Eric Roberts, the older brother of the beloved Julia Roberts, is not shy about publicly criticizing one of his sister’s most notable acting performances.

“Julia was good in ‘Mystic Pizza,’ great in ‘Pretty Woman,’ but not so good in ‘Steel Magnolias,’ for me, even though it earned Julia her first Academy Award nomination,” he wrote in his now-out memoir, “Runaway Train: Or, The Story of My Life So Far,” according to Entertainment Weekly.

“I don’t want to sound like an actor talking nonsense or a jealous sibling, but I don’t think her performance in that movie held up. When I saw her in ‘Steel Magnolias,’ I thought, ‘Okay. Good. She’s almost a good actor, and she will be one day,'” Eric wrote.

ERIC ROBERTS OFFERS ‘PUBLIC APOLOGY’ TO SISTER JULIA ROBERTS

Eric Roberts didn’t hold back in his assessment of sister Julia Roberts’ performance in “Steel Magnolia,” saying he didn’t like the film that much. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images)

“I think all those brilliant women – Sally Fields (sic), Dolly Parton, Olympia Dukakis, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah – acted their asses off in ‘Steel Magnolias,'” he continued. “Nobody’s great in that movie. They all ate a lot of scenery, and we know that if an actor cries in a movie, he or she is the best in the class. They get the Oscar nomination because crying gets a lot of credit. It’s the big joke in all acting classes, even in the great Lee Strasberg’s Actors Studio. Crying and dying is the money!”

“Julia was good in ‘Mystic Pizza,’ great in ‘Pretty Woman,’ but for me not so good in ‘Steel Magnolias.'”

—Eric Roberts

“Steel Magnolias” stars Julia Roberts, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Dolly Parton and Daryl Hannah pose for a portrait. (Aaron Rapoport/Corbis/Getty Images)

Brenda Fricker beat Julia for Best Supporting Actress at the 1990 Oscars for her role in “My Left Foot.”

Eric continued to qualify his sister’s nomination, saying that her “Southern charm” contributed. “I also think another reason she got an Oscar nomination for ‘Steel Magnolias’ was her authenticity as a sweet, little Southern girl,” he wrote. “That’s what she was, or at least how she started out. I don’t know if she had a dialect coach who tried to eradicate her Southern accent, but if so, fortunately for her, it didn’t help.”

Eric Roberts believes Julia Roberts’ southern charm and good looks have benefited her career. (Ronald Siemoneit/Sygma via Getty Images)

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“I think that’s a big part of her appeal — along with her killer good looks and killer smile — her Southern accent and mannerisms,” he added. “Such beauty can be off-putting, especially to other women, but Julia’s down-home manner made her seem like your best friend. There’s a certain colorful and enchanting quality to Southern lingo.”

“We know that if an actor cries in a movie, he or she becomes the best in the class. They get an Oscar nomination because crying gets a lot of credit.”

—Eric Roberts

A spokesperson for Roberts tells Fox News Digital that “Eric deeply regrets saying anything about his performances in ‘Steel Magnolias.’ In fact, the audiobook actually puts things very differently about this topic, and closer to how he felt. That film is not necessarily the type of film that Eric prefers or gravitates toward, as he is primarily a fan of political thrillers.”

“He may have thought there was a bit of melodrama in it. But he’s the only one who sees any downsides to the fantastic ‘Steel Magnolias.’ When he rewatched the film, he honestly didn’t know what he was thinking. It was more of a thoughtless, unsubstantiated comment,” they continued. “It’s possible that the sheer sadness of certain aspects of the storyline was too much for him to handle when the film came out. So many of our reactions are unconscious, both to people and to the art they create.”

Eric Roberts has appeared in films such as “Runaway Train”, “The Dark Knight” and “Inherent Vice”. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty Images)

Eric maintained in his memoir that he was “not really” jealous of Julia, especially since they never auditioned for the same roles. He did admit, however, that he felt his presence in Hollywood shrinking as Julia’s grew.

“When something so rare and exceptional suddenly happened, this worldwide phenomenon of Julia’s stardom, it brought me into the public eye in a different way,” he wrote.

“First of all, there were all sorts of suspicions about us — even bizarre and creepy rumors of incest. I don’t know exactly where that came from,” he said. “It might have been a stupid idea of ​​what Southerners could do — a mean gesture toward the South. But beyond that, it seemed like there was no room for Julia and me in the public imagination — that we were in competition with each other.”

The Roberts family comes from a small suburb of Atlanta, Georgia.

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Both Eric and Julia – seen in 1996 – have had impressive careers in the industry. (Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

While he wasn’t jealous of his sister, he didn’t necessarily express his support.

“When you rule the world, which she did for a while, and a family member doesn’t acknowledge it soon enough, you hold it against them,” he wrote of the lack of immediate recognition of her success. “I never gave her enough credit. I still saw her as my little sister, and I knew she came from the white trash, just like me, and yet she became one of the biggest stars who ever lived. And she knew it, bless her heart. What a journey!”

Emma Roberts and Julia Roberts pose for a photo together in 2012. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images)

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Eric’s relationship with Julia remains unclear—in 2018, he told Vanity Fair that he paved the way for both Julia and his daughter, actress Emma Roberts. “If it wasn’t for me, there would be no Julia Roberts and no Emma Roberts as celebrities, as actresses, and I’m very proud of that,” he said at the time.

According to an excerpt from his book obtained by People magazine, Eric apologized for the remark. “I hope Julia will accept this public apology. It was a stupid thing to say.”

A spokesperson for Julia Roberts did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Tracy Wright of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.