Julia Roberts Her next film was the commercially successful thriller "Sleeping with the Enemy" (1991), in which she took on the role of a battered wife who escapes her abusive husband, played by Patrick Bergin, and begins a new life in Iowa. Roberts played Tinkerbell in Steven Spielberg's "Hook", and starred as a nurse in Joel Schumacher's romance film "Dying Young"; both films were also released in 1991, to a highly positive commercial response. Roberts took a two-year hiatus from the screen, during which she made no films other than a cameo appearance in Robert Altman's "The Player" (1992). In early 1993,
Julia Roberts two shared relatively little screen time together. "The Mexican" earned $66.8 million at the U.S. box office. Her next film, the romantic comedy "America's Sweethearts" (also 2001), starred Roberts along with Billy Crystal, John Cusack, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Directed by Joe Roth, the Hollywood farce centers on a supercouple, Gwen and Eddie, who separate when she dumps him for another man. Roberts portrayed Gwen's once-overweight sister and assistant who has been secretly in love with Eddie (Cusack) for years. Reviews of the film were generally unfavorable: critics' felt that despite its famous cast, the movie lacked "sympathetic characters" and was