The Untold Truth Of Britt Robertson

Britt Robertson seems to command any genre in any medium thrown at her. In the film world, she tackled comedy in 2012's "The First Time," romance in 2015's "The Longest Ride," sci-fi in 2017's "The Space Between Us," and horror in 2020's "Books of Blood." In the realm of television, she conquered teen drama in The CW's "Life Unexpected," the world of Stephen King in CBS's "Under the Dome," and legal procedurals in ABC's "For the People" — and she spent 2021 killing it in ABC's crime thriller "Big Sky."

A three-time Teen Choice Award nominee and winner of multiple film festival awards, Robertson's hard work and wide range of projects have clearly paid off. While all of these roles are infinitely interesting in themselves, the woman behind them is just as fascinating.

So let's take a closer look at the life of this amazing actress who started as a child performer and has continued working steadily ever since. From genre to genre and coast to coast, this is the untold truth of Britt Robertson.

Growing up homeschooled in Greenville, South Carolina, Britt Robertson was encouraged by her mother to get out of the house and socialize. This led to her acting in local plays, which quickly spiraled out into a full-blown career. At the age of 10, she would stay three months at a time in Los Angeles auditioning for pilots and movies, before flying back home to Greenville. After four years spent shuffling between the two cities, she moved to Los Angeles permanently.

But she didn't go alone. While her parents stayed behind to look after her six younger siblings, Robertson's grandmother moved to California to take care of the 14-year-old actress. They even had time to bond on set. "She's the typical Southern woman, and she learned how to knit," recalled Robertson in an interview with People. "So I learned how to knit too, and we would both sit on set, knitting all the time. We're still really close."

Despite her busy schedule, Robertson still returns to South Carolina as often as she can to visit her family. Plus, she can get the sweet tea and chicken and dumplings she can't find in LA.

Before her breakout performance in 2007's "Dan in Real Life," Britt Robertson had already accrued some impressive roles. She made her television debut at the age of 10 in an episode of 2000's "Sheena," based on the classic comic book heroine. In the 6th episode of Season 1, "Buried Secrets," Robertson appeared in flashbacks as the childhood version of the title character played by "Baywatch" superstar Gena Lee Nolin.

Robertson soon found herself playing roles in other popular franchises. She got rescued by the Green Ranger in "Uniquely Trip," a 2001 episode of "Power Rangers Time Force." She was a new addition to a classic sitcom family in the 2004 TV movie "Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers," playing Michelle, the daughter of Kirk Cameron's Mike Seaver. She played a missing girl-turned-murder victim in the Season 8 "CSI" episode "Go to Hell."

Before long, Robertson wouldn't just be appearing in these major league films and TV shows — she would actually be starring in them. She landed a recurring role on the Stephen King show "Under the Dome," acted opposite George Clooney in Disney's "Tomorrowland," and brought a hashtag to life in the 2017 show "Girlboss." She even tackled the world of Clive Barker in 2020's "Books of Blood," and we can only imagine what roles she will take on next. Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised at her rise: Her first role, if lesser-known, was nonetheless that of an iconic character (in fact, Sheena was the first female character to receive her own comic book title).

Everyone has their hobbies, even consistently-employed celebrities like Britt Robertson. In fact, traveling to different locations for filming actually helps her pursue her passion. As she explained in an interview with Collider, "I like to collect aprons from different places I go. I first started when I was in Italy, because I thought that would be really appropriate. I got a hand-stitched Italian apron from this woman in Sicily who put my name on it and it said, 'Sicily, Italy.' So now I get one from everywhere I go."

At the time of the interview, her collection was still in its infancy. "It's very limited, but that's the point, you accumulate them over the course of years and years." Still, Italy isn't a bad place to start. Maybe the stars will align and she will be able to film something closer to home in Iuka, Mississippi, home of the world's largest apron museum – and maybe she can also get a few pointers on how to increase her collection.

In 2011, Britt Robertson continued the tradition established by Drew Barrymore, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Kelly Rutherford by appearing in "Scream 4" as Ghostface's pre-opening titles victim. Her performance must have left a mark on writer Kevin Williamson, as later that year she was cast in a CW show he was writing and producing: "The Secret Circle." Praising her role in the series, Williamson stated, "Britt's beautiful, she's approachable, she gives good close-up, and she's got chops out the wazoo. ... Her acting is so natural that she just takes your dialogue and makes it better, and you want to write for people like that. It's so hard to find an actress that the entire show swings around, that's your anchor."

Robertson also impresses her fellow actors enough for them to pursue collaborations with her as well. After playing opposite "Riverdale" star KJ Apa in the 2017 film "A Dog's Purpose," Apa pushed for her to be cast as his love interest in 2020's true story-inspired romantic drama "I Still Believe." Their on-screen chemistry may have even briefly translated to off-screen romance, as they were reportedly seen kissing and holding hands at 2019's Comic-Con. Any future sparks between the two will most likely be contained to the big screen, however, as Apa is now dating model Clara Berry, with whom he has a child. So Britt isn't the romantic partner for Apa — but she makes a great dramatic counterpart in just about any pairing.

While rehearsing for a play in Dallas, Texas at the age of 13, Britt Robertson experienced one of her most embarrassing teenage moments. While she struggled with a section that required her to sing (something she readily admits to not being particularly good at), one of her fellow castmates made a joke that sent her into uncontrollable laughter. Also uncontrollable? Her bladder. (That must have been some joke.) After the unfortunate accident, she quickly exited stage left in shame and wet jeans in full view of the 20-or-so cast and crew present for the play's rehearsal.

There is no official word on whether or not Robertson was able to return to rehearsal after the embarrassment and, if so, whether this splash of improvisation made it into the final performance. If it did, it is hard to imagine how she would top it for the encore.

Some people love Coca-Cola. Some people love Pepsi. Britt Robertson loves Mountain Dew.

In a video for BuzzFeed, KJ Apa was tasked with answering questions to prove how much he knew about Britt Robertson. Over the course of the video, he guessed that her favorite craft services snack was Mountain Dew, her dressing room must have Mountain Dew, her favorite thing to do between scenes is drink Mountain Dew, she doesn't have a coffee order because she drinks Mountain Dew, and her most recent project was working on a Mountain Dew commercial. Apa was wrong about that last one, but the slew of correct answers just goes to show how much Robertson loves doing the Dew.

Multiple posts on Robertson's Instagram prominently feature Mountain Dew bottles and cans, and she's even proudly shown off her Dew-branded apparel while hanging out on set. But just how much Mountain Dew does Robertson actually consume? "I probably go through four Mountain Dews a day. I'm on like a sugar high at all times, pretty much." With all that soda consumption, it's no wonder she had an accident on stage.

When Britt Robertson moved to LA as a child, she needed a place to stay. She found the perfect location with Oakwood at Toluca Hills, an apartment complex that famously housed many child celebrities over the years including Josh Hutcherson, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Miley Cyrus, and Kirsten Dunst.

But the two residents who most attracted Robertson's attention during her stay at the complex were "Malcolm in the Middle" lead Frankie Muniz and the eponymous star of "Lizzie McGuire," Hilary Duff. "I was much younger than them at the time," Robertson recalls. "I would follow them around and try to be their friends and they would have no interest in me whatsoever. I was just such a big fan of theirs. I wouldn't consider them really friends, but I definitely saw them and would stalk them like a weirdo."

Robertson may not have successfully infiltrated that particular friend group, but she eventually did make her mark on Hollywood and gain the respect of plenty of big names.

Growing up, Britt Robertson's favorite movie was the R-rated classic "Pretty Woman." Robertson admits that the film is a bit of an odd, even taboo choice for a young kid, but that it was the first film she saw in theaters with her mother. Though she didn't really register the subject matter at that age, she loved the dynamic between Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. For that reason, the film will always have a lot of sentimental value for Robertson — though she definitely views it through a different lens today.

She eventually met the creators behind her favorite childhood flick when she was cast in the 2016 romantic dramedy "Mother's Day." "The fact that I was able to work with Julia [Roberts] and Héctor [Elizondo] and have Garry [Marshall] direct it was like a dream come true, top of the list. You could never think of something like this. As a kid, I never dreamed this could happen to me."

Robertson particularly treasured her time on set with Julia Roberts. "I was just trying to make the most of every moment I had with her," Robertson said in an interview promoting the film. "There were many moments where she was incredibly kind and generous." Much like Roberts in the film "Pretty Woman," it seems as if Britt Robertson got her Hollywood fairy tale ending — though by all accounts, her success has just begun.