25 things you didn’t know about your favorite rom-coms

Notting Hill: A rom-com that gives back

When it comes to films, the setting is just as important as the stars of the movie. Sometimes it kind of becomes a character of its own. Without the perfect location, there is no movie!

For the film Notting Hill, screenwriter Richard Curtis knew Notting Hill was the perfect place to set his story. Because he lived there! “Notting Hill is a melting pot and the perfect place to set a film,” Curtis has said.

In the film, William Thacker (Hugh Grant), a Notting Hill bookstore owner, meets Hollywood mega-star actress Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) when she enters his shop. The two fall for each other after another chance encounter, and Thacker realizes just how hard it is to be dating one of the most famous women in the world.

Funny enough, Roberts really was one of the most popular actresses at the time, and that almost hurt the movie’s production, or at least that’s what the crew feared.

The crew was worried about locals and press crowding the streets to get a glimpse at the two stars, and considered building a huge exterior set on a sound stage to protect them. However, they settled on filming in the streets of Notting Hill anyway.

But it definitely cost them.

Location manager Sue Quinn needed to get permission from people around town to use different locations. She and her team wrote to thousands of people in the surrounding area and promised to donate to their favorite charity if they could film in their area. This lead to 200 charities receiving donations.

Who says romantic comedies aren’t good for the world?