50 Fun Facts About Four Weddings and a Funeral

Who plays Charles, the perpetually late best man?

The producers saw about 70 actors for the part before him, and he claimed to be on the verge of quitting acting when the script arrived.

In which year was the film released?

It opened in just five US cinemas in March that year and was number one in the UK for nine straight weeks.

Who plays Carrie, the American Charles keeps running into?

She was in London promoting Groundhog Day when she read the script and took a 75% pay cut to do it.

Who wrote the screenplay?

He based Charles on himself, which is why he initially thought the handsome Grant was wrong for the part.

Rowan Atkinson plays what kind of character?

He officiates at two of the weddings because the budget could not stretch to a second clergyman.

Which band's cover of 'Love Is All Around' topped the UK singles chart?

Curtis later recycled it as 'Christmas Is All Around' for Billy Mack in Love Actually.

Which character dies of a heart attack during a wedding speech?

His death prompts Charles and Tom to realise that the couple in their circle who seemed most married were Gareth and Matthew.

Whose poem 'Funeral Blues' is read at the funeral?

Also known as 'Stop all the clocks', it first appeared in a 1936 play and was later rewritten as a cabaret song.

What does the jilted bride do to Charles at the altar?

His deaf brother David has just signed to the vicar that the groom loves someone else.

Charles's brother David, played by David Bower, is what?

He gets the girl too: the closing montage shows him married to Serena, who was smitten at the second wedding.

Whom does Charles nearly marry at the fourth wedding?

She is the ex-girlfriend who earlier called him a 'serial monogamist'; in the montage she ends up marrying an Army officer.

At the UK premiere, Elizabeth Hurley wore a famous black dress by which designer?

Several fashion houses had refused to lend her anything because they did not know who she was.

What does Charles propose to Carrie at the end of the film?

Curtis deliberately never mentions anyone's job, reasoning that friends at a wedding would not discuss work.

Who plays Fiona, the aristocratic friend secretly in love with Charles?

She won the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress, one of three BAFTAs the film took home.

Who directed the film?

Grant thought the director was working against the comedy's natural beats; Newell was 'obsessed with keeping it real'.

What happens in the sky as Charles and Carrie kiss at the end?

The final scene was shot on Highbury Terrace in Islington, in the pouring rain.

Who plays the flamboyant friend who dies mid-film?

He picked up a BAFTA nomination for the part, as did John Hannah for playing his partner.

Who plays Matthew, who recites the poem at the funeral?

The Scottish actor went on to Sliding Doors and The Mummy films.

Hurley's famous premiere dress was held together by what?

It is now simply known as 'THAT Dress' and is credited with launching her onto the global media stage.

Which band originally recorded 'Love Is All Around' in 1967?

Singer Reg Presley wrote it in about ten minutes after seeing a Salvation Army band on television.

What is the name of Carrie's wealthy Scottish fiancé?

Charles helps her choose the wedding dress and then blurts out that he loves her, which she gently rebuffs.

Scarlett meets Chester, a man from where?

They meet again at the fourth wedding and are married by the closing photo montage.

The film's director later made which Harry Potter instalment?

He was the first British director on the Potter series.

How many Academy Award nominations did the film receive?

Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay; it won neither, losing the top prize to Forrest Gump.

Fiona ends up with whom in the closing photo montage?

A joke that aged in an unexpected way once the real prince became king.

Which production company stepped in to close the funding gap in 1993?

The film's profits wiped out the company's past losses and it went on to make Notting Hill and Love Actually.

In the US version, the opening expletive was replaced by which British swear word?

The reshoot followed a test screening walkout by conservative council members in Salt Lake City.

Who created the 2019 Hulu anthology series based on the film?

Alex Jennings, who was originally cast as Charles in 1992, got a supporting role in it.

Who plays Tom, Fiona's amiable brother?

Tom finally finds love with his distant cousin Deirdre while seating guests at the fourth wedding.

The film's screenwriter was born in which country?

His family moved between Sweden and the Philippines before settling in the UK when he was 11.

How many weeks did the soundtrack single spend at number one in the UK?

It was then the ninth-biggest-selling single in British history, and the soundtrack album sold over 750,000 copies.

In roughly how many days was the film shot?

A last-minute $1.2 million cut forced the compressed schedule and a final budget of £2.7 million.

What was the 2019 Comic Relief reunion short called?

Lily James and Alicia Vikander played the young couple, and it included a tribute to the late Charlotte Coleman.

Which film kept it from being the UK's highest-grossing release ever at the time?

Its £1.4 million opening weekend was a record for a British production.

Which film did it overtake as the highest-grossing British film?

Notting Hill, from the same writer and star, took the title off it five years later.

What was Curtis's first title for the script, before the funeral was added?

The American distributor later pushed alternatives such as 'Rolling in the Aisles', all of which were rejected.

Which actor did Curtis favour for Charles, though he refused to audition?

Curtis thought Grant too handsome for a character based on himself; Newell and the producers talked him round.

Curtis says he attended how many weddings in 11 years before writing the script?

At one of them he turned down a fellow guest's advances and regretted it forever; that became Charles and Carrie.

Which future Home Secretary is credited as 'Aristocracy Coordinator'?

The aristocrats conveniently wore their own morning suits, which suited the budget.

Grant struggled with what throughout filming?

He also thought the rough cut was 'the worst film that's ever been perpetrated' and joked about emigrating to Peru.

Who plays Scarlett, Charles's eccentric flatmate?

She earned a BAFTA nomination and died in 2001 aged 33; the reunion short paid tribute to her.

Which US location's test-screening walkout prompted the re-dub?

A later test screening in Santa Monica went so well that the team stopped planning their emigration.

Who advised Curtis to add a funeral to the story?

Curtis returned the favour by co-writing the screenplay of her Bridget Jones's Diary.

How many drafts did the screenplay go through?

He started writing at 34 and casting did not begin until early 1992.

Who was first cast as Charles before the funding collapsed in 1992?

He eventually appeared in the 2019 Hulu series based on the film.

Which actress was originally cast as Carrie before dropping out?

The role was then offered to Marisa Tomei, who turned it down because her grandfather was ill.

Producer Duncan Kenworthy was on sabbatical from which company?

He later credited a single Variety review by Todd McCarthy with much of the film's box-office success.

Who composed the original score?

The score is easy to forget because the pop soundtrack, led by Wet Wet Wet, dominated.

Which was among the titles the US distributor suggested instead?

Gramercy Pictures feared the original title would put off male viewers.

The fourth wedding was filmed at which London church?

The funeral was shot in West Thurrock, Essex, with the Dartford Crossing in the background.