Why George Clooney and Julia Roberts ‘took 80 takes’ to perfect their onscreen kiss in new movie

The stars are hitting the red carpet!

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Julia Roberts broke the glass ceiling for A-list female movie stars when she commanded $20 million for 2000’s “Erin Brockovich.” Until then, no woman actor had been getting as much pay as male counterparts such as Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks, who ruled the ’90s box office alongside Roberts. In at the A+E and History Channel’s History Talks in Washington D.C. on Saturday morning, moderator Gayle King asked Roberts about the negotiations tactics she employed to gain equal pain. “I didn’t feel so boxish about it, but I felt like, ‘Come on,” Roberts said. “Which is my nature — not to be all up-in-arms about something, but to say, ‘Come on. Let’s get real. Let’s be fair.”

Amal Clooney wraps an hand around husband George Clooney‘s arm while arriving at New York City’s Moynihan train station on Friday (September 23).

Amal and George Clooney enjoyed a night out in New York City Thursday. The British lawyer, 44, was looking glamorous in a black sequin mini-dress. Her husband of eight years, George, was seen in a more casual look, pairing a navy polo shirt with a pair of light denim jeans.

The dinosaurs have done it as Universal/Amblin’s Jurassic World Dominion crossed the $1B mark at the global box office with Thursday’s business included. It took a little while, but that shouldn’t diminish that this makes the Colin Trevorrow-directed installment one of only three films to the milestone since the beginning of the pandemic. It is the No. 2 film of 2022 behind Top Gun: Maverick.

George Clooney has shared the awkward story of when he had to kiss Julia Roberts in Ticket to Paradise in front of his wife Amal Clooney.  The Ocean’s Eleven co-stars shared the anecdote when promoting their new romantic comedy, in which Clooney and Roberts play divorced parents who try to stop their daughter’s wedding to a man she’s just met in Hawaii.  Clooney, 61 and Roberts, 54 have been friends for decades and reflected on working together again, especially in a rom-com, on the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show this morning.

While the Emmys drew mixed reviews, the film festivals closed to strong applause this week, not only for their movies (we’d forgotten some) but for their star turnout (forgot a few of them, too).

Zack Sharf Julia Roberts is returning to the romantic-comedy genre for the first time in over 20 years with the upcoming “Ticket for Paradise,” and she hopes audiences will finally appreciate the hard work that goes into making feel-good cinema. Roberts dominated the genre in the 1990s with hits such as “Pretty Woman” (1990), “Notting Hill” (1999) and “My Best Friend’s Wedding” (1997). The Oscar winner recently told The New York Times that she believes moviegoers didn’t appreciate the rom-com boom enough and all the hard work that went into it. “I think we didn’t appreciate the bumper crop of romantic comedies that we had then,” Roberts said. “You don’t see all the effort and puppet strings because it’s fun and sweet and people are laughing and kissing and being mischievous.”

George and Amal Clooney saved Julia Roberts from "complete loneliness and despair" as they filmed Ticket to Paradise in Australia under tight Covid-19 restrictions. The Ocean's Eleven co-stars and longtime friends lived Down Under to shoot the film between November 2021 and February this year, and while George had his wife and five-year-old twins with him, Julia left her family behind in America. In an interview with The New York Times, George explained that his frequent collaborator lived in the house below his and Amal's during the shoot.

Julia Roberts and George Clooney opened up about their quarantine bubble while filming "Ticket to Paradise" in Australia. "We started in Hamilton Island with all these wild birds, and Julia had the house down just below Amal and me and the kids," Clooney told The New York Times.  "I would come out in the early mornings and be like, 'Caa-caa,' and Julia would come out and be like, 'Caa-caa.' And then we'd bring her down a cup of coffee. She was Aunt Juju to my kids." Roberts noted the time in Australia filming was the "longest" she's ever been away from family.

New York Times. “In fact, the characters’ names were originally Georgia and Julian. I hadn’t really done a romantic comedy since ‘One Fine Day’ [in 1996],” the “E.R.” alum added.

Julia Roberts is gearing up for her grand return to romantic-comedies with the release of the long-awaited Ticket to Paradise opposite George Clooney.MORE: Julia Roberts' upcoming projects feature major stars - all we knowIn the run up to the film making its way to theaters in the United States on 21 October, the two spoke to The New York Times about their dynamic and working with each other, this marking their fifth time being on-screen together.VIDEO: Julia Roberts pens sweet tribute to her 'magical' niece Emma RobertsOne of the most memorable parts of the interview, however, was when they got candid about pulling off their one kiss for the film, which incidentally, proved to be easier said than done.It turned out that it was their close friendship and default to playfully ribbing each other that got in the way of creating a bit of movie magic.MORE: Julia Roberts waves goodbye to the summer holidays alongside rare selfieWhen asked about whether the movie would feature a kiss, George answered: "We kiss in this. But I don’t want to give the whole shop away."However, when pressed further on it, the two shared that the moment definitely did not come easy, with Julia adding: "One kiss.

Friends forever. Julia Roberts missed her family while filming her upcoming movie Ticket to Paradise, but George Clooney was there to help her cope.