'We didn't appreciate them then': Julia Roberts defends romantic comedies

MANILA, Philippines — Seasoned actress Julia Roberts is making her romantic-comedy (rom-com) comeback in "Ticket to Paradise," and she feels the genre did not get the recognition that other films often do.

In an interview with the New York Times, Roberts said that during the 1990s people did not appreciate the many rom-coms that came out during that period.

“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.”

Roberts dominated that decade with a number of rom-coms including "Pretty Woman," "My Best Friend's Wedding," "Notting Hill," "Runaway Bride," and "I Love Trouble."

She continued that streak with "Valentine's Day," "Eat Pray Love," "Larry Crowne," and "America's Sweethearts," though some of them are not considered traditional rom-coms.

"This is a genre that I love to participate in and watch, and I think they are hard to get right," Roberts continued, rhetorically asking how to make it special and keep people interested.

Rom-coms are especially popular in the Philippines, often utilizing "love teams" such as Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla (KathNiel), Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil (LizQuen), and more recently Donny Pangilinan and Belle Mariano (DonBelle).

Related: KathNiel on return to romcom roots & future of their reel-to-real life tandem

Filipinos will also not forget the many former "love teams" that graced local rom-coms like Jolina Magdangal and Marvin Agustin, Kristine Hermosa and Jericho Rosales, Claudine Barretto and the late Rico Yan, Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson (Kimerald), and Julia Barretto and Joshua Garcia (JoshLia).

Roberts added that she had not done rom-coms in quite some time because she did not feel the scripts being offered to her were good enough.

"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," she said.

"Ticket to Paradise" reunites Roberts with her good friend George Clooney, whom she previously starred with in the first two "Ocean's" films, 2016's "Money Monster" and Clooney's directorial debut "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind."

In the film, the two actors play divorced parents whose daughter decides to marry a local in Bali while on a post-graduation trip, so they begrudgingly team up to convince their daughter not to impulsively pursue marriage like they did which they believe wrecked their own lives.

Like Roberts, Clooney has not done a rom-com in a long time since "One Fine Day" (1996) and "Intolerable Cruelty" (2003). 

RELATED: Julia Roberts, George Clooney reunite for rom-com 'Ticket to Paradise'