The full Notting Hill neighborhood, portion already progressively trendy erstwhile the movie was shot, became, arsenic Hugh Grant enactment it, "a hellhole of a batch trendier" erstwhile the movie came out.

The location connected Westbourne Park Road that boasted the bluish doorway that served arsenic the beforehand doorway to Will's level utilized to beryllium owned by Richard Curtis—and of people it became a pilgrimage tract for the movie's fans.

In fact, truthful galore radical scrawled their ain autograph connected the door, it was yet removed and auctioned disconnected astatine Christie's, but different bluish door lives connected successful its place. (The caller proprietor was bully capable to overgarment it blue.)

Meanwhile, the wrong of Will's level was a workplace acceptable due to the fact that the existent interior of Curtis' home—a converted chapel—was really rather grand, boasting a courtyard plot and a 1,000-square-foot reception room. And minus immoderate exterior shots, astir of the movie was changeable connected a meticulously built acceptable astir an hr distant from the existent Notting Hill.

The Travel Book Co. doesn't really beryllium astatine 142 Portobello Road arsenic it does successful the film, but it's determination successful spirit. When the movie was shot, Nicholls Antique Arcade was successful the spot, and it was  succeeded by a furnishings store called Gong. Now, Notting Hill Gift Shop is there, identifiable by its large bluish awning—and a motion speechmaking The Travel Book Shop.

Because they know that's wherefore you're buying a keychain there.

A store called The Travel Bookshop did beryllium for years on Blenheim Crescent astir the corner, according to TripSavvy (which has mapped retired a full Notting Hill walking tour). It closed successful 2011 but The Notting Hill Bookshop stands determination today.

They probably do person immoderate Dickens, oregon the caller John Grisham.

Some of the scenes of Anna walking reddish carpets, flashing her celebrated grin astatine the cameras and attending grant shows is existent Julia Roberts footage "from years gone by," she shared with E! News successful 1999, arsenic good arsenic footage changeable astatine the 1998 BAFTA Awards, which successful existent beingness she attended with her My Best Friend's Wedding co-star Rupert Everett.

Overall, the scenes that exemplify what a immense prima her quality is are a "hodgepodge" of her beingness and Anna's, Roberts said.

What was not real, Roberts was thankful for, was the country successful which Anna opens the doorway of Will's level to countless paparazzi snapping away—surrounded by, successful what Grant called a "Fellini moment," dozens of existent paparazzi photographing the fake photographers.

"It's ever amusive if you tin exaggerate a situation, convey goodness," Roberts said. "I've ne'er opened a doorway and seen 500 people...so yeah, it's surely enjoyable."

Curtis recovered the opening montage mostly lifted from Roberts' existent movie-star beingness much startling: "We said, 'F--k! That's who we're dealing with,'" helium told Vanity Fair in 1999. "It's precise casual erstwhile you're dealing with a precise reasonable, lovely, relaxed, 30-year-old pistillate to hide that that's besides the Julia Roberts who, for 10 years beforehand, you could ne'er person gotten wrong a 100 yards of. It was a freakish infinitesimal erstwhile we realized that the pistillate we were dealing with was really some those things: this relaxed idiosyncratic and this untouchable, iconic entity of which determination are truthful galore photographs."

Not lone did Grant (and Everett, for that matter) audition to play the titular Bard in Shakespeare successful Love, which came retired successful 1998 and won the Oscar for Best Picture the pursuing year, Roberts was attached to play Violet, other Daniel Day-Lewis—but helium yet didn't motion on, truthful Roberts left.

All's good that ends well, at least. Gwyneth Paltrow won an Oscar and enjoyed sizzling chemistry with Joseph Fiennes, and Roberts won her Oscar 2 years later, for Erin Brockovich.

Grant recalled his Shakespeare successful Love audition other Roberts to Vanity Fair: "I was a very, precise unemployed, pathetic histrion astatine the time. I retrieve being truthful intimidated by the information that she was successful the country that I got myself successful a benignant of kerfuffle and missed the seat erstwhile I sat down. I sat connected the arm of the chair, past had that precise awkward interior statement astir whether to say, 'Actually, I've missed the chair,' oregon to unreal that I was truly a somewhat quirky benignant of quality who always sits connected the arm."

When it came clip to marque Notting Hill, Grant inactive utilized the connection "fear" to qualify however helium initially felt, explaining, "I deliberation the emotion you person erstwhile you archetypal conscionable idiosyncratic tends to linger with you. I was each acceptable to beryllium scared, and I indispensable say, the fearfulness ne'er rather near me."

Roberts didn't spell unaffected by the Hugh Grantness of it all, either, however.

"I was really intimidated by Hugh and I deliberation besides being the lone American in the movie," she told E! News. "Everybody conscionable sounds smarter than you. English radical tin accidental the dumbest things and marque it dependable truthful charming and fabulously interesting, and erstwhile I was capable to bash that and conscionable recognize I'm the lone nasally sounding Yank of the bunch, past I was capable to benignant of relax."

"I'm conscionable benignant of drifting on successful this rather cozy beingness successful this funny backwater of London, and each of a abrupt the astir celebrated and beauteous movie histrion successful the satellite walks into my shop… and romance ensues," Grant told E! News successful 1999.

So...it sounds arsenic though Roberts walked in.

Well, Roberts evidently saw the parallels, and it turns retired she was amazed by however antithetic she was from Anna.

"I deliberation going into it I benignant of thought, well, I'll cognize however to bash this benignant of thing, but the situations go rather specific," she told E! News. "And therefore, the choices that she makes are rather circumstantial wrong that, and I didn't ever hold with her choices—and I deliberation due to the fact that we stock a career, I conscionable benignant of assumed that we'd marque each the aforesaid choices.

"But we didn't. I had to truly region my ain hubris, oregon judgement oregon immoderate it is successful bid to play her honestly."

Roberts clarified what, exactly, bothered her astir the quality to Vanity Fair: the information that Anna had a tumultuous narration with the media because, earlier she was famous, she had posed nude and the photos had gotten out.

"I didn't hold with what she did, archetypal of all," Roberts told the mag successful 1999. "Didn't hold with however she got into this mess—I would ne'er person been successful that situation. Didn't hold with the mode she was dealing with it...Didn't hold with the mode she was reacting to it. Didn't hold with any of that stuff."

Roberts primitively didn't person immoderate involvement successful playing a movie star.

"How boring," she recalled telling her agent. "How tedious—what a stupid thing for maine to do." 

It was lone aft she work Curtis' script—which she lone read because it was a publication by Four Weddings and a Funeral, Blackadder and Spitting Image scribe—that she decided, "F--k, I'm gonna bash this movie."

According to Grant, the movie is inspired by a existent story!

"This is simply a communicative helium won't admit to," the histrion told E!, "but he's told maine successful a drunken moment. A person of his, an ordinary, mean guy, was successful Harrods 1 time and met a precise celebrated woman, and ended up taking her backmost to his level successful Notting Hill—and each kinds of nonsense ensued. And they utilized to conscionable up, whenever she came to London their matter would reactivate itself—and that was the genesis of his script. But he's truthful frightened of radical uncovering retired who this precise celebrated idiosyncratic was that helium won't archer anyone that story."

Will would person truly wounded himself if he'd made it implicit the gross to sneak into the backstage Rosemead Gardens—apparently it's rather the driblet to the different side. Instead, helium stumbled, starring him to charmingly exclaim, "Whoopsie-daisies!" overmuch to Anna's amusement.

Meanwhile, they couldn't person adjacent waltzed successful during the daytime: that particular plot is 1 of respective successful the country owned by an property and maintained by section residents, who are the lone ones with keys.

That's The Newsroom's Emily Mortimer playing "The Perfect Girl" (as she's credited) who goes retired with Will aft helium Anna don't initially enactment out. And speech from the awkwardness of knowing your 1 country amounts to your quality being rejected, the histrion showed up with hives, acknowledgment to an allergic absorption from the cloth of a suit she had picked up successful a thrift shop.

"It was a nightmare," Mortimer recalled connected PeopleTV's Couch Surfing successful 2018. "Every clip I got nervous— which you bash erstwhile you're acting—I got hives and my face... well, 1 broadside of it you tin inactive spot is benignant of chipmunk-like."

But surely Grant, with each his charming ways, eased the tension?

"No, no," Mortimer winced, "everybody was truly embarrassed! It was precise awkward. It was like, 'who is this miss who's come—she's conscionable got 1 country and she's making specified a repast of it,' and cipher would speech to me. It was weird. I was weird, and I was besides truly shy and mortified."

"She liked to propulsion effect astatine maine during takes, oregon conscionable earlier takes, conscionable to enactment maine off," Grant revealed to E! News.

Roberts concurred. "I threw a batch of effect astatine him, to the constituent wherever we became a fruitless environment."

Playing Will's unwashed slacker flatmate Spike was a breakthrough crook for Rhys Ifans, astir notably erstwhile the Welsh histrion happily flexes and shows disconnected his "nice, steadfast buttocks" to the paparazzi waiting extracurricular the beforehand doorway for Anna.

But though Spike can't assistance but charm arsenic good arsenic amuse, Ifans seemingly went rather method with the role.

Asked if it was existent helium didn't bathe oregon brushwood his teeth during filming, helium told Interview in 2011, "We were filming successful Shepardston Studios, and I couldn't carnivore the travel each the mode from London each day, truthful I got a structure and I camped successful a campsite nearby. Every greeting this large limo would travel and prime maine up astatine the campsite, to the utter bafflement of the campsite owner. He thought I was immoderate benignant of eccentric millionaire."

And, "I would bathe occasionally, erstwhile I remembered to."

Not helping was the information that the sneakers the costume section recovered for him had a "smell that emanated from the acheronian depths" that "brought a teardrop to one's eye," helium told E! News successful 1999. "By the extremity of the day, the remainder of the formed insisted that these trainers were taken distant and cleansed—exorcised!"

But portion he's got the aerial of the rogue astir him, manager Roger Michell (who earlier Notting Hill directed Ifans onstage successful Under Milk Wood) described him to the Telegraph successful 2006 arsenic afloat of pleasant contradictions: "He's gawky, yet graceful. He's smelly and Welsh and yet he's handsome and winning." Certainly winning capable to enactment with Ifans again connected the 2004 film Enduring Love and nonstop him successful a 2017 West End accumulation of Mood Music.

Ifans told the BBC successful 2018 that he'd "rather propulsion a ceramic than motion a petition," but helium recovered a blessed medium: aft being turned connected to the origin aft playing a stateless antheral in the one-man play Protest Song successful 2013, he volunteered to beryllium an ambassador for the Welsh foundation Shelter Cymru, which immunodeficiency the homeless.

London's posh Ritz Hotel very seldom allows filming wrong its 5-star walls, but entree was granted to beryllium the mounting for Anna's property junket, featuring Will pretending to beryllium a newsman from Horse & Hound.

Alas, determination were nary animals successful Anna's caller movie, acceptable successful space. Or successful her adjacent one, taking spot connected a submarine.

Mischa Barton played "12-year-old Actress" successful what wasn't her archetypal movie ever, but the archetypal of 2 successful 1 twelvemonth that millions of radical saw.

The other? The Sixth Sense, which came retired that August. Barton is Kyra, the miss nether the furniture who scares the hellhole retired of Haley Joel Osment.

"12-year-old Actress," meanwhile, was co-starring with Anna Scott successful the big-budget sci-fi flick Helix—her 22nd movie, arsenic she told Will of Horse & Hound.

Alec Baldwin has been successful a trillion movies, including Notting Hill, wherever helium showed up concisely to play Anna's fellow Jeff (plot twist!), who shows up to astonishment her successful London but by the extremity of the movie, successful absentia, is rumored to person rapidly moved on—and "most rumors astir Jeff crook retired to beryllium true."

"By the precocious '90s, I embarked connected a drawstring of starring and supporting roles that gained small attention," Baldwin recalled successful his 2017 memoir Nevertheless, "though each offered its ain charms and gratifications."

Notting Hill's large selling point? "Where, for conscionable 1 day, connected a acceptable successful London, I got to respire the aforesaid aerial arsenic the singular Julia Roberts."

The 2 were supposed to enactment together again connected Ryan Murphy's 2014 HBO movie The Normal Heart, but Baldwin near the project. He tin remainder assured that Roberts is inactive a fan, though: In 2017 she said connected EW Radio that she had ne'er hosted Saturday Night Live due to the fact that she was "too scared," but "I would bash it with Alec, if we could beryllium drama partners conscionable doing skits."

Sadly, Emma Chambers, who played Will's quirky sister Honey (seen present with Hugh Bonneville, the aboriginal Earl of Grantham successful Downton Abbey, playing oblivious stockbroker Bernie), died successful 2018 astatine the property of 53.

Grant posted a uncommon personal tweet, writing, "Emma Chambers was a hilarious and precise lukewarm idiosyncratic and of people a superb actress. Very bittersweet news."

James Dreyfus, who played the group's happily joined person Martin, tweeted, "RIP the fantastic and talented Emma Chambers. Unique,& unspeakably funny. Too young. Thoughts with her family."

Curtis, who besides wrote for Chambers' different best-known role, Alice Tinker successful the BBC sitcom The Vicar of Dibley, told the Telegraph, "We're evidently terribly sad. She truly was a great, large drama performer—and a precise good actress. And a tender, sweet, funny, unusual, loving quality being. In my enactment she worked other Dawn French and Julia Roberts—and was much than the measurement of the brace of them."

Film producer Jonathan Sothcott tweeted, "RIP the fantastic Emma Chambers - champion known for The Vicar of Dibley but besides stole each country successful Notting Hill. Only 53."

Don't worry, the enactment that near a atrocious sensation successful the star's rima was not "I'm conscionable a girl, lasting successful beforehand of a boy, asking him to emotion her."

That would beryllium tragic, wouldn't it?

No, the 1 Roberts wasn't a instrumentality of was when, inactive tucked successful bed, Anna tells Will, quoting Rita Hayworth successful 1946's Gilda, "'They spell to furniture with Gilda, they aftermath up with me.'"

"I hatred to accidental thing antagonistic astir what Richard wrote, due to the fact that he's a genius, but I hated saying that line," she told Vanity Fair. "To me, it was nails connected a chalkboard. I don't truly believe any of that."

Turns retired we're not the lone ones who wondered however it each turned retired for Anna and Will.

"I'm going to speech to Julia astir it sometime soon," Curtis told the Mirror successful April 2019 astir the anticipation of getting the set backmost together, arsenic helium did for Love, Actually and Four Weddings and a Funeral mini-sequels, some for Britain's Red Nose Day, and some of which were rapturously received.

Roger Michell sounded much skeptical astir the prospect, telling Her successful 2018, "I conscionable don't cognize what the communicative could perchance be. Are Will and Anna inactive surviving successful Notting Hill with a load of grumpy teenagers moving around? I conscionable don't know. In emotion stories, you person to divided up and past get backmost unneurotic again. If you did that with a middle-aged mates surviving successful Notting Hill, it would consciousness contrived."

Roberts told ET in October 2018 that these days she would beryllium much apt to play "the parents of the radical that are rom-com-ing."

"There came a constituent successful my vocation wherever radical thought I had turned connected romanticist comedies, which I love...I emotion to beryllium successful them, I emotion to ticker them. But sometimes, they conscionable don't enactment astatine a definite constituent of beingness experience." It's not astir age, per se, "it's conscionable astir what radical cognize that you know."

Well, we know that we're present for it.