50 Fun Facts About Notting Hill

What kind of shop does William Thacker run?

The shop used for filming, The Travel Book Store, was at 142 Portobello Road.

What is the name of the Hollywood star played by Julia Roberts?

Roberts initially thought the pitch sounded terrible and only agreed after reading the script.

What does Will spill on Anna when they collide on the street?

He had gone out to buy his colleague Martin a juice.

Which magazine does Will claim to write for when he is mistaken for a journalist at the Ritz?

A young Mischa Barton plays the child actor he ends up interviewing for the magazine.

Will shares his flat with a scruffy Welshman named what?

Spike is played by Rhys Ifans, whose performance earned a BAFTA nomination.

Whose birthday party does Anna attend as Will's date?

Honey is played by Emma Chambers, better known as Alice in The Vicar of Dibley.

According to Will, his ex-wife left him for a man who resembles which actor?

The line comes early on, in Will's opening narration about his life.

Which artist painted La Mariée, the picture Will has as a print and Anna later gives him as the original?

The producers had to promise to destroy their reproduction in case it was good enough to be passed off as real.

According to Anna, 'happiness isn't happiness without' what, as depicted in the Chagall painting?

The animal turns up again on the couple's wedding cake at the end.

Who inadvertently tips off the paparazzi, leading to the photos on Will's doorstep?

Anna blames Will and storms out, and several seasons pass before she returns.

When Anna returns to London, she is making a film based on a novel by which author, on Will's suggestion?

He leaves the set after overhearing her being dismissive about him to a co-star.

What does Spike call Will that finally makes him change his mind and chase after Anna?

The whole gang then races across London to reach her press conference.

At which hotel is Anna's final press conference held?

Her earlier press junket, where Will posed as a journalist, was at the Ritz.

In Notting Hill, what is Anna's one-word answer when asked again how long she will stay in Britain?

The film ends with the pair married and Anna pregnant on a bench in the private garden.

Which two characters also end up marrying each other at the end of the film?

Bella, played by Gina McKee, is Max's wife and uses a wheelchair.

Which restaurant patron, played by Sanjeev Bhaskar in a cameo, does Anna calmly humiliate?

The men equate actresses with prostitutes before Will confronts them and Anna delivers the coup de grâce.

Which comedian has an uncredited cameo as the juice vendor?

Science-fiction author China Miéville also appears as an extra.

Who wrote the screenplay?

Curtis lived in the area and said it was 'a melting pot and the perfect place to set a film'.

Which Four Weddings and a Funeral director turned the film down to make Pushing Tin instead?

He later admitted it was commercially the wrong call, but said he did not regret it.

Will's blue-doored house at 280 Westbourne Park Road was owned by whom?

The famous blue door was auctioned for charity, and the current door is blue again.

How long was the film's first cut before 90 minutes were removed?

Location scouts wrote to thousands of residents, promising donations to their favourite charities; 200 charities got money.

Which studio hosted the interior filming?

The premiere scene was built in 24 hours after Leicester Square initially said no.

According to Hugh Grant, Notting Hill was loosely based on a friend of Curtis's who met a celebrity in which shop?

Grant said he was not allowed to name the celebrity.

Which Charles Aznavour song opens the film and, in Elvis Costello's version, closes it?

US test audiences did not respond to Aznavour, so Costello was brought in and his cover was used at both ends in America.

Which Boyzone singer's cover of 'When You Say Nothing at All' from the soundtrack reached UK number one?

The song was first a country hit for Keith Whitley in 1988.

Which Bill Withers song plays as Will strides down Portobello Road through the changing seasons?

The soundtrack won Best Soundtrack at the 2000 Brit Awards.

Which Britpop band recorded 'Born to Cry' for the European soundtrack?

Shania Twain's 'You've Got a Way' also got a special Notting Hill remix.

Who composed the film's original score?

He also produced Costello's recording of 'She'.

Notting Hill opened in the US the same weekend as which blockbuster?

A month later Runaway Bride, also starring Roberts, took the record away again.

Roughly how much did Notting Hill gross worldwide?

It was the seventh highest-grossing film of 1999 worldwide.

On release, Notting Hill took which record from Four Weddings and a Funeral?

In the UK it earned £31 million, second only to The Phantom Menace that year.

How many Golden Globe nominations did the film receive?

At the BAFTAs it won the Audience Award for Most Popular Film.

Which Marvel villain did Rhys Ifans go on to play in The Amazing Spider-Man?

He was also Xenophilius Lovegood in Harry Potter and Otto Hightower in House of the Dragon.

Rhys Ifans was once frontman of which Welsh band?

He was raised speaking Welsh and presented Welsh-language TV on S4C before acting.

Emma Chambers, who plays Honey, is best known as Alice Tinker in which sitcom?

Richard Curtis co-created The Vicar of Dibley too.

Hugh Bonneville, who plays Bernie, later found fame as the Earl of Grantham in which series?

He is also Mr Brown in the Paddington films.

Tim McInnerny, who plays Max, played Lord Percy and Captain Darling in which comedy series?

Richard Curtis co-wrote Blackadder as well.

Director Roger Michell was born in which country, where his diplomat father was posted?

He had made the acclaimed 1995 BBC film of Persuasion and later directed Changing Lanes and Venus.

The film's screenwriter co-founded which British charity with Lenny Henry?

Curtis was born in Wellington, New Zealand.

On which day of the week does the full Portobello Road Market, including its antiques section, open?

The road is named after the 1739 Battle of Porto Bello in the War of Jenkins' Ear.

The Notting Hill Carnival, one of the world's largest street festivals, takes place over which weekend?

It draws around two million people and starts with Panorama, a steelpan competition.

Who produced Notting Hill?

He had also produced Four Weddings and a Funeral, and said finding Roger Michell was like finding the right actor for each role.

Which future star of The O.C. appears as the child actress Will 'interviews' at the Ritz?

The scene follows Will being mistaken for a reporter and ushered into Anna's press event.

Which production designer, later of the Harry Potter films, worked on Notting Hill?

He relished doing a contemporary film amid streets full of market traders, shop owners and residents.

Where did Notting Hill have its premiere on 27 April 1999?

Ironically, police had refused to let the crew shoot the film's own premiere scene in Leicester Square, so a set was built in 24 hours.

Notting Hill has been likened to a 1990s London version of which 1953 film?

Richard Curtis said he had never actually seen the Audrey Hepburn classic.

Which song do Tony and Bernie play on the piano the night Tony's restaurant closes?

The US test audiences' lukewarm reaction to Aznavour's 'She' is why Elvis Costello was brought in to record his cover.

Which record label released the Notting Hill soundtrack album?

The US and European versions differ: the US track list opens with Boyzone's 'No Matter What'.

Which studio released Notting Hill in the United States on 28 May 1999?

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment handled the UK release a week earlier.

Which science fiction author was cast as an extra in the film?

He joked that the film was a dystopian alternative history of an ethnically cleansed city, echoing critics of its all-white Notting Hill.