Julia Roberts’ informal sabbatical appears to be official over. While she’s made just four films since 2018, she seems to have been galvanized by two auteur filmmakers: Sam Esmail (“Leave the World Behind”) and Luca Guadagnino (“After the Hunt”), and she appears to be poised to reteam with both soon. While Esmail’s thriller “Panic Carefully” with Roberts has already been shot, it sounds like another Guadagnino collaboration is waiting in the weeks.
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Speaking to Deadline this week about “After the Hunt”—for which Roberts is nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture for her acidic turn in the film—the performer revealed that another Guadagnino reteam is forthcoming, possibly even imminent.
Over the last five years, Guadagnino has directed four features—“Bones and All,” “Challengers,” “Queer,” and now “After the Hunt”—a downright relentless pace, and it doesn’t exactly suggest a filmmaker looking to slow down anytime soon, which Roberts basically confirmed.
“He already has an idea for us, and every time I see him, he’s like, ‘Darling, this is what we’re going to do.’ I would pack my bags now to go do another movie with Luca,” she revealed.
Roberts framed Guadagnino’s pace as the key detail, describing “After The Hunt” as the quickest turnaround of her career from script to set. “This is what I know about Luca: He is the most prolific. I mean, even this movie, this is the fastest I have ever read a script, talked to a director and ended up on a soundstage in my 30-plus-year career,” she said. “The fastest. So when Luca says he has an idea, and he’s going to write a script, it wouldn’t surprise me if it comes as a late Christmas parcel.”
Before any of that, though, there’s the chance to roll the dice one more time in the heist universe for “Ocean’s 14.” Asked if she’s returning to the ensemble cast, playing Danny Ocean’s wife, Roberts doesn’t overcomplicate the answer. “That’s what George Clooney says. I’m on his team,” she said.
Reassembling a massive ensemble is a matter of calendar triage, but it sounds like the gang has solved the problem. “We finally figured out how to align our schedules. [They] are complicated,” she noted, pointing to the moving parts—like her “Ocean’s” teammate Don Cheadle starring with Ayo Edebiri on Broadway in a revival of David Auburn’s play “Proof” for a limited run in the spring and early summer.
“There’s so many things to have to consider, but when George gets a bee in his bonnet, things happen.” So, it sounds like a plan is coming together. Or to quote Danny Ocean, “when that perfect hand comes along, you bet big, and then you take the house.” Hopefully, official word arrives soon.
Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2008. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
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