Julia Roberts and niece Emma pose for rare family snap as Pretty Woman star turns 59… after her brother Eric missed his daughter's wedding

Julia Roberts received a sweet birthday tribute from her niece Emma Roberts as she turned 59 on Wednesday.

The Pretty Woman star was pictured hugging her niece, 35, in a sweet snap shared by Emma via her Instagram.

'happy birthday Aunt Julia,' the Scream Queens actress wrote alongside a crown emoji, adding, 'i love you beyond!!'

Emma wore a stylish white dress in the photo, which appeared to be taken at her wedding rehearsal dinner in July. Julia looked effortlessly chic in a white blouse paired with olive green pants and a Louis Vuitton purse.

Emma shared the rare family image four months after her father, actor Eric Roberts, 70, was noticeably absent from her wedding to Cody John.

The Oscar-nominee's estranged relationship with his sister Julia and his 'complicated' bond with his daughter Emma have made headlines over the years. 

Eric has been candid about his past struggles with substance addiction, and how he wasn't the best father to Emma, admitting he 'was not to be depended on emotionally whatsoever.'

Earlier this year, he insisted their relationship is only 'complicated' to outsiders as he gushed about the actress he has grown 'so proud' of.

However, Eric was noticeably missing from Emma's wedding to Cody in July, despite it being an A-list family affair.

Emma and partner Cody exchanged vows in Idaho with her superstar aunt Julia and her husband Danny Moder in attendance, as well as stars Demi Moore, Kristen Stewart and Sarah Paulson.

Despite the star-studded guest list, Emma's actor father skipped the occasion as she was walked down the aisle by her son Rhodes, five, whom she shares with ex Garrett Hedlund.

In a statement shared with the Daily Mail, Eric said: 'I love my daughter, always have, always will.

'It is perfectly wonderful for her to celebrate however she wants, with whomever she wants.'

The Daily Mail learned that the years-long friction between the father and daughter was to blame for his absence.

'Emma did not invite her father to her wedding because she doesn't want to be around him,' a source told the Daily Mail.

'No one told her to invite him to the wedding, they know better than to bring that up.'

'She has been mad at him for many years, mostly because she feels he has not been a supportive father. He wasn't around when she was young.'

His absence from Emma's wedding comes after he revealed where he stands with his famous daughter – after previously laying bare a painful breakdown in their relationship.

In an interview with Really Famous with Kara Mayer Robinson back in April, Eric said their relationship wasn't particularly complex.

He said: 'It's only complicated to outside eyes because they don't get any of it, so they have their own take, whatever that is, and it's not a straight line because they aren't really involved.'

'So it's just thoughts, possibilities, interests, fantasies, whatever it is. But it's not a real relationship with the subjects. So how can it be anything but a thought?'

At the time Emma was born, Eric said emotionally he 'was a wash rag'.

He said: 'I was a car wreck because of many things, but I take full responsibility for it... in that understanding the horrible negative things about my father and realizing I had to accept them as a child to get past him and realizing that what he drilled into me as loyalty was absolute recklessness.'

As Kara attempted to probe deeper into the 'complicated' emotions surrounding their relationship, Eric said: 'Probably, but that's not an issue and that's not anything I'm here to discuss with you,' he said.

'I mean, just it is what that is, but that's a whole other issue in my life. That's not what we're talking about today.'

Eric welcomed Emma with ex Kelly Cunningham but the pair split soon after and he lost the custody battle over his only child due to his admitted drug use.

In 2024, he admitted to a rift in his relationship with Emma. Speaking on an episode of the Inside You podcast, the star was asked about the 'toughest time of his life' and said: 'Probably the loss of relationship with my daughter.'

Eric - who wrote about their complex dynamic in the memoir Runaway Train: Or the Story of My Life So Far - said his relationship with Emma is 'indefinable'.

'There's not a pain. There's a sadness for the, most likely, misunderstandings we'll all have forever. Because we're human.'

Eric said becoming a grandfather had enabled him to realize the true magnitude of what he had lost in his relationship with Emma.

He has two step-grandchildren from his marriage to Eliza Garrett and a grandson from Emma's relationship with Hedlund.

He said: 'I started accepting that about myself with the birth of my grandchildren. Especially the 5-year-old, she was first and she was a girl and took a liking to me in a very strong way.

He said his eldest granddaughter 'looks like Emma which reminds me of what I didn't have.'

Eric has called losing custody of a young Emma as the biggest consequence of his drug use.

Meanwhile, a feud erupted between Eric and Julia - who sided with Kelly in the custody battle - a move which Eric now agrees with.

Elsewhere in his memoir, Eric made a public apology to Oscar-winner sister Julia for previously saying: 'If it wasn't for me, there would be no Julia Roberts.'

He wrote: 'I hope Julia will accept this public apology. It was an asinine thing to have said.'

Eric's candid memoir covered his arrival in Tinseltown at the age of 17, his extensive career and his struggle with substance abuse disorder.

The actor and his sister had always been close until he made a sarcastic comment in the early 1990s while discussing the success of her classic film, Pretty Woman.

The Runaway Train star has always insisted that it was taken out of context, a sentiment that he reiterated in 2022 on the Behind The Velvet Rope with David Yontef podcast.

'Julia and I have always been fine,' he said. 'I think years and years ago, I was doing a press tour for some movie… It was just when Pretty Woman just got released and so they're asking a bunch of questions about Julia. And I said, "Hey, excuse me. Can we talk about me?"'

The Suits alum explained that his comment was misinterpreted as he added: 'Of course, then it's like, "Oh, they have a problem."'

While the siblings 'don't agree about a lot of things,' the actor insisted that they still have a close bond. 'I love knowing my sister,' he said. 'She's a cool chick, my sister. I just stay out of her hair with the press. That's all. Simple. And she stays out of mine.'

Eric claims the only thing that ever caused a rift with his sisters Julia and Lisa was his past drug addiction.

He told Vanity Fair previously: 'I wouldn't characterize it as a falling-out. I was crazy about my sisters. Loved them, adored them. They were precious to me, and we had times of great closeness.'

'We all felt very protective of each other, but the hardest person to protect yourself from is yourself.'

The actor continued: 'I was exhausting to be around: complainy, blamey, unable to enjoy enjoyment. Everyone in my world needed a break sometimes, and that must have included Julia.'

However, he explained that after years of estrangement, the siblings reunited in 2004 when Julia welcomed Hazel and Phinnaeus.

Eric said that he visited the hospital after his younger sister gave birth 'to drop off gifts'. He added: 'Instead I was ushered into their room and was immediately awash in brotherly and uncle-ly love.'

The performer went on to say that after that visit, they spent several Thanksgivings together and became 'email buddies'.

Back in May 2020, he spoke fondly about how much he loved to see the bond between Julia and his daughter Emma. He told Us Weekly: 'It's really cool to look at them. I love seeing them together.'

Eric has previously revealed Emma and Julia have told him not to talk about them in interviews. He said: 'I love my sister, but I can't talk about her. She doesn't wanna talk about it.'

'My daughter told me also not to talk about her, but I stumble and do. I'm not supposed to talk about either of them. But I do.'