Did Uma inspire Notting Hill –or is it pulp fiction?
It’S a storyline which proved a hit with millions of film fans around the world and helped make Notting hill a romantic classic.
But now it has emerged that the tale of a london bookshop owner falling in love with a famous American actress may have been inspired by a real-life couple.
It has been claimed writer richard Curtis created the story after learning how his old Etonian friend William Sieghart had a tryst with uS actress uma thurman – star of Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill. In the film, the divorced bookshop owner, played by hugh grant, is also called William – Will thacker.
Curtis, 64, has always insisted that he dreamed up the basis of the 1999 movie after wondering what it would be like to turn up at a pal’s house with a girlfriend like pop queen Madonna. But the inspiration for the character was Sieghart, 60, a friend of Curtis when they lived in oxford in the 1980s, it was reported yesterday. the publisher and philanthropist – once described as one of the uK’s most eligible bachelors – is said to have had a relationship with Miss thurman in the 1990s. the actress, now 50, was filming in london following her divorce from British actor gary oldman in 1992.
he is also said to have dated Margaret thatcher’s daughter Carol before his marriage to film maker Molly Dineen in 1996.
grant, 60, who starred opposite uS actress Julia roberts in Notting hill, revealed in 2018 the film was based on one of Curtis’s friends who met the celebrity in harrods. the actor said: ‘he was a very unfamous bloke living in Notting hill who happened to fall in love with an extremely world-famous person, who I’m not allowed to mention, and she with him.’
Curtis, a former head boy at harrow, has previously said: ‘When I was lying sleepless at nights I would sometimes wonder what it would be like if I just turned up at my friends’ house, where I used to have dinner once a week, with the most famous person at that time – be it Madonna or whoever.’