textured button-downs. Back then, in the mid-’80s, she had just arrived on the scene, an aspiring performer attempting to follow in the footsteps of her older brother, Eric Roberts, who had already parlayed a career in soap operas into a string of lauded, Golden Globe-nominated parts.
It didn’t take her long: She made her screen debut in 1987, as a traumatized teen in the NBC procedural Crime Story, and racked up a flurry of other credits before going stratospheric the following year. It’s easy to see why. Whether onscreen, at glittering industry events, or off-duty on the streets of New York or LA, her star power has always been apparent.
Here, in honor of of her 59th birthday, we present 38 stunning throwback photos of Roberts at the start of her career, from her first trip to the Academy Awards (with then-fiancé Kiefer Sutherland) to kicking back on Oprah’s couch with Shirley MacLaine and Dolly Parton.
