For the past 20 years, we’ve all collectively suffered from a lack of Julia Roberts romantic comedy.
While the Megawatt star has appeared in various genre-bordering films in recent years — the less said about her wig in 2016’s ‘Mother’s Day,’ the better — it’s been too long since her rom-com heyday to which also current classics such as “Pretty Woman”, “Notting Hill” and “My Best Friend’s Wedding”.
Speaking to The New York Times Magazine ahead of her new Starz series Gaslit, Roberts revealed why she hasn’t been drawn to a traditional rom-com script since 2001’s America’s Sweethearts.
“People sometimes misinterpret the time that’s gone by that I haven’t done a romantic comedy because I don’t want to do one,” she told the outlet. “If I read something I thought was on the level of ‘Notting Hill’ or ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding,’ I would.”
Well, such a project has indeed materialized, as Roberts is set to fall in love again on screen alongside George Clooney in upcoming ‘Ticket to Paradise.’
“But even with that, I was like, ‘Well, disaster, because that only works if it’s George Clooney. Lo and behold, George felt like it only worked on me. Somehow we both made it and off we went.”
The Oscar winner also explained that the bar was “raised even higher” for a rom-com screenplay when she started a family with husband Danny Moder, with whom she now shares three children.
“Then it’s not just about ‘Is the material good?’ It’s also the mathematical equation of my husband’s work schedule and the kids’ school schedule and summer vacations,” she continued. “It’s not just, ‘Oh, I think I want to do this.’ I am very proud to be at home with my family and consider myself a housewife.”
Roberts continued, “For such a large part of my children’s younger lives, they saw their father leave and I did a bit of work, but they almost didn’t notice. It was like I was only gone when they were napping or something. But as they get older, and especially with my daughter, I have a sense of responsibility to show my kids that I can be creative and that it matters to me – so meaningful that I’ll choose to be myself for a while almost focusing on that more than my family, who I had a hard time reconciling with.”
With Tickets to Paradise, in which she plays one half of a divorced couple who flies to Bali to prevent their teenage daughter’s marriage, Roberts said it’s a “joy to play in that sandbox again.”
“I love to laugh and be funny. You get into this mode where these endorphins are released when you’re smart and people go, ‘Oh!’ Then it becomes that automatic thing where you’re always thinking about having fun,” she said. “It was long ago.”
Directed by Ol Parker, the film, starring Billie Lourd and Kaitlyn Dever, will hit theaters later this year.