Here’s why Julia Roberts turned down rom-com movies for 20 years; Find out

Julia Roberts explains that this year’s Ticket to Paradise is her first romantic comedy in 20 years since none of the rom-com screenplays that came across her desk before were fascinating enough for her to appear in.

Roberts has a slew of future projects, many of which are hard-hitting dramas like the ones she’s been working on primarily for the previous two decades. She will be featured in Gaslit, a Starz mini-series on the Watergate affair, beginning this weekend. However, her forthcoming film Ticket to Paradise, in which she will co-star with George Clooney, will return her to her romantic comedy origins. Ol Parker (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again) wrote and directed the film, which follows the tale of a young lady who goes to Bali on a post-graduation holiday and unexpectedly chooses to marry a local.

However, in a recent New York Times Magazine interview, Roberts said that it has taken her so long to feature in another romantic comedy because she hasn’t come across any outstanding screenplays in the last 20 years. She is also more selective about which projects she will sign on to now that she has three children. Roberts said as per Screenrant, “Here’s the thing: If I’d thought something was good enough, I would have done it. But I also had three kids in the last 18 years. That raises the bar even more because then it’s not only Is this material good? It’s also the math equation of my husband’s work schedule and the kids’ school schedule and summer vacation. It’s not just, Oh, I think I want to do this. I have a sense of great pride in being home with my family and considering myself a homemaker.” 

Meanwhile, if everything goes well with Ticket to Paradise, Roberts will hopefully continue to take more comedy parts that her fans like seeing her in. Perhaps she’ll re-team with any of her former co-stars, such as Dermot Mulroney or Hugh Grant. Given how picky Roberts is, it seems like any project she agrees on will be worth seeing.

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