Rom-com legends Julia Roberts and George Clooney are here to save Hollywood from another impaired romance in Ticket to Paraside, but even after over twenty years of friendship, kissing scenes can still get a little uncomfortable.
In a high-spirited interview with Today’s Hoda Kotb, the duo revealed what made the make-out sessions on camera slightly hard to get through, despite the two’s affinity off-set.
“It’s [awkward to film the kissing scenes] when my wife and kids come by to visit,” Clooney shared. Roberts, or “auntie JuJu”, as her costar’s children like to call her, added that out of all the days Clooney’s family could have picked to visit the movie set, they chose the one scheduled for the kissing scene. “It’s like: ‘Ah, Get ’em out! Get ’em out!’,” the Pretty Woman actress joked.
Clooney’s impersonation of his 5-year-old toddlers catching their dad and auntie kissing was hilarious. “What are you doing, Papa? What is that?,” the actor mimicked. Thankfully, Roberts was quick to reassure that the children weren’t actually around.
Roberts described having to kiss her best friend as “kind of ridiculous,” adding that the scenes with Clooney felt very much “like kissing your best friend.”
Despite the actors’ extensive rom-com resume, this is the first time the stars have aligned to bring them together in one. This movie is, however, Roberts and Clooney’s fifth time working together, after titles like Money Monster, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and the first two chapters in the Ocean’s trilogy.
The two real-life friends play a divorced couple who can’t stand each other but must embark together on a trip to Bali to deter their daughter from marrying the wrong person too.
Ticket to Paradise is directed by Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again‘s Ol Parker, and written by Parker and Daniel Pipski. It arrives in theaters Oct. 21.