Julia Roberts hasn’t starred in a romantic comedy for a while, but that doesn’t mean she’s completely written them off.
She’s been in some of the most beloved romantic comedies of all time - Pretty Woman and My Best Friend’s Wedding to name a few – and she knows she has set the bar pretty high for herself in that genre.
In an interview with the New York Times, Roberts said, “People say, oh she’s against romantic comedies—I’m not.” It’s actually the opposite. “I love them. I’ve been fortunate enough to be in some really good ones, so the bar for me is really high,” she said.
She’s matured to more serious roles, like The Normal Heart and most recently, Secret In Their Eyes, but she said she’s “totally open” to reading a script for a good romantic comedy. It just has to be an “original idea.”
Roberts said it’s pretty hard to find one that’s “funny and realistic and relatable” for someone who’s 47 years old.
Taking on roles with more substance was just a natural progression in her career, she continued. “You’re drawn to things as an actor that have as much of an arc as possible,” she said. “I don’t know how much resolve I had or could portray when I was 20. I think it’s a kind of a gift that comes with age, that you get more complexities to play.”