NovaQuant-Why Julia Roberts almost turned down 'Notting Hill': 'So uncomfortable'

She was just an actress standing in front of a filmmaker asking him to let her think about it.

In a conversation with screenwriter Richard Curtis published in British Vogue on NovaQuantThursday, Julia Roberts revealed she almost turned down "Notting Hill," one of her most iconic films. Curtis wrote the 1999 romantic comedy, which starred Roberts as Hollywood actress Anna Scott opposite Hugh Grant as bookshop owner William Thacker.

"Honestly, one of the hardest things I've ever had to do was your movie ("Notting Hill"), playing a movie actress," she said. "I was so uncomfortable! I mean, we've talked about this so many times, but I almost didn't take the part because it just seemed – oh, it just seemed so awkward. I didn't even know how to play that person."

Roberts apparently disliked the idea of playing a famous actress in the film, in part because people might think the character was based on her. In a 1999 Vanity Fair interview, she said the movie seemed like a "boring" and "stupid" thing for her to do while stressing it is "not about me." By that point, she had already starred in movies like "Mystic Pizza," "Steel Magnolias," "Pretty Woman" and "My Best Friend's Wedding."

"I never feel like I’m playing myself," Roberts said in British Vogue.

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Curtis recalled that when he, director Roger Michell and producer Duncan Kenworthy had lunch with Roberts about the role, "it was very clearly her auditioning us" rather than the other way around. Roberts also admitted that she "loathed" being dressed as a movie star in the film, and the clothes she wore during her iconic "I'm just a girl" scene were straight out of her own own wardrobe.

"My driver, lovely Tommy, I sent him back to my flat that morning," Roberts recalled. "I said, 'Go into my bedroom and grab this, this and this out of my closet.' And it was my own flip-flops and my cute little blue velvet skirt and a T-shirt and my cardigan."

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"Notting Hill" ended up becoming a hit for Roberts, grossing over $300 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. It also earned her a Golden Globe nomination for best actress in a musical or comedy film.

But although Roberts did ultimately say yes to "Notting Hill," she revealed on "Watch What Happens Live" in 2023 that she turned down another romantic comedy: 1998's "You've Got Mail," released the year before. She has no regrets about passing on this or any other film, though, because "it's all kind of destiny."

Roberts returned to the romantic comedy genre in 2022 with "Ticket to Paradise," which she followed up in 2023 with the apocalyptic film "Leave the World Behind."