Film Festival Puts Spotlight on Julia Roberts

Actress earns accolades for "August: Osage County"

Site Staff Arts & Entertainment

 

Academy Award winning actress Julia Roberts will receive the Spotlight Award for her role in August: Osage County at the 25th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival annual Awards Gala Jan. 4 at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

The Gala will also present awards to previously announced honorees Sandra Bullock, Bruce Dern, Matthew McConaughey and Steve McQueen. The Festival runs Jan. 3-13, 2014.

Past recipients of the Spotlight Award include Jessica Chastain, Amy Adams and Helen Hunt.

“Julia Roberts is a consummate actress with a range as vast as her talent,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “Her ability to consistently give standout performances over the past 25 years is remarkable.”

August: Osage County, presented by The Weinstein Company, tells the dark, hilarious and deeply touching story of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose lives have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Midwest house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.

Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name made its Broadway debut in December 2007 after premiering at Chicago’s legendary Steppenwolf Theatre. It continued with a successful international run and won five 2008 Tony Awards including Best Play.

August: Osage County is directed by John Wells and features an all-star cast including Meryl Streep, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Abigail Breslin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliette Lewis, Margo Martindale, Dermot Mulroney, Julianne Nicholson, Sam Shepard and Misty Upham.

An Academy Award winner for Erin Brockovich, Roberts' films have grossed more than $2.5 billion worldwide. She is currently working on The Normal Heart, based on the play of the same name by Larry Kramer. The movie is being directed by Ryan Murphy and will premiere on HBO in May 2014.

Past film credits include: Mystic Pizza, Steel Magnolias, Pretty Woman, The Pelican Brief, Everyone Says I Love You, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Stepmom, Conspiracy Theory, Notting Hill, Runaway Bride, Ocean’s Eleven, Mona Lisa Smile, Closer, Charlie Wilson’s War, Duplicity, Eat Pray Love, Larry Crowne and Mirror Mirror.

See related stories:

 

Like what you're reading? Then "Like" us on Facebook and "follow" us on Twitter.