She’s from New York City, the niece of one of the world’s most recognizable actresses, and has been on the big screen since she was ten years old. He’s from (the considerably less glamorous) Maesycwmmer, Wales, and made his feature film debut as recently as 2010. So, on the surface, Emma Roberts and Craig Roberts appear to have little more in common than merely sharing a surname…and before you ask, no, they’re definitely not related.
But aside from the fact that they were born within a few weeks of each other — Craig turned 21 earlier this week, and Emma will do so on February 10th — the pair also both garnered critical acclaim for strong coming-of-age performances in a pair of 70s/80s set comedy dramas. Craig Roberts’ quirky and impressive turn came in Richard Ayoade’s "Submarine," while Emma’s (arguably career-best) role in Derick Martini’s "Lymelife" was certainly a departure from the likes of "Wild Child" and "Nancy Drew" which had come before.
Well now the pair have one more thing in common, with Deadline reporting that they have been cast in Martini’s third directorial feature, "I Am My Family Secret." No confirmation yet as to what their roles might be, but chances are that Craig will be one of the “two brothers who discover their parents have been hiding a startling and life-altering secret from them for over two decades.”
Emma has come to form playing opposite socially-awkward teens from "The Art of Getting By" and "It’s Kind of a Funny Story," so you can easily imagine the pair of Roberts’ forming an endearing on-screen partnership. And it also seems to be a nice bit of casting for Martini who has a habit of working with promising young talent, having previously worked with Kieran and Rory Culkin, Chloe Moretz and Eddie Redmayne between "Lymelife" and his follow-up "Hick." This one is certainly starting out promisingly, so we'll be keeping it on our radar.