  Emma Roberts, 16, grew up on the movie sets of her actor/father Eric and her more famous aunt, Julia. (Stan Behal, Sun Media)
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From her impeccable manners and love of sleuthing right down to her little blue roadster, Nancy Drew comes to the big screen in a fashion that will please even the most diehard fans.
Emma Roberts portrays the iconic young detective. Roberts, 16, recently visited Toronto to promote the movie and to meet the many fans of her work at an autograph session in a mall.
SWEET AND BRIGHT
The young actress was only 9 when she got her first film role (as Johnny Depp's daughter in Blow), she's the star of TV's Unfabulous and she's the daughter of Eric Roberts -- and the niece of Julia Roberts -- so it's not as if she has never been around the media before. Despite her somewhat practised answers, Roberts comes across as sweet and bright and her wide, Roberts-family smile still reaches all the way to her eyes.
Nancy Drew looks like it's going to be a hit. Roberts reckons she's ready for the endless scrutiny that comes with that sort of public profile.
"That's just the way it is when you decide to be an actor. That's just what comes with the job," she says. "I hope it's not intense, but that's the chance you have to take when you're in this business."
Roberts' advantage is that she has been around the biz since infancy.
"I was on my first set, one of my dad's movies, when I was just a baby. And since then I've been to my aunt's (sets) and I've just been around it always. That is an advantage just because you're not shocked by it when you start working."
And growing up in the public eye may have its drawbacks, but, she says, "when I'm older I can look back and see different periods of my life caught on camera, so that's cool. And it's something you can, you know, show your kids -- you, when you were younger."
The younger Roberts wanted to be an actor from about age 5, despite her mother's initial misgivings. Besides her role in Blow, Roberts had small parts in Grand Champion and Spymate and a part in the short movie bigLove. She was also an extra in one scene of America's Sweethearts, which starred her Aunt Julia. More recently, she was one of the stars of Aquamarine, and her performance earned a 2007 Young Artist Award for best supporting actress.
It was when she began her starring role as Addie Singer in Unfabulous that Roberts became a bona fide star. The sitcom has won her several Teen Choice Award and Young Artist Award nominations. Furthermore, her character on the show writes songs, which led to Roberts' first recording -- Unfabulous And More: Emma Roberts, which was released two years ago.
Roberts lives with her mother, Kelly Cunningham, and has a younger half-sister from her mother's marriage to bassist Kelly Nickels. She attended regular schools through Grade 8, but is now home-schooled to accommodate work commitments.
She doesn't feel she's missing anything.
"Other kids my age have jobs, too," Roberts says. "I'm not doing something totally out of the ordinary. I really don't feel I'm missing having a childhood. I just think it makes my childhood more memorable. And I still do normal things. I stay in close touch with my friends and go with them to their school things -- dances and football games."
Roberts has a boyfriend, but as she recently told People magazine, she's not going to talk about that.
In Nancy Drew, Roberts plays the amateur sleuth as a bit of a throwback to the 1950s. Moving from River Heights to Los Angeles when her father has a job opportunity, Nancy adjusts to the big city without changing. Instead, she changes those around her, and for the better.
Her clothes are lady-like and old-fashioned, her manners are perfect and she is always polite to her elders.
Her quirky character ties past to present, and ties the books to this new movie treatment.
It's very clever.
Roberts says she knew going in that Nancy is an iconic figure.
"People look up to her and they love the books, and whenever you're bringing a book to life, you have to be a little careful because some people aren't going to like it. I think they did a good job with the script and I hope people who love the books will be really happy with it. They didn't try to update Nancy or try to make her this cool, hip girl -- they kept her character true to the books and true to what everyone kind of perceives her to be. I thought it was good they did that, rather than make her too contemporary."
ROLE MODEL
It's a role that can only advance Roberts' status as a role model. "I remember being younger and looking up to some actresses," she says, "so it's cool if kids look up to me.
"It's a little bit hard, because you always have to be sure you're on your best behaviour, looking your best, doing your best. But it's still good."
Roberts' next project is Wild Child, a film about an unruly, spoiled girl from Malibu who gets sent off to a British boarding school.
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