Trivia / Notting Hill

• Breakaway Pop Hit: Two songs from the film soundtrack would go on to become successful hits - Ronan Keating's Cover Version of Keith Whitley's "When You Say Nothing At All", which kickstarted his solo career as his band Boyzone were about to split around this time and Elvis Costello's Cover Version of Charles Aznavour's "She", which remains his most recent UK Top 40 hit.
• Deleted Role:
  • Comedian Sally Phillips had a small role as a dog walker, but it was cut from the final film.
  • Most of Ann Beach's part was deleted.
• Starring a Star as a Star: Julia Roberts as a movie star.
• Throw It In!: The bit where Anna Scott tells off the diners in the restaurant was not in the script.
• Uncredited Role:
  • Alec Baldwin has an uncredited role as Jeff King, Anna Scott's American boyfriend.
  • Matthew Modine As Himself.
  • Omid Djalili plays the Cashier at the Coffee Shop - he was filming The Mummy (1999) at the same time at the same studios so was conscripted to fill in the part, very conveniently.
  • Science fiction author and Notting Hill resident China Miéville appears as an extra in the film.
• What Could Have Been:
  • As detailed in the published screenplay, Honey was originally written not as William's sister, but as competing for his affections with Anna; the film would have climaxed with William choosing someone who has known and loved him for years over a Hollywood fantasy. Richard Curtis ultimately decided he couldn't simply dismiss Anna, so he re-wrote the film accordingly.^note He may also have thought the triangle between Hugh Grant's character, a longtime English friend of his, and a glamorous American was too similar to the triangle between Charles, Fiona, and Carrie in Four Weddings and a Funeral.
  • Mike Newell, who worked with Curtis in Four Weddings and a Funeral, was offered to direct but he declined, opting to direct Pushing Tin. He later regretted his decision.
  • Nicole Kidman wanted to play Anna, but claimed that she wasn't well-known or talented enough.
• Write What You Know: In an interview with GQ in 2018, Hugh Grant claimed the film was based on real life and loosely followed a friend of Richard Curtis' who fell in love with an "extremely world-famous person who [Grant wasn't] allowed to mention". Much like the film, Curtis' friend was an everyday person who met the well known celebrity in Harrods and they ended up having a relationship.

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