He made his acting debut in 1974, appearing on the soap opera
How to Survive a Marriage. He also co-starred in the 1996 television miniseries version of
In Cold Blood, in the role of
Perry Smith; he was nominated for a
Satellite Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film. He starred in
C-16 for its entire 1997 to 1998 run. He starred opposite
John Ritter in the movie
Tripfall in 1998. He played the
Archangel Michael in
The Prophecy II (1997). Roberts co-starred on the
ABC situation comedy
Less than Perfect. He appeared in an episode of
CSI: Miami as Ken Kramer, a murderer on
death row convicted of killing a young couple. Another notable TV appearance was the episode "Victims" of
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit where he played Sam Winfield, a former cop turned vigilante. In the same year, he was also guest-starred on
The L Word as Gabriel McCutcheon, the father of
Shane McCutcheon. Roberts voiced the
Superman villain
Mongul in the animated series
Justice League, and reprised his role in
Justice League Unlimited in the episode "
For the Man Who Has Everything". He performed the voice of
Dark Danny in
Nickelodeon's
Danny Phantom. He appeared in the first season of
Heroes as
Thompson, an associate of
Mr. Bennet. He then reprised the role in the third-season episode "
Villains" and in the fourth-season "The Wall".
2000–2008 In 2000, Roberts played a serial killer in
The Flying Dutchman. In 2002, he portrayed an FBI detective in
Ja Rule's music video for his song "
Down Ass Bitch", as well as its sequel "
Down 4 U". In 2003, Roberts also appeared in
The Killers' music video for their song "
Mr. Brightside", later reprising the role in the music video for their 2012 single "
Miss Atomic Bomb". In 2005, he appeared in the music videos for
Mariah Carey's "
We Belong Together" and "
It's Like That". In 2006, he starred in the drama movie
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. The movie was a success and earned $2,035,468 at the box-office and holds a 75% rating on
Rotten Tomatoes. He appeared in the video for
Akon's "
Smack That", featuring
Eminem. The same year, he had a role in the romantic comedy film
Phat Girlz, starring
Mo'Nique, which receive good reviews and generate $7,401,890 in theaters worldwide. He had a major role in the British-German-American martial arts action film
DOA: Dead or Alive, based on the famous videogame of the same name, which grossed $7.5 million on a budget of $30 million. In early January 2007, Roberts starred in the two-part miniseries
Pandemic as the mayor of Los Angeles. In 2007, he appeared in the video for
Godhead's "Hey You". He appeared as a panelist on the television game show
Hollywood Squares. On July 18, 2008, he appeared in
The Dark Knight as
Sal Maroni, a
Gotham City Mafia boss who hires
The Joker to kill Batman and a renegade mob accountant.
2009–2011 In February 2009,
Oscar nominee
Mickey Rourke, who starred with Roberts in
The Pope of Greenwich Village, said he hoped that Roberts would soon be offered a role which would resurrect his career in the way that
The Wrestler rejuvenated Rourke's. He portrayed Seth Blanchard on the second season of the
Starz series
Crash, from 2009. In 2009, Roberts appeared as himself in "Tree Trippers", a season five episode of
Entourage. He is portrayed as a mushroom and drug fanatic as he gives the boys mushrooms and joins them in
Joshua Tree National Park to trip as they contemplate Vince's next movie decision. The same year, he appeared in the independent movie
The Chaos Experiment, starring
Val Kilmer which had a limited theatrical release, playing to small audiences on two screens for one week in Grand Rapids, and for one week in nearby
Lansing. He also appeared in the independent movie
Rock Slyde, starring
Patrick Warburton,
Andy Dick,
Rena Sofer, and
Elaine Hendrix. He had the main role in the action movie
The Butcher. He was acted in the psychological thriller film
Royal Kill. He also appeared in the Canadian-American thriller
Bloodwork. It was announced in June 2010 that he would be joining the cast of the
CBS soap opera
The Young and the Restless starting July 12. The following month saw the release of the action film
The Expendables in which Roberts plays a lead villain. It was directed by and starred
Sylvester Stallone, with
Jason Statham,
Jet Li,
Steve Austin,
Gary Daniels,
Dolph Lundgren,
Randy Couture,
Terry Crews,
David Zayas, and
Mickey Rourke. The film is about a group of elite mercenaries called The Expendables (Stallone, Statham, Li, Lundgren, Couture, and Crews) who are on a mission to overthrow dictator General Garza (Zayas) in Vilena, an island in the
Gulf of Mexico. It is revealed that an ex-
CIA officer James Munroe (Roberts) is keeping Garza in power as a
figurehead for his own profiteering operations. With his two deadly bodyguards Dan Paine (Austin) and The Brit (Daniels), they become a major obstacle in the way of The Expendables. Later that year, he appeared with
Steve Austin and
Gary Daniels, his co-stars from
The Expendables, in the 2010 action film
Hunt to Kill. In October 2010, he played the major role in the American family movie
First Dog, which received positive reviews. December 2010 saw the premiere of the
fourth season of
Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, which documented Roberts's struggle with dependency on
medical marijuana. His wife
Eliza and his stepson
Keaton Simons appeared in episode 6 to discuss the effects of his addiction on their lives. In 2011, he guest-starred in
USA Network's
Burn Notice season 5 finale ("Fail Safe") as an "off the books" spy recruiter. In the same year, he acted in the drama and family film ''
Shannon's Rainbow'', based on Mowod's own experiences seeing his brother rehabilitate an injured horse and win a championship horse race. Later that year he acted in the horror comedy anthology film
Chillerama, consisting of four stories, with each segment being an homage to a different genre and style. The movie was acclaimed by critics and has gained a cult following.
2012–2015 Roberts starred in the 2012 mystery thriller
Deadline, playing the role of politically incorrect reporter Ronnie Bullock. He appeared in the horror film
Snow White: A Deadly Summer, directed by
David DeCoteau. He is featured as Uncle Shadrack, head of a Romani family, in 2012's
The Finder on FOX. He had a recurring role in the TV series
The Finder as a gypsy who had the title of king among a gypsy community in southern Florida. The same year, he was starred in the catastrophe movie
The Mark. He also appeared in the Christmas comedy film
Christmas in Compton, starring
Keith David and
Omar Gooding, which received positive reviews. On February 18, 2013, he was featured in independent children's film
A Talking Cat!?!, directed by
David DeCoteau. In 2013, he had a small role in the film
Lovelace, a biopic film about adult film actress
Linda Lovelace. The film had its
world premiere on January 22, 2013, at the
2013 Sundance Film Festival and opened in a U.S.
limited release on August 9, 2013. The same year, he was starred in the movie
Pop Star, including the actors
Christian Serratos,
Robert Adamson,
Ross Thomas and
Rachele Brooke Smith. He had also in the drama film
Before I Sleep, which received good critics and premiered in competition at the
Heartland Film Festival on October 19, 2013. On November 1, 2013, he had a major role in the thriller drama film
Assumed Killer, starring and produced by
Casper Van Dien. The movie received good review and had the film two stars out of five. On November 24, 2013, he had voiced in the short animated movie ''
Dante's Hell Animated''. In 2014, he appeared in the neo-noir period comedy-drama film
Inherent Vice. The drama film
Starcrossed, co-starring
Mischa Barton, premiered at the San Diego International Film Festival on September 28, 2014. This was followed by a limited
theatrical release in Los Angeles in May 2016. He had also a role in the small-budget indie film
The Opposite Sex, starring
Kristin Chenoweth,
Mena Suvari,
Jennifer Finnigan, and
Geoff Stults, which received favorable reviews. Between 2014 and 2015, Roberts played the recurring character Charles Forstman in the TV legal drama
Suits. In 2015, he appeared in season 5 of
Lost Girl, a Canadian TV show on
Showcase, as the main character, Bo's, father. In 2015 he appeared in the
Rihanna video "
Bitch Better Have My Money" and in
Chris Cornell's video for "
Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart".
2016–2019 The Nigerian comedy drama movie
A Trip to Jamaica, starring Eric Roberts,
Ayo Makun,
Funke Akindele,
Nse Ikpe Etim, and
Dan Davies, had its worldwide premiere on September 25, 2016, in
Lagos State. In November 2016, the film was reported to have grossed 168 million
naira, breaking the previous record set by
30 Days in Atlanta. It also broke records for the first film to hit 35 million in first weekend, the first film to hit 62 million in its first week, the fastest film to gross 100 million (17 days) and the fastest film to gross 150 million (six weeks). It opened at the Odeon Cinemas in London in December 2016 and became the highest-grossing film that weekend in London while also becoming the highest per screen average film in the UK during its limited run. It won the Africa Entertainment Legends Award (AELA) for Best Cinema Film of 2016 and received four nominations at the 2017
Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards, including categories for best actress in a comedy, best writer, best movie (West Africa) and best actor in a comedy. The award show was held in March 2017 in
Lagos State. The same year, Roberts was featured in season 4 of the hit American TV show
Brooklyn Nine-Nine; he portrayed the character of Jimmy Figgis. He played Robert Avery in ''
Grey's Anatomy''. In 2017, he had a major role in the horror thriller film
The Institute, alongside
James Franco and
Pamela Anderson. In 2018, he appeared in the third series of UK Channel4 reality show
Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls where he completed the 4 weeks on the island. The same year, he also featured in the video of Enrique Iglesias's latest track "
El Baño" as a bartender. He had a role in the drama film
Papa, alongside
Robert Scott Wilson,
Paul Sorvino,
Daryl Hannah,
Mischa Barton,
Frankie Avalon,
Ann-Margret, and
Michael Madsen which received favorables reviews. In 2018, he acted in the movie
Head Full of Honey which stars
Matt Dillon. In a 2018
Vanity Fair interview, Roberts traced his prolific filmography to when he stopped getting consistent offers from major film studios and started doing
B movies. "I start making a bunch of B movies—bam bam bam bam bam bam—one after the other, and then suddenly two, three years have passed, and I made like 30 films in two, three years," Roberts recalled. He was executive producer for the film
Beverly Hills Bandits, which he also acted in with
Ron Jeremy and
Natasha Alam. In 2019, he starred in the crime thriller drama
Night Walk, starring
Mickey Rourke. He had a major role in the action movie
The Reliant, alongside
Kevin Sorbo. He also appears on the sci-fi movie
The Immortal Wars: Resurgence. He acted in the crime/thriller
90 Feet from Home, including
Dean Cain. He also played a supporting role in the family movie
A Karate Christmas Miracle. Also in 2019, 23 years after initially playing the role, Roberts reprised his version of the Master in licensed audio dramas produced by
Big Finish Productions. He made his debut in series 5 of the spinoff series,
The Diary of River Song. Later that year, he appeared in the finale of
Ravenous, once more working opposite
Paul McGann's
Eighth Doctor.
2020–present In 2020, he starred in several movies including
Reboot Camp,
Angels Fallen,
The Unbreakable Sword,
Deported,
Collision Earth,
Hayalet : 3 Yasam and
Top Gunner. Furthermore, he starred in the DC Comics short movie
Pamela & Ivy and appeared in the fan-made movie
Gambit: Playing for Keeps. In January 2021, Roberts played the Master in
Masterful, an audio drama celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Master's debut. In March 2021, he appeared in his own spin-off series,
Master! as well. The same year, he took part in the horror movie
Escape to the Cove, appeared in the acclaimed short drama
The Sleepless, guest starred again in season 17, episode 14 on the TV show ''
Grey's Anatomy, acted in the comedy Peach Cobbler
, starred in the TV movie Mommy's Deadly Con Artist
. He was also involved in the drama movie After Masks
, the horror film 616 Wilford Lane
and the comedy Mr. Birthday
. In 2022, he co-starred with Lana Wood in Dog Boy
, and as a recurring character in the second season of the HBO series The Righteous Gemstones In 2023, he was a guest star at Season 2 South Wind: On the Edge'' (created by
Miloš Avramović) together with
Miloš Biković and
William Baldwin. In 2022, following the
Russian invasion of Ukraine, Roberts announced his support for Ukraine. He says he was "one of the biggest stars" in Russia, however, he said, "I was canceled right away and couldn't work there. But we're so disappointed in Putin, I wouldn't want to go there anyway. But that was half my income, from working in Russia. So I go to other places now." Roberts's memoir,
Runaway Train: or, The Story of My Life So Far, was published through
St. Martin's Press on September 17, 2024. It was co-written with
Vanity Fair contributor Sam Kashner. ==Personal life==