Trailer
Plot summary
William Thacker shares a flat in Notting Hill, London, with Spike, and owns a travel bookshop there. He is divorced and has a small circle of friends in Max, Bella, Bernie and Tony. One day the American actress Anna Scott walks into the shop and buys a book. He later spills juice on her and takes her to his flat so she can change. Anna invites him to the Ritz Hotel, where he is mistaken for a reporter at an event for her new film. She is already in a relationship with the actor Jeff King.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Notting Hill (1999)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Hugh Grant said in 2018 that Richard Curtis built the story on a friend of his who met an extremely world-famous person in Harrods and ended up in a relationship with them, a name Grant was not allowed to give.
- To shoot in the crowded streets of Notting Hill, location manager Sue Quinn's team wrote to thousands of local residents promising a donation to each one's favorite charity, and 200 charities ended up receiving money.
- Will's house at 280 Westbourne Park Road belonged to Richard Curtis himself, and behind the famous blue door is a grand house rather than the flat, which was built in the studio. The door was later auctioned for charity.
- Roger Michell was refused permission to film the premiere scene in Leicester Square because police had had trouble with fans at a Leonardo DiCaprio premiere. The production got clearance under a health and safety act and built the scene in 24 hours.
- The Marc Chagall painting La Mariee in the film is a copy made by British artist Thomasina Smith, and producer Duncan Kenworthy said they had to promise to destroy it afterwards in case a fake that good drifted onto the art market.
- Charles Aznavour's own recording of "She" was originally used in the film, but American test audiences did not take to it, so Richard Curtis brought in Elvis Costello to record a cover. Both versions survive outside the United States.
