Julia Roberts Reveals What She “Loathed” About ‘Notting Hill’

Julia Roberts recently opened up about her experience with the iconic movie ‘Notting Hill,’ highlighting the part that made her squirm a bit. The Hollywood A-lister, renowned for her recent role in Netflix’s ‘Leave The World Behind,’ gained fame for portraying a glamorous movie star who falls for a bumbling bookshop owner, played by Hugh Grant, in Richard Curtis’ 1999 romantic comedy.

While ‘Notting Hill’ soared to success, raking in over $360 million at the box office and securing a place as one of the highest-grossing British films, Roberts confessed to British Vogue that there was an aspect of the film she didn’t quite fancy.

In an interview with Curtis himself, Roberts shared her discomfort with roles that diverged significantly from her personality. Playing Anna Scott, the quintessential Hollywood star, posed a challenge for her. “Honestly, one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do was your movie, playing a movie actress. I was so uncomfortable!” she admitted to the ‘Love Actually’ director.

The ‘Pretty Woman’ star almost passed up the role due to the perceived awkwardness of embodying such a character. “I mean, we’ve talked about this so many times, but I almost didn’t take the part because it seemed – oh, it just seemed so awkward. I didn’t even know how to play that person,” Roberts continued.

Particularly, she expressed her disdain for donning the attire of a film star, revealing that the iconic ‘I’m just a girl’ scene featured her in her clothes. “My driver, lovely Tommy, I sent him back to my flat that morning. 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.”

Reflecting on the unexpected popularity of the scene and its catchphrase, she humorously remarked, “I mean, it was a great scene. But who knew that that would become the line.”