Why Julia Roberts Almost Turned Down Her Iconic Role In Notting Hill

Celebrity By TooFab Staff |
Everett Collection

The Oscar award winning actress says she "almost didn't take the part" and that she "loathed" certain choices for her character.

Trying to imagine Anna Scott in Notting Hill played by someone other than Julia Roberts is like trying to imagine a world without pasta - impossible and uncomfortable.

But this is something that almost happened.

Roberts sat down with the film's writer Richard Curtis for British Vogue and revealed she almost turned the role - that helped mold her into the Hollywood legend that she is today - down.

“Honestly, one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do was your movie, playing a movie actress. I was so uncomfortable! 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.”

Lachlan Bailey

The Oscar winner "loathed" the costumes chosen for her movie star character, sending her driver home to get her own clothes for the classic "I'm just a girl.." scene.

"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."

Curtis then responded, "I was always disappointed you weren’t wearing a better costume that day."

The 1999 feel good film follows Roberts as a famous American actress in London for a role and a chance encounter brings together quite bookstore owner William Thacker and Anna Scott, the Hollywood icon, who then forge an improbable romance.

Despite Roberts' hate for the wardrobe, and Curtis' disappointment the actress was not better dressed for the famous moment in the film, they both agreed it was a great scene. But said the best thing to come out of the film was director Barry Jenkins live-tweeting through the film as he watched it over a stranger's shoulder on a plane.