Before going on to become a multi Emmy-award-winning actress, Nicole Kidman was just a young, talented star hoping to land a starring role in the 1999 rom-com “Notting Hill” alongside Hugh Grant. Although talented she was, the young actress at the time did not land the role that was eventually given to Julia Roberts.
According to producer Duncan Kenworthy, she was the “one and only person we thought of” for the part.
“Whenever you’re asked about casting your film…there’s always a fiction that whomever you cast was always your first choice, but I have to say that Julia Roberts was the one and only person we thought of for the part of Anna,” he said. “I remember saying to (director Roger Mitchell), ‘Let’s offer it to Julia.’ And Roger said, ‘We’ll never get her.’ So when Julia’s agent said it was the best romantic comedy she had ever read, I thought that was a good sign.”
Although the opportunity to work with Grant was rejected by casting agents then, the chance presented itself nearly two decades later. Kidman finally got the chance to work with the actor in the new HBO limited series “The Undoing,” which premiered this month. During an interview with the Marie Clair outlet, Kidman revealed her missed opportunity with Grant.
“I really wanted the role that Julia Roberts played in ‘Notting Hill,’” Kidman told a shocked Grant, who replied, “Did you?”
“Yeah, I did! But I wasn’t well-known enough and I wasn’t talented enough,” Kidman said.
“Don’t be a fool,” Grant responded in return.
Kidman also mentioned to Grant that she had auditioned for another one of his classic films.
“I think there was something where I think I really wanted a role … maybe I was gonna do a small role in ‘Love, Actually’ at one point.”
While the star didn’t land one of the late ‘90s classic films, she had films at the time that she appeared in. Kidman starred in “Practical Magic” and “Eyes Wide Shut” in the late ‘90s, and worked on other films such as “Moulin Rouge” and “The Others.” The 53-year-old actress had even won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of a small-town TV reporter in the 1995 film “To Die For.”
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