Fans of romantic comedies have been in for a treat in 2022, with heavy hitters like Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts coming back onto the playing field. Roberts' latest effort, Ticket To Paradise, saw her re-team with longtime friend and frequent collaborator George Clooney. The film is finally available on digital with a physical release coming on December 13, after a successful theatrical run which grossed over $60M domestically and over $160M worldwide.
Not only was Ticket to Paradise a breath of fresh air for romcom lovers, however, it was a dream come true for director Ol Parker as well. When he and co-writer Daniel Pipski first envisioned the story, no one but Roberts and Clooney could play the parts of the divorced parents reuniting in the wake of their daughter's Balinese wedding. Thankfully, he got even more than he bargained for, as the stars came on board and were more than happy to welcome Hollywood up-and-comers as well as newcomers who had never acted before.
To commemorate Ticket to Paradise digital and home release, Screen Rant spoke to Parker about George and Julia's so-called "worst" day on set, th shocking lack of deleted scenes, and his own hopes for a sequel to Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again.
Ol Parker Talks George & Julia's Time on Ticket to Paradise
Screen Rant: A lot of Ticket To Paradise's existence rested on George and Julia agreeing to participate, so they were the most known quantity. But was there any actor, character, or development that was most surprising to you or didn't turn out the way you expected?
Ol Parker: It was a film I made during the pandemic, so that was unexpected. Auditioning and meeting people over Zoom is a weird thing; you want to be in a room with them, especially with actors. You want to relax them and get a feeling for them.
The biggest surprise and the happiest shock was working with Balinese and Indonesian actors. Most of them weren't actors, like the woman who plays Max's mom in the movie was a passport officer from Brisbane, and the guy who plays Max's dad was actually our cultural consultant.
It was actually a real pleasure for George and Julia to work with a bunch of non-actors. They're incredibly kind and generous people, and everyone they've met for the last 30 or 40 years has been meeting George Clooney and Julia Roberts, so they're very good at putting people at their ease. But this was a challenge because we had some very nervous non-actors who were even more nervous because of the reputations of these two mega-stars. They were incredibly kind, so that was lovely to see. I loved that aspect of the film.
Speaking of George and Julia's expertise, not only have they been in the industry for decades and at the top of their game, but Julia's the question of romcoms, and they've also done plenty of films together. Was there a shorthand between them that helped spark things?
Ol Parker: We did the scene where they kiss on Day 2 or 3 of the movie, because it was going to be a beautiful morning, and there weren't going to be any other beautiful mornings for a while. You'd never do that if you're introducing actors, however experienced they are. You still want them to have an ease and rapport together, however good they are, and you still want them to know each other well.
They just laugh all the way through life, and they laughed all the way through the movie as well. The only difficult day I had with them was when they have an actual proper argument. George was great, and he was going for it, but Julia was just not. Normally, they'd nail it straight away! After not very many takes, I was like, "Julia, what's happening? What's going on?" And she went, "I just don't like giving George grief." I said, "But you gotta let him have it," and she was like, "Yeah, I know. I just don't like it." That's an uptown problem, if that's your worst day on set.
Julia is obviously the queen of this genre and, even though George doesn't generally like romcoms, they were both incredibly generous. Obviously, George is a terrific and award-winning director, so the fear is that he's gonna be like, "You're putting the camera there? Interesting choice," at best. And at worst, he'll be like, "Don't put it there, put it here!" And of course, he did neither. He was just lovely, and occasionally he would suggest things. It was very rare, and they were always far better than whatever I had done. But they weren't even different things; they were just like, "Make sure you record the kids while they're playing, because you really need it as a backdrop." And then in the edit, you have this tape of the kids playing, and you're like, "Oh, I've got this. Amazing!"
It sounds glib, and it sounds pat, but it's really hard to find enough nice things to say about them.
Nice things are exactly what we want to hear about George and Julia.
Ol Parker: That's why I put the outtakes on it. Halfway through the movie, they kept happening, and they were just having such a laugh. I was like, "I'm sorry, we're not using that." Julia's, "I made you!" ad-lib in the graduation scene, things like that were such a shame [to leave out], so I said to them, "I'm thinking about doing this."
If they'd said it was a crappy idea, then obviously, I would have just junked it. There wasn't a plan, it was just a lot of nice stuff. But they were both like, "Cool. send it when you're done, and we'll see." But it was really a way of showing how much fun we all had, how much they like each other, and what a beautiful friendship that is.
Given that there aren't deleted scenes, I'm wondering how much there was that didn't actually make it into the film?
Ol Parker: Very little. We shot the script, and it worked out for us. Normally, you discard things that and clean in the process of editing, but it was always quite tight. They knew what they were doing. I don't think there's a full deleted scene, although there are lines or gags that don't work.
Maybe there are moments that you realize were overwritten, particularly because those guys are so good at doing things with a look rather than a line. You kind of go, "Oh, we don't need that," in the process of editing. But I don't think there was any scene that we junked. There was one I thought maybe we should lose, but they're so good in it that I just couldn't.
Does that mean that you never planned for poor Wren to find someone to hook up with on that island?
Ol Parker: Yeah, there is no payoff for that. [Laughs] She gives away her condoms at the end. Obviously, Billie's underused and underserved by the movie. I would love to write a film especially for Billie because she's a comic genius, and it was brilliant having her there. I didn't give her enough to do, which is one of my many regrets. But yeah, wouldn't that be great?
She's a really special one, onscreen and off, and it was amazing to get to know her. She's really close friends with Kaitlyn, which is lovely for me because that just naturally flowed, and she knew George and Julia really well already. She wasn't overawed by them, so she was just a brilliant addition. She had her kid there, and it was all an embarrassingly good time.
Obviously, Julia's character is named Georgia, and I read that George's character was originally Julius, which is amazing. How was David chosen as the replacement?
Ol Parker: When my co-writer Dan and I were talking about the script, we just called them Julia and George. That's how clearly we knew it should be them, and it should only be them. When we were just about to send it to them, it seemed a little bit naff to make it "Julius," so we changed his name to David.
But I did write to each of them, and I sent it to each of them the same time, which you never do. Because if one of them says no, then the other one's gonna say no. I sent it to each of them, going, "I've written this for the two of you, and it only works if it's the two of you." I think George called Julia and was like, "Are you reading? Should we do this?" Julia was like, "I will if you will." So, I got lucky.
As for David, it just seems boring. "David Cotton" sounds bland and boring and with a slight stick up him. Do you know what I mean? [Laughs]
Finally, I also loved Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. People are always saying they want Mamma Mia 3, and I'm people. Can we give the people what they want? Do you know anything about Mamma Mia 3, and would you direct it?
Ol Parker: Judy Craymer, the genius producer behind the musical and the first two films, always plans for it to be a trilogy. That's all I can say. The first one made an enormous amount of money, and I think we made a fair amount too. I know that there is a hunger for a third, and I know that she has a plan. Wouldn't it be lovely?
About 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:
Ticket To Paradise is now available on digital, and it arrives on Blu-ray and DVD on December 13.