Ticket to Paradise has arrived in theaters, offering a respite from horror movies this Halloween season in the form of a classic rom-com and getaway vacation to Bali. The film stars Julia Roberts and George Clooney as David and Georgia, a divorced couple who fight about everything except how much they love their daughter. Played by Kaitlyn Dever, who has proven her range in serious projects like Dopesick and teen comedies like Booksmart), Lily is her parents' pride and joy until she chooses to marry a man she just met while on vacation in Bali.

Ol Parker (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again) directed and co-wrote Ticket to Paradise, sure from the start about which stars he had to cast in order to make the story sing perfectly. The supporting characters are no slouches either, with Maxime Bouttier, Billie Lourd (American Horror Story), and Lucas Bravo (Emily in Paris) playing vital roles that bring both the laughs and the humanity to the proceeding. Additionally, plenty of research went into Balinese customs and locations, despite the actors filming in Australia due to pandemic restrictions.

Related: Julia Roberts' 10 Best Movies, According To Letterboxd

Screen Rant spoke to director Ol Parker about what inspired the premise of Ticket to Paradise, why audiences root so easily for George Clooney and Julia Roberts' onscreen romance, and how he crafted the role of Lily specifically for Kaitlyn Dever.

Ol Parker Talks On Why Ticket to Paradise Is A Perfect Vehicle For George & Julia

julia roberts & george clooney in ticket to paradise

I loved Ticket to Paradise. Julia and George as bitter exes reminds me of Ocean's Eleven. What inspired the concept for you?

Ol Parker: It was because my eldest daughter is 21. She's making her own choices in life, all of which are smarter than I would make for her. But it made me question what I'm bringing to her life, what she needs me for, and what guidance I can offer; what's hypocritical, etc. That was the genesis of the movie.

And from the very beginning, as soon as I knew it was a divorced couple, it was always George and Julia in my head. I remember calling Dan [Pipski], my co-writer, up and going, "We should do this movie." And if you make a film about a divorced couple, you need to believe that they were once married. And obviously, apart from their manifest gifts and gorgeousness and general brilliance, they also have their shared history on and off-screen. Like you said, it takes you back to Ocean's Eleven. You just believe in them; you believe that they have a past because you've seen their past. We've known about their past, and so we can piggyback on those movies, as it were.

And also, people love their friendship. In fact, the publicity of this has been based a lot on that. When they do interviews, they do it together and they're very joshy. Which is true and all real; there's no fakery about it. They are very, very close. But the thing that you most want from a romantic comedy is to want the people to get together at the end. You want to see the capital together, and they automatically bring that warmth and that desire.

I love them for resuscitating romantic comedies, but also you for writing it. Who had the genius idea to cast Kaitlyn Dever as Julia Roberts' daughter?

Ol Parker: That was also written for her. I had met her before, and we were friends already. She's obviously a once-in-a-generation actress, and also the nicest person. I remember meeting her at a party and saying, "I'm writing something for you," and she's like, "Yeah, right." Because that's like a chat-up line—which it wasn't, obviously. So, it was really nice to send it to her and go, "You know that thing? I wasn't kidding."

It was always her, and that was really nice, because George and Julia already knew her work and had huge respect for her. She did it without reading—and not because of me. As soon as you go, "Do you want to be George and Julia's daughter?" she's like, "I'm in! Totally in. That's great." But telling them she was cast was a very happy day. They go, "Maybe he does have a clue."

I was really surprised that it wasn't actually shot in Bali. How did you turn Australia into Indonesia?

Ol Parker: It was a challenge. When you write, you never think it's gonna happen. I just thought I'd get a couple of research trips to Bali out of it, so it was a rude shock both that it happened and that it wasn't going to be in Bali. It was a challenge, but every movie has a million challenges. And it's how you overcome them, how you meet them and beat them, that is the fun.

We had a crew in Bali. We couldn't go there because of the pandemic, but we had a crew shooting backdrops, and then we would then CGI them into the [scene] and change locations. We had a very clever production designer and a very good location manager. So, we got lucky.

If you were going to shoot for the moon with your next film, where would you want to film or pretend to film?

Ol Parker: The next one is in Alaska, unfortunately, in the dead of winter. If it happens, it's going to be a different beast. There was a moment during this, though, where there was a boat coming into the gorgeous beach and a helicopter shot at the boat. I was sort of like, "I think I've done this before," which is always a sign that you need to do something else. I seem to remember the shot from another movie that I made, so I need to get to Alaska.

Finally, I heard from Maxime that his onscreen father was originally a consultant.

Ol Parker: Yeah, we were looking for the guy and we couldn't find him. It was all on Zoom. And then we were in a meeting, talking about weddings and customs and rituals. He was talking, and I was thinking, "God, you're so handsome." He's so handsome and charming and lovely.

At the end of the meeting, we said, "Would you mind coming out to my office?" He came up, and I was like, "Could you just read that speech?" He started reading, and I was like, "You're hired!" He was like, "What? What's going on here? What's happening?" I was like, "Do you want to be in the movies? Okay!"

The woman that plays his wife, Maxime's mom, was a passport officer from Brisbane. None of them are actors, so it's really good for George and Julia to work with people that aren't [actors]. It was just great.

About Ticket To Paradise

Kaitlyn Dever and Maxime Bouttier holding hands and smiling at each other in Ticket To Paradise

Academy Award ® winners George Clooney and Julia Roberts reunite on the big screen as exes David and Georgia, who find themselves on a shared mission to stop their lovestruck daughter from making the same mistake they once made. From Working Title,

Smokehouse Pictures and Red Om Films, Ticket to Paradise is a romantic comedy about the sweet surprise of second chances.

Ticket to Paradise also stars Kaitlyn Dever as David and Georgia’s daughter Lily, Billie Lourd as Lily’s best friend Wren, Maxime Bouttier as Lily’s new fiancé, and Lucas Bravo as Georgia’s younger boyfriend.

Check out our other Ticket To Paradise interviews here:

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Ticket to Paradise arrives in theaters on October 21.