Hollywood Rom-Com Queens of the 2020s
Rom-coms are back in a big way, and a new wave of leading women is carrying the genre with box-office draws, streaming hits, and buzzy series that keep the meet-cutes coming. From splashy theatrical releases to comfort-watch shows, these stars are headlining projects that pair sharp laughs with heartfelt chemistry and a modern spin on happily-ever-after.
Below are twenty-five performers who’ve anchored notable romantic comedies this decade—across movie screens and streaming platforms. For each, you’ll find the essentials about their standout projects: where they were released, who they play, creative teams, co-stars, and how the films and series were positioned to reach audiences.
Sydney Sweeney
Sydney Sweeney headlined ‘Anyone but You’ as Bea opposite Glen Powell in an enemies-to-lovers setup filmed around Sydney and the New South Wales coastline, released by Sony Pictures with an extended cut in the digital window. She also produced through Fifty-Fifty Films, working with director Will Gluck and writers Ilana Wolpert and Gluck on a contemporary, Shakespeare-inspired premise supported by a music-forward campaign.
Post-theatrical, the soundtrack and short-form promos supported discovery during PVOD and streaming windows. The worldwide gross surpassed the nine-figure mark, and awards publicity emphasized Sweeney’s dual lead–producer role while additional studio romantic-comedy packages moved into development.
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez led ‘Marry Me’ as pop star Kat Valdez in a release coordinated by Universal across theaters and Peacock, accompanied by an original-songs soundtrack and music video rollout. She followed with ‘Shotgun Wedding’ on Prime Video, filmed in the Dominican Republic under director Jason Moore with an ensemble including Josh Duhamel, Jennifer Coolidge, and Lenny Kravitz.
Both titles were designed for robust streaming availability after their initial release frames, with localized dubs and subtitles to maximize reach. Cross-promotions tied to the music assets and behind-the-scenes featurettes kept the films active across studio and platform channels.
Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts returned to the genre with ‘Ticket to Paradise’, reuniting with George Clooney under director Ol Parker and shooting primarily in Queensland as a stand-in for Bali. Universal scheduled a staggered international rollout that emphasized the star pairing and travel setting across markets.
Home-entertainment windows broadened access, with EPK materials highlighting the location cinematography, composer Lorne Balfe’s score, and ensemble contributions from Kaitlyn Dever and Billie Lourd. Airline and hotel channel placement extended the film’s availability beyond the initial window.
Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway starred in Prime Video’s ‘The Idea of You’ as Solène, adapted from Robinne Lee’s novel and directed by Michael Showalter, with original performance elements tied to Nicholas Galitzine’s boy-band character. The production emphasized festival-style marketing beats, official tracks, and social clips to spotlight the central relationship.
Hathaway also appeared in ‘She Came to Me’, a New York-set romantic dramedy from Rebecca Miller that integrates composer-centric storytelling and a cross-generational ensemble. Both projects were supported with curated key art and global localization to reach viewers across multiple territories.
Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon returned to romantic-comedy feature format with ‘Your Place or Mine’, a Netflix title opposite Ashton Kutcher written and directed by Aline Brosh McKenna. The production uses Los Angeles and New York as its dual setting, with Hello Sunshine involved in development and promotion.
The film launched globally on Netflix, complemented by cast interviews, wardrobe features, and location spotlights. Companion materials broke down the music selections and split-coast production design, aiding platform discoverability.
Lily Collins
Lily Collins anchors ‘Emily in Paris’ on Netflix as marketing exec Emily Cooper in a series created by Darren Star and produced with French partners. The show films widely on location in Paris and surrounding regions, with costuming and production design regularly highlighted in official featurettes.
Compact season orders enable efficient production cycles and timely release windows. Tourism tie-ins, fashion collaborations, and recap content sustain engagement between season drops.
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan leads ‘Never Have I Ever’ as Devi Vishwakumar, a teen rom-com series created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher for Universal Television and Netflix. The Los Angeles–area production balances high school arcs with rotating relationship storylines and a writers’ room centered on first-generation experiences.
The series concluded with a final season that tied character arcs across its ensemble. Fan events, official podcasts, and soundtrack placements supported the run-up and rollout.
Zoey Deutch
Zoey Deutch stars in ‘Something from Tiffany’s’ for Prime Video, a holiday-season New York romance produced by Hello Sunshine and built around a gift mix-up premise. The release integrated lifestyle marketing, including pop-up activations and seasonal gift-guide placements.
Deutch’s earlier ‘Set It Up’ remains a catalog driver on streaming, and the newer feature was surfaced alongside that title in recommendations. Localization and holiday carousels helped sustain visibility throughout the season.
Joey King
Joey King stars in Netflix’s ‘A Family Affair’ with Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron, produced by Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum and set within a Hollywood-adjacent workplace premise. The production utilizes Los Angeles locations and backlot stages, with promotional clips centered on intergenerational comedy beats.
King also completed ‘The Kissing Booth’ franchise for Netflix, which maintained strong teen-demo interest across its releases. Both projects were promoted on the service’s weekly programming rows during their launch frames.
Nina Dobrev
Nina Dobrev headlines ‘Love Hard’, a Netflix holiday rom-com about an online dating mix-up co-starring Jimmy O. Yang and Darren Barnet. The production showcases a snowy small-town setting and features needle-drops aligned to seasonal playlists.
The title debuted on Netflix during the holiday corridor with cast-driven social clips and dating-app cross-promotions. Location-forward key art and festive marketing supported broad placement in regional carousels.
Lucy Hale
Lucy Hale fronted ‘The Hating Game’, adapted from Sally Thorne’s novel as an indie-produced office romance using New York exteriors and studio interiors for schedule efficiency. The film followed a hybrid limited theatrical and PVOD strategy to reach book fans and digital audiences.
After the transactional window, the title moved to subscription platforms with additional behind-the-scenes content. Interviews and production design features outlined adaptation choices for the rival-publishers backdrop.
Gina Rodriguez
Gina Rodriguez led ‘Players’ on Netflix, a New York-set rom-com directed by Trish Sie about a sportswriter and a scheme-heavy friend group. The ensemble included Damon Wayans Jr. and Tom Ellis, blending friend-group comedy with romance.
The rollout included cross-promotion with sports and lifestyle verticals, along with on-location features around city landmarks. Platform placement and localization broadened the film’s reach across multiple regions.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas
Priyanka Chopra Jonas starred in ‘Love Again’, a romantic comedy-drama for Sony Pictures that incorporates text-message visuals and a cameo appearance by Nick Jonas. Celine Dion appears as herself, with music elements integrated into the film and its marketing.
Theatrical release was followed by home-entertainment windows featuring extended scenes and cast commentary. International distribution leveraged Chopra Jonas’s global fanbase with localized materials.
Kaley Cuoco
Kaley Cuoco headlined ‘Meet Cute’ on Peacock, a time-loop rom-com co-starring Pete Davidson and directed by Alex Lehmann. The production relied on New York night shoots and repeated set coverage to support the loop premise.
Peacock’s genre-forward marketing highlighted the ethical questions embedded in the story. The title was featured on the platform homepage during its launch window with interviews and behind-the-scenes clips.
Cristin Milioti
Cristin Milioti led ‘Palm Springs’, produced by Limelight and distributed by Neon and Hulu after a record-setting Sundance domestic rights deal. The film pairs a desert-set time-loop narrative with an ensemble including Andy Samberg and J.K. Simmons.
On Hulu, the feature rolled out as an original with prominent platform placement and territory-specific partners for international availability. Its profile helped spur continued interest in high-concept romantic comedies across streamers.
Kaitlyn Dever
Kaitlyn Dever starred in ‘Rosaline’ for Hulu and Disney+, reframing ‘Romeo and Juliet’ from Rosaline’s perspective under director Karen Maine. The shoot utilized Italian locations with period costuming and a script adapted by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber.
Disney’s global distribution supported a coordinated digital release with localized key art and marketing assets. The Shakespearean hook was used in educational and literary tie-ins during the campaign.
Emma Roberts
Emma Roberts added two romantic leads with ‘About Fate’ and ensemble feature ‘Maybe I Do’. ‘About Fate’ paired Roberts with Thomas Mann in a Boston-area production emphasizing New England winter visuals and classic mistaken-identity beats, rolling out via transactional platforms before streaming.
‘Maybe I Do’ brought together Roberts and Luke Bracey with Diane Keaton, Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, and William H. Macy. The theatrical-to-PVOD path focused on targeted bookings followed by premium digital availability to reach adult-demo viewers.
Lily James
Lily James fronted ‘What’s Love Got to Do with It?’ for StudioCanal and Working Title, directed by Shekhar Kapur and written by Jemima Khan. Shot across London and Lahore, the film blends documentary-within-the-film elements with family-ensemble dynamics.
The title opened in the UK and select international markets before moving into premium digital and pay-TV windows. Music features and interviews with co-stars Shazad Latif and Shabana Azmi supported ongoing audience discovery.
Camila Mendes
Camila Mendes led ‘Upgraded’ for Prime Video, playing an art-world assistant whose first-class upgrade kicks off a case of mistaken identity. The production uses London and New York locations with design focused on galleries, auction houses, and luxury-travel interiors.
Prime Video supported the release with travel and fashion partner activations and workplace-comedy clips. The film maintained placement in service discovery rows for multiple weeks post-premiere.
Ana de Armas
Ana de Armas co-starred with Chris Evans in ‘Ghosted’, an Apple Original Films action-rom-com directed by Dexter Fletcher. Production combined Atlanta-area shoots with international-look set pieces and a run of surprise cameos.
Apple TV+ coordinated a global platform push with curated collections and cast-driven social features. Apple cited the feature among its highly watched debuts while expanding availability through standard platform windows.
Rachael Leigh Cook
Rachael Leigh Cook returned to rom-com leads with ‘Love, Guaranteed’ for Netflix, playing a lawyer taking on a dating app, shot in Vancouver with a Seattle setting. The courtroom-comedy angle and city setting were emphasized in publicity materials and platform art.
Cook later starred in ‘A Tourist’s Guide to Love’, a Vietnam-set romance for Netflix produced with local partners and extensive on-location filming in Ho Chi Minh City, Hội An, and other sites. Tourism tie-ins and travel features accompanied the spring release period.
Lana Condor
Lana Condor concluded the ‘To All the Boys’ trilogy for Netflix as Lara Jean, cementing a flagship rom-com franchise for the service. Marketing emphasized cast chemistry, official playlists, and production design consistent with the earlier films.
Condor also starred in ‘Moonshot’ for HBO Max, a space-set rom-com alongside Cole Sprouse, produced on soundstages and digital backlots for a stylized near-future setting. The film released within the platform’s spring slate targeting teen and college-age demos.
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence headlined ‘No Hard Feelings’ for Sony Pictures, an R-rated coming-of-age-meets-rom-com set on Long Island from director Gene Stupnitsky. Sony backed a wide theatrical release before moving into home-entertainment windows.
Publicity included talk-show appearances and digital clips focused on set pieces and location work. The film then continued through PVOD and subscription streaming in line with the studio’s standard windows.
Issa Rae
Issa Rae starred opposite Kumail Nanjiani in ‘The Lovebirds’, a crime-tinged rom-com that shifted from a theatrical plan to a Netflix release. The production shot in New Orleans, using city landmarks as comedic set pieces.
Rae’s production banner supported cross-project promotion during the film’s launch. The transition to global streaming broadened access across international regions with subtitling and dubbing.
Vanessa Hudgens
Vanessa Hudgens continued her holiday-rom-com run on Netflix with ‘The Princess Switch 3’, reprising multiple look-alike roles with intricate costuming and a heist-comedy thread. The production filmed largely in Scotland for castle interiors and exteriors, with expanded world-building around the fictional kingdoms.
The film’s release aligned with the streamer’s seasonal programming strategy, supported by baking specials, soundtrack playlists, and cast-hosted social content. The approach positioned Hudgens as a recurring lead in the service’s holiday lineup.
Share your favorite rom-com leads of the decade and which projects should be next on the watchlist in the comments!
