Julia Roberts avoided rom-coms for two decades because she couldn't find the 'right' script

Julia Roberts will return to the rom-com genre after almost two decades with Ticket to Paradise, also starring George Clooney. The actress revealed that she stayed away from rom-coms for the longest time because the "right script" never came her way.

"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 told The New York Times. 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. They didn’t exist until this movie that I just did that Ol Parker wrote and directed."

Rom-coms were the genre that catapulted Roberts to global stardom. Besides Notting Hill and My Best Friend's Wedding, she is best known for the classic Pretty Woman. 

Ticket to Paradise, directed and co-written by Ol Parker, stars Roberts and Clooney as a divorced couple who travel to Bali to stop their teenage daughter's rushed nuptials.

Robert told NYT that she almost rejected Ticket to Paradise because she believed the movie would work best if Clooney was cast opposite her. "Lo and behold, George felt it only worked with me. Somehow we were both able to do it, and off we went," she added.

When she was asked whether not a single script changed her mind about being back to rom-coms, she explained that with her responsibilities as a mother and wife, her expectations from the scripts pitched to her were even higher. Roberts added that as her children are growing up she feels a "sense of responsibility" to show them that she can do roles that are both "creative" and "meaningful".

Ticket to Paradise also stars Billie Lourd, Kaitlyn Dever and Lucas Bravo.

UK-based production company Working Title, Roberts' banner Red Om Films and Clooney's Smokehouse Pictures are producing the film, which will be distributed by Universal Pictures. The film's US release date is October 21.