Julia Roberts Says She and George Clooney Share a "Similar Approach to Life": "He's One of My People"

Julia Roberts and George Clooney's friendship is one for the books. The pair, who met on the set of their 2001 movie "Ocean's Eleven," affectionately opened up about their 22-year-long bond in a 18 Oct. interview with People, revealing how they've managed to remain close over the years.

"This was just easy," Clooney said of forming their early friendship, and Roberts agreed. "That's how it felt with George," she said. "You just kind of go, 'All right' . . . He's one of my people now."

Of sharing similar traits with Roberts, Clooney added: "Listen, the thing about Julia, one of the many great qualities, is she is consistent in her loyalty and in her friendship and in her kindness. I think we enjoy the same things. We love the work, but we don't make the work our entire life." "We have a similar approach to life," Roberts agreed, adding that their friendship hasn't changed much over the years. "Our lives expand in these beautiful ways," she said. "We are the same goofy nuts we've always been."

Roberts and Clooney are currently promoting their film "Ticket to Paradise," which was filmed during COVID-19 quarantine. Previously, Clooney gave fans a window into the filming process, which involved him, his family, and Roberts quarantining quite closely in Australia, and joked that their proximity sometimes felt like a little much.

"It was fun for us to go shoot it. Julia is a good friend," he said in a 30 Sept. interview with Stephen Colbert. Clooney brought wife Amal Clooney and their kids, Ella and Alexander, to Australia, but Roberts came alone and stayed in the house beneath them. She subsequently wound up spending a lot of time with the Clooney family. "At some point, that gets a little annoying because she's not up there with her family," the actor joked. "She comes up every morning and we have to bring her food and drive her around. At some point it's like, 'Julia Roberts leave me alone.'" "So many men have that problem," Colbert teased in return.

Earlier in September, Roberts credited Clooney and his family for saving her from "complete loneliness and despair" during the "Ticket to Paradise" filming process. In an interview with The New York Times, she discussed quarantining with the Clooneys saying, "We were in a bubble, and it's the longest I've ever been away from my family. I don't think I've spent that much time by myself since I was 25." Filming took place between November 2021 and February 2022, per The New Zealand Herald.

"We started in Hamilton Island with all these wild birds, and Julia had the house down just below Amal and me and the kids," Clooney explained. "I would come out in the early mornings and be like, 'Caa-caa,' and Julia would come out and be like, 'Caa-caa.' And then we'd bring her down a cup of coffee. She was Aunt Juju to my kids." Roberts's family eventually made it to Australia, but they "had to fly into Sydney and quarantine for two weeks by themselves before she could see them," Clooney said.

Roberts and Clooney play exes in "Ticket to Paradise," a romantic comedy about two divorced parents who travel to their daughter's wedding in Bali and decide to try to stop her from getting married and making the same mistakes they did. The pair have worked on a number of films together in over the years, including 2001's "Ocean's Eleven," 2002's "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," and 2016's "Money Monster." They've shared a close friendship since they starred in "Ocean's Eleven," frequently attending red carpets and other occasions together.

Roberts has three kids — Hazel, Henry, and Phinnaeus — with husband Danny Moder. She stepped out once again to support her costar on 30 Sept., attending Clooney and Amal's first annual Albie Awards, which honour humanitarian leaders, journalists, and other defenders of human rights.