Julia Roberts

Julia Roberts

UPDATED 05/04/1992 at 01:00 AM EDT • Originally published 05/04/1992 at 01:00 AM EDT

She went through the worst year of her life—the breakup with Kiefer, the rough shoot on Hook, the media baptism of new beau Jason Patric, the movie that died young—and still she's got it. That luminescent look. Roberts, 24, has called herself Everygirl. But The New York Times' Caryn James was more precise, defining her screen persona as one "that women liked and wanted to be, and that men liked and wanted to have." Setting Roberts apart in an industry filled with pretty women is "this emotional vulnerability," says director Joseph (Sleeping with the Enemy) Ruben. "You see and feel everything that's going on with her." At the moment, not much is going on in public—not even a leading role in the can. But don't worry. What she's got is still there, waiting.