Why Julia Robert felt Notting Hill sequel was a poor idea

Days after Hugh Grant called his memorable Notting Hill character “despicable,” we’ve learnt that his co-star Julia Roberts dismissed the writer’s pitch for a sequel. In an interview with IndieWire, Notting Hill writer Richard Curtis revealed how Julia reacted when he approached her for a sequel to their 1999 cult romantic comedy. 

What Richard said
“I tried doing one with ‘Notting Hill’ where they were going to get divorced and Julia [Roberts] thought that was a very poor idea,” revealed Richard. The story of Notting Hill, written by Richard and directed by Roger Michell, revolved around ace American actor Anna Scott (Julia), who falls for bookstore owner William Thacker (Hugh) during her visit to Notting Hill, London. Initially overwhelmed by the paparazzi’s obsession with their budding romance, William aka Will eventually confesses his love to a disappointed Anna at a press conference before she leaves for the US. Notting Hill is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

What Hugh said about Notting Hill character
A couple of weeks ago, in an interview with Vanity Fair, Hugh Grant also cringed at his character of Will from Notting Hill. “Whenever I’m flicking the channels at home after a few drinks and this comes up, I just think, ‘Why doesn’t my character have any balls?’” He said. “There’s a scene in this film where she’s in my house and the paps (paparazzi) come to the front door and ring the bell and I think I just let her go past me and open the door. That’s awful,” Hugh added.

Even Richard has flagged his dissatisfaction with Notting Hill and other popular romantic comedies like Love Actually (2003) and Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001) that he wrote for the lack of diversity in them. “I came from a very un-diverse school and a bunch of university friends. With Notting Hill, I think that I hung on to the diversity issue, to the feeling that I wouldn’t know how to write those parts. And I think I was just sort of stupid and wrong about that. I feel as though me, my casting director, my producers just didn’t think about it. Just didn’t look outwards enough,” he said at the Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival last year, as reported by Today.

Julia Roberts will be next seen in After The Hunt. Hugh Grant will reprise his memorable role in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. Meanwhile, Richard Curtis’ latest release is That Christmas.