‘I consider myself a homemaker’: Julia Roberts details ‘pride’ over decision to step back from spotlight to raise her three children and laments the lack of good romcoms in recent years
Julia Roberts was once the queen of the romantic comedy, though she hasn’t made one in more than 20 years… until her new project Ticket to Paradise.
The 54-year-old actress was promoting her new Starz TV series Gaslit, which debuts Sunday, April 24, in a new interview with The New York Times.
She seemed quite surprised that it had been so long since she starred in a romantic comedy, before her Ticket to Paradise movie due out in October, starring alongside her old friend George Clooney, but revealed there’s a very good reason why it’s been so long: ‘I consider myself a homemaker.’
Romcom queen: Julia Roberts was once the queen of the romantic comedy, though she hasn’t made one in more than 20 years… until her new project Ticket to Paradise
Good reason: She seemed quite surprised that it had been so long since she starred in a romantic comedy (seen above in 1999’s Runaway Bride), before her Ticket to Paradise movie due out in October, starring alongside her old friend George Clooney, but revealed there’s a very good reason why it’s been so long
‘It can’t be 20 years, can it? Here’s the thing: If I’d thought something was good enough, I would have done it,’ Roberts admitted.
‘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,”‘ she admitted.
Roberts will celebrate her 20th wedding anniversary with cinematographer Daniel Moder in July, and they share 17-year-old fraternal twins Phinnaeus and Hazel and 14-year-old son Henry.
Married with children: Roberts will celebrate her 20th wedding anniversary with cinematographer Daniel Moder in July, and they share 17-year-old fraternal twins Phinnaeus and Hazel and 14-year-old son Henry
She added that her not doing romantic comedies, ‘wasn’t by design, so much as not finding something that I was interested in. I was surprised how quickly the years seemed to go by.’
‘People sometimes misconstrue the amount of time that’s gone by that I haven’t done a romantic comedy as my not wanting to do one,’ Roberts clarified.
‘If I had read something that I thought was that Notting Hill level of writing or My Best Friend’s Wedding level of madcap fun, I would do it,’ she added.
Not by design: She added that her not doing romantic comedies, ‘wasn’t by design, so much as not finding something that I was interested in. I was surprised how quickly the years seemed to go by’
‘They didn’t exist until this movie that I just did that Ol Parker wrote and directed,’ she said, referring to Ticket to Paradise, which follows her and Clooney as a divorced couple who head to Bali to stop their daughter from making the same mistake they made 25 years ago.
She added that when she read the script by director Ol Parker and Daniel Pipski, she thought, ‘This only works if it’s George Clooney,’ and apparently he felt the same.
She added she is ‘living my acting dreams’ going from playing Martha Mitchell – the woman who ignited the Watergate scandal – with Sean Penn in Gaslit to then, ‘run around Australia with George playing these very funny scenes.’
Acting dreams: She added she is ‘living my acting dreams’ going from playing Martha Mitchell – the woman who ignited the Watergate scandal – with Sean Penn in Gaslit to then, ‘run around Australia with George playing these very funny scenes’
Roberts also admitted she hasn’t worked as much in recent years because she takes, ‘great pride’ at being home and raising her family.
However, now that they’re older, with the twins heading to college in the fall, she admitted she has, ‘a sense of responsibility for showing my children that I can be creative and that it’s meaningful to me—so meaningful that for periods of time I will choose to focus on that almost more than my family, which has been hard for me to come to terms with.’
‘The good news is yes. I love to laugh and be funny. You get into that mode of those endorphins going off when you’re clever and people going, “Oh!” Then that becomes this automatic thing where you’re always thinking in terms of creating fun. It’s a joy to play in that sandbox. It has been a long time,’ she said.
Gaslit premieres April 24 only on Stan in Australia.
Pride: Roberts also admitted she hasn’t worked as much in recent years because she takes, ‘great pride’ at being home and raising her family
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