The ex factor
GEORGE CLOONEY AND JULIA ROBERTS STAR IN NEW ROM-COM TICKET TO PARADISE. GEMMA DUNN FINDS OUT MORE
ON-SCREEN chemistry is not something George Clooney and Julia Roberts are short of.
The Academy Award winners have united on several titles, from the first two chapters in the Ocean’s franchise, through to neo-noir comedy drama Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and political thriller Money Monster.
Yet their latest reunion comes in the form of Ticket To Paradise, a romantic comedy directed by British filmmaker Ol Parker.
It was too good an opportunity to miss, declare the pair, who remain good friends and certainly provide no shortage of laughs and good-natured ribbing in its promotion.
“(It was) the chance to be snarky to George that really jumped out at me,” quips Julia, 54, of her decision to sign up. “Just to see him just so pathetically in love with me (the character) when I’ve clearly moved on...”
“Well what was so important to me was to be able to work with the queen of sitcoms, the queen of romantic comedies. But she couldn’t take the job. So I worked with Julia instead...” George, 61, responds.
A tale of second chances, the film sees the Hollywood duo play divorced former couple David and Georgia, who find themselves on a shared mission to Bali to stop their lovestruck daughter Lily (played by Kaitlyn Dever) from making the same mistake they once made.
The slip-up in question: marrying her newfound fiancé, Gede, played by Maxime Bouttier.
It’s the rom-com we all need after the last couple of years, insists Ol, 53, who is known for his direction on Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.
“When the pandemic hit, the things that I’d been writing at the time suddenly seemed completely irrelevant,” he reasons.
“The world had completely changed. I thought about what I wanted to write and work on next, and I landed on writing something that would make people happy – something joyous and optimistic.
“Romantic comedies bring a large audience together to collectively laugh with each other, and after a few tough years, that seemed like a beautiful thing to bring to the big screen.”
That was it. His sights were set on George and Julia.
“It was only them! If they (hadn’t said yes) I wouldn’t be sitting here, we wouldn’t have made a film!” Ol declares.
“As a general rule of thumb, you should never mention another actor that you’re aiming for to costar when you send an actor a script in case you don’t get that other actor.
“But in this case, I wrote to each of them and told them that I envisioned it with both. It was clear to me that it barely existed if it wasn’t them. I had no plan B!”
“Julia and I weren’t actively looking for a project to do together, but, of course, it was easy to say yes to a chance to work on another project with her,” admits George.
“Ol Parker sent the script to both of us at the same time and said that he had written the parts for Julia and me. So, right after I read it, I called Julia and told her, ‘I’ll do it if you do it,’ and she said, ‘Well, I’ll do it if you will.’ And not long after that, we were heading to Australia.”
“George and I have always had a good chemistry as friends,” notes Julia, who recently said George and his family saved her from ‘complete loneliness and despair’ while filming on location in Queensland during the Covid pandemic.
“We approach our work in similar ways as well. I think we also get a lot of joy out of making each other laugh. So, each day was like a search for me to find how I could make George laugh. “We both take an immense amount of care in creating an environment where people feel creative and happy at work. It brings out the best in everyone.” “I think the main reason that Julia and I work so well together is because we know how to make each other laugh,” George concurs. “We have a similar sense of humour and just get each other, so it’s always sort of been that way for us. I hadn’t done a romantic comedy since One Fine Day [costarring Michelle Pfeiffer], so, when I got this script, it felt like a perfect opportunity.”
Kaitlyn, who gained recognition for Booksmart and drama Dopesick (the latter earning her a Golden Globe nomination) was only too happy to play the offspring of the dream pairing.
“I really enjoyed being around actors that loved being on set and making movies,” says the 25-yearold.
“It was so much fun being around them and joking around and laughing.
“The two of them are best buds and it’s a blast to be around that kind of love and kindness they have for each other.”
The film marks the second time Kaitlyn stars alongside her former Booksmart co-star Billie Lourd, who here takes on the role of Lily’s best friend Wren.
“I was absolutely flabbergasted when Ol offered me the part,” says Scream Queen star Billie, 30. “I was floored that I was getting the chance to be part of such a fun, iconic, hysterical movie, and I was getting to work with George Clooney and Julia Roberts?! Me?
“I think I screamed on the Zoom!” she recalls, laughing. “I was also so excited to work with Kaitlyn again. She and I were immediately fast friends on Booksmart, but on this, we became like sisters. She’s like family to me now and I adore her so much.
“A lot of rom-coms are very straightforward, but I loved that this one has a lot of sarcasm, cynicism and snark. That’s what makes it so funny and made me excited to be part of it.”
What makes it unique, still, is that it’s seen through a mature lens, unlike most rom-coms which are primarily about people in their 20s or early 30s.
“We’re in a space in the world right now where people want to see something funny and comforting,” concludes Tim Bevan co-chairman of Working Title which coproduced the film.
“Romantic comedies have a bit of predictability about them, but the unexpected thing about this movie is that there are various relationships within the family and emotions within the family that audiences will find themselves being moved by.”
I called Julia and told her, ‘I’ll do it if you do it,’ and she said, ‘Well, I’ll do it if you will.’
George Clooney on receiving the script for Ticket To Paradise
Ticket to Paradise is in cinemas now