Hollywood veteran Julia Roberts believes that rom-coms were not properly recognized in the past.
The actress has appeared in a number of iconic films throughout the years, establishing herself not just as the queen of rom-coms, but also as a versatile actor whose abilities span other genres. She recently said that audiences back then took the labor that went into crafting a rom-com for granted.
Roberts is also due to co-star in the upcoming rom-com “Ticket to Paradise” alongside her friend and colleague George Clooney. The actress will also co-star with Ethan Hawke in the apocalyptic fiction film “Leave the World Behind.”
Read on to learn more.
Julia Roberts Says Romantic Comedies Weren’t Appreciated
Ahead of her debut in the upcoming film “Ticket to Paradise,” Roberts stated in a recent interview with the New York Times that she feels fans took for granted the intense work that actors put in to produce a successful rom-com back in the day.
“I think we didn’t appreciate the bumper crop of romantic comedies that we had then,” she told the publication. “You don’t see all the effort and puppet strings because it’s fun and sweet and people are laughing and kissing and being mischievous.”
The 64-year-old played lead roles in cult favorites including “Pretty Woman,” “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” and “Notting Hill.” Her remarkable skill earned her the title of one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars across a variety of genres, including romantic comedies, dramas, thrillers, and action films. Her top-grossing films have grossed almost $3.8 billion worldwide. She has also garnered several nominations and awards, including an Academy Award and three Golden Globes.
The A-List Actress Loves Rom-Com Movies
In the interview, the actress went into further details about “Ticket to Paradise.” She disclosed how she felt when she got the film’s script, saying the narrative felt different and more enjoyable.
“It was nice to read something that was age-appropriate, where the jokes made sense, and I appreciated and understood what these people were going through,” the 54-year-old said. “That’s what people want to see, your connection to a piece of work. They want to see the heart space that you have for it.”
Though it’s been over a decade since she last portrayed a character in a rom-com, the actress shared that she still holds the genre in high regard.
“This is a genre that I love to participate in and watch, and I think they are hard to get right,” Roberts said. “There is a really simple math to it, but how do you make it special? How do you keep people interested when you can kind of predict what is coming?”
Julia Roberts Reunites With George Clooney
Robert stars alongside George Clooney in “Ticket to Paradise.” Both actors share a long history of joint features, including “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,” “Ocean’s Twelve,” “Ocean’s Eleven,” and “Money Monster.”
Back in May, she joked that having both of them in the film would be “terrible,” implying that their massive talents might place too much weight on the movie.
“It is a romantic comedy,” she told Variety about the film. “I think it’s so funny and George is so funny, and George and I together, it’s probably going to be terrible, because there’s too much potential for it to be great, it’ll just implode on it itself. I think that should be the commercial for the movie: ‘It’s probably going to be terrible.’ I’m so glad my publicist is on a plane right now.”
Julia Roberts And George Clooney Play A Divorced Couple
In retrospect, Roberts shared that getting the chance to share the stage with Clooney again was a strong motivating factor for taking on the role. The pair plays a divorced couple that travels to Bali together to stop their daughter’s wedding.
“It somehow only made sense with George, just based on our chemistry. We have a friendship that people are aware of, and we’re going into it as this divorced couple,” Roberts said, per New York Times. “Half of America probably thinks we are divorced, so we have that going for us.”
“Ticket to Paradise” will debut in theaters on October 21, 2022. Following that, Roberts will co-star with Ethan Hawke in the forthcoming apocalyptic fiction “Leave the World Behind.” The upcoming film was inspired by a Rumaan Alam novel of the same name