Roger Michell’s 1999 romantic comedy “Notting Hill” has a very good premise. Hugh Grant, as he so often does, plays a charming, restless working-class Brit named William, who, recently divorced, finds solace in his specialist travel bookstore. One day, unexpectedly, William’s store receives a visit from Anna Scott (Julia Roberts), an American film star very similar to Julia Roberts. William and Anna immediately develop a spark.
The central drama of “Notting Hill” arises from the difficulties that a great movie actress must overcome when she simply tries to fall in love like an ordinary person. William, meanwhile, is hurt that he has to remain Anna’s “secret”, because she doesn’t want to draw media attention to such a gentle and fragile man. “Notting Hill” does a great job of humanizing Julia Roberts, making it seem like dating a movie star isn’t such an impossible task. Hugh Grant is perfect as the self-deprecating nebbish who wants nothing to do with pomp and everything to do with love.
“Notting Hill” was a critical and commercial boon. It grossed $364 million on a $42 million budget, and critics generally agreed that Roberts and Grant operated in their usual perfect, ultra-charming environment. Roberts was emitting light and Grant was the cutest puppy he had ever been. It also had a great soundtrack.
Roberts, however, didn’t like the film that much at first. Indeed, she found the principle a bit stupid. The actress admitted this in a recent interview with Deadlineclaiming that playing a movie star was a dramatic dead end. Starting the film as the biggest movie star of all time, she said, could not provide a satisfying arc for her character. Fortunately, Richard Curtis’ screenplay changed his mind.
Julia Roberts initially didn’t like the concept of Notting Hill
It’s worth noting that screenwriter Richard Curtis is one of the reigning champions of the romantic comedy genre. He began his career writing for “Mr. Bean,” but broke into film with “The Tall Guy,” followed by his Oscar-nominated “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” After “Notting Hill”, Curtis continued to write another Hugh Grant film, “Bridget Jones’s Diary”, and he would write and direct the Christmas classic “Love Actually.” He co-wrote the screenplays for Steven Spielberg’s sentimental “War Horse” and directed the fantasy romance “About Time.” He knew what he was doing.
It was Curtis’ script that ultimately convinced Roberts to take part in “Notting Hill.” She remembers talking about the project with her agent and completely hating it at first, mainly because the premise was bad. In his words:
“My God, I just remember when my agent called me about ‘Notting Hill’ and I was like, ‘Well, this sounds like the stupidest idea of any movie I could ever make. I’m going to play the biggest movie star in the world and what do I do? And then What does it happen? This seems so stupid. And then I read the script and I was like, “Oh. This is how charming. It’s so funny. Oh, shit.’ And then I went to lunch with Richard and Duncan and my beloved Roger Michell, may he rest in peace.”
Richard is Richard Curtis, of course. Duncan is the film’s producer, Duncan Kenworthy. Unfortunately, Roger Michell died in 2021 at the age of 65. However, he made 16 additional feature films after “Notting Hill,” including “Changing Lanes,” “Venus,” “Morning Glory” and, most recently, “Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts,” a documentary about Queen Elizabeth II.
Julia Roberts ended up having a great time in Notting Hill
According to the Deadline interview, Roberts had every intention of dropping “Notting Hill” and only attended the meeting with Curtis, Kenworthy and Michell to turn down the project in person. But she was drawn to the project not only because of Curtis’ script, but also because of Curtis himself. Additionally, it seems that the director and producer were very warm, inviting and, above all, convincing. This meeting made him realize that “Notting Hill” was going to be a profitable business. As she said:
“And they were so charming and sweet and funny. And I was like, ‘Wow, this is really going to happen.’ And we had a great time doing it. The casting was perfect, all the friends, everyone. It was so awesome. And we had a great time. And I think Roger just created the film in such a way that it succeeded in every moment. He achieved his goals every time… […] Alec Baldwin! […] It’s brilliant casting.”
The casting director of “Notting Hill,” by the way, was called Mary Selway. Casting can be a delicate art, and it’s important for Roberts to recognize Selway for her good work. Alec Baldwin has a small, uncredited role in “Notting Hill,” playing a character named Jeff King, the potential Hollywood-bound movie star whom Anna’s character must reject in order to pursue a relationship with Will. Baldwin represents the parallel universe in which Anna only dates other movie stars, and it’s a universe she rejects.
The rest was history. “Notting Hill” became one of the highest-grossing films of the year, which was an impressive feat in 1999 (the year of “The Matrix”, “The Mummy”, “The Sixth Sense”, and podracing masterclass “The Phantom Menace”).
