28 of the quirkiest rom-com careers (that aren't architect)

There's plenty to envy in rom-coms: Everyone is good looking, everyone has great clothes, and almost everyone has a cool job. Here are some of our favorites. How did Cameron Diaz's character pay for that swanky L.A. pad? Cutting together movie trailers, and making them all look like hits.

Nancy Meyers movies always feature iconic kitchens, but Meryl Streep's is a standout (not to mention the kitchen in her gorgeous bakery, where she and Steve Martin make those chocolate croissants...)

Sure, Kathleen Kelly's business is struggling, but who hasn't fantasized about owning a cozy neighborhood bookstore?

James Marsden plays a cynic who writes newspaper romance—classic rom-com set-up.

In case you forgot, Patrick Dempsey's wealthy playboy gets to be a wealthy playboy because he invented the little cardboard that goes around a hot cup of to-go coffee.

Michelle Monaghan's character has a cool gig restoring old paintings.

Amy Adams's rom-com job in the Ireland-set guilty pleasure is setting up houses for real estate agents before their showings to help the properties sell.

Selling boats to rich people? Alright, alright, alright.

Sure, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character is also an architect, but before that, he meets Summer while working at his certifiably quirky greeting card job.

Both professional and also memorable, Bill Hader's character hits the rom-com sweetspot.

Diane Keaton's job is basically wearing summer linens, but it's also playwright.

Reese Witherspoon is an-up-and-coming fashion designer, who also gets to be engaged to McDreamy.

Slightly more specific than just being any tpe of fashion designer, Natasha Richardson played a famous wedding dress designer.

Seems pretty nice to get to ride horses around a giant vineyard estate all day.

Adam Sandler got to hang with seals and penguins acting as a character who worked at Sea Life Park in Hawaii.

Jason Segel's character worked composing the "ominous tones" for his girlfriend's crime television show, but his real passion was vampire puppets.

Lake Bell portrayed a character trying to break the glass ceiling in voiceover work.

Jules (Anne Hathaway) founded an online startup for selling clothes.

David Tennant plays a literary author who wrote a bestselling book about a tiny Scottish island.

Catherine Keener ran a store to help people sell things on eBay. No, you couldn't just buy the things in the store.

Most rom-com heroines have vague jobs in media, but at least Eva Mendes's job has a bit of specificity.

Joaquin Pheonix plays a man who works at a company that uses AI to construct faux-personal notes.

Olivia Wilde and Jake Johnson play coworkers who are allowed to drink on the job together.

In this meta rom-com, Chris Evans plays a screenwriter who dreams of writing action movies.

When she's not a waitress, Jessica (Jessica Williams) works at a children's theater workshop.

In her indie comedy, Noel Wells plays a character who's trying to make it as a comedian, one YouTube subscriber at a time.

Ryan Reynolds's character worked on the Bill Clinton presidential campagn before having a daughter with a mystery mother.

Sure, it's ALMOST architect, but if you recall, Mark Ruffalo's character actually designed gorgeous outdoor garden spaces.