Julia Roberts reveals why she felt ‘awkward’ and ‘uncomfortable’ with Notting Hill role

Have you ever watched a film so good that it became one of your all-time favourites, only to find out that the cast didn’t have a great time on set?

If not, you will have now.

Notting Hill is the ultimate watch for someone in the mood for a love story between an American film star and modest bookshop owner set in West London.

However, the star of the film, Julia Roberts has opened up a certain part of Notting Hill she ‘loathed’.

Roberts is renowned for classic romantic comedies such as Pretty Woman and the Run Away Bride, so if there’s something she doesn’t like when filming, let’s hope it was worth her time and frustrations to get a great result.

Instagram/ juliaroberts

It appears that she’s taken a more serious route these days though after leading Netflix’s film Leave the World Behind.

But for Notting Hill, it was disclosed during an interview with British Vogue, that there was an aspect of the project which made her uncomfortable.

According to the actress, there were similarities between herself and her characters, but she never felt ‘like I’m playing myself.’.

She said to the film’s director, Robert Curtis: “Honestly, one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do was your movie, playing a movie actress. I was so uncomfortable!

“I mean, we’ve talked about this so many times, but 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.”

Roberts explained that ‘loathed’ the aspect of being dressed as a movie star for the film, and that in her famous ‘I’m just a girl’ scene, she ended up wearing her own clothes from earlier in the day.

Netflix/ juliaroberts

She explained: “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… I mean, it was a great scene. But who knew that that would become the line.”

However, Roberts shared in a 2022 interview that she still hasn’t returned to the rom-com genre because she has yet to find something ‘good enough'.

She explained that because of how long it has been since she took a role in a romantic film that ‘people sometimes misconstrue the amount of time that’s gone by’ and think that she doesn’t want to do one but it’s actually because of her previous projects that she’s hesitant to take another role.

She said: “If I had read something that I thought was Notting Hill-level of writing or My Best Friend’s Wedding-level of madcap fun, I would do it.”