Julia Roberts on why she doesn't do romantic comedies anymore

'Sometimes, they just don't work at a certain point of life experience'

Julia Roberts may have made a name for herself starring in a string of era-defining romantic comedies (from Notting Hill to Pretty Woman), but she now says she’s parting ways with the genre.

Speaking to ET, the actor said that she feels she’s had too much life experience to make a convincing rom-com lead, adding: “Unless we [play] the parents of the people that are rom-com-ing.”

“There came a point in my career where people thought I had turned on romantic comedies, which I love them, I love to be in them, I love to watch them,” she said. “But sometimes, they just don’t work at a certain point of life experience.”

Adding that she believes characters in rom-coms need to be naive and juvenile enough to find themselves in the genre’s standard hijinks and misunderstandings, she said: ”It’s not about age, it’s just about what people know that you know.”

Roberts latest project is Amazon’s new drama series Homecoming, which sees Roberts star as Heidi, a former caseworker at a government facility that helps soldiers transition back into civilian life. Her character is haunted by paranoia and resurfacing memories.

The Independent has called the series “keenly subversive” and praised its choice to keep episodes under the 30-minute mark.

Homecoming season 1 is released on Amazon Prime on 2 November