Notting Hill
EXT. VARIOUS DAYS
'She' plays through the credits.
Exquisite footage of Anna Scott -- the great movie star of our
time -- an ideal -- the perfect star and woman -- her life full of
glamour and sophistication and mystery.
EXT. STREET - DAY
Mix through to William, 35, relaxed, pleasant, informal. We
follow him as he walks down Portobello Road, carrying a load of
bread. It is spring.
WILLIAM (V.O.)
Of course, I've seen her films and
always thought she was, well,
fabulous -- but, you know,
million miles from the world I live
in. Which is here -- Notting Hill
-- not a bad place to be...
EXT. PORTOBELLO ROAD - DAY
WILLIAM (V.O.)
There's the market on weekdays,
selling every fruit and vegetable
known to man...
EXT. PORTOBELLO ROAD - DAY
A man in denims exits the tattoo studio.
WILLIAM (V.O.)
The tattoo parlour -- with a guy
outside who got drunk and now can't
remember why he chose 'I Love Ken'...
EXT. PORTOBELLO ROAD - DAY
WILLIAM (V.O.)
The racial hair-dressers where
everyone comes out looking like the
Cookie Monster, whether they like
it or not...
Sure enough, a girl exits with a huge threaded blue bouffant.
EXT. PORTOBELLO ROAD - SATURDAY
WILLIAM (V.O.)
Then suddenly it's the weekend, and
from break of day, hundreds of stalls
appears out of nowhere, filling
Portobello Road right up to Notting
Hill Gate...
A frantic crowded Portobello market.
WILLIAM (V.O.)
... and thousands of people buy
millions of antiques, some genuine...
The camera finally settles on a stall selling beautiful stained
glass windows of various sizes, some featuring biblical scenes
and saints.
WILLIAM (V.O.)
... and some not so genuine.
WILLIAM (V.O.)
And what's great is that lots of
friends have ended up in this part of
London -- that's Tony, architect
turned chef, who recently invested
all the money he ever earned in a new
restaurant...
Shot of Tony proudly setting out a board outside his restaurant,
the sign still being painted. He receives and approves a huge
fresh salmon.
EXT. PORTOBELLO ROAD - DAY
WILLIAM (V.O.)
So this is where I spend my days
and years -- in this small village in
the middle of a city -- in a house
with a blue door that my wife and I
bought together... before she left
me for a man who looked like Harrison
Ford, only even handsomer...
We arrive outside his blue-doored house just off Portobello.
WILLIAM (V.O.)
... and where I now lead a strange
half-life with a lodger called...
INT. WILLIAM'S HOUSE - DAY
WILLIAM:
Spike!
The house has far too many things in it. Definitely two-
bachelor flat.
Spike appears. An unusual looking fellow. He has unusual
hair, unusual facial hair and an unusual Welsh accent: very
white, as though his flesh has never seen the sun. He wears
only shorts.
SPIKE:
Even he. Hey, you couldn't help me
with an incredibly important
decision, could you?
WILLIAM:
This is important in comparison to,
let's say, whether they should
SPIKE:
That's right -- I'm at last going out
on a date with the great Janine and I
just want to be sure I've picked the
right t-shirt.
WILLIAM:
What are the choices?
SPIKE:
Well... wait for it...
(He pulls on a t-shirt)
First there's this one...
The t-shirt is white with a horrible looking plastic alien
coming out of it, jaws open, blood everywhere. It says 'I Love
Blood.'
WILLIAM:
Yes -- might make it hard to strike a
really romantic note.
SPIKE:
Point taken.
He heads back up the stairs... talks as he changes...
SPIKE:
I suspect you'll prefer the next one.
And he re-enters in a white t-shirt, with a large arrow,
pointing down to his flies, saying, 'Get It Here.'
SPIKE:
Cool, huh?
WILLIAM:
Yes -- she might think you don't have
true love on your mind.
SPIKE:
Wouldn't want that...
(and back up he goes)
Okay -- just one more.
He comes down wearing it. Lots of hearts, saying, 'You're the
most beautiful woman in the world.'
WILLIAM:
Well, yes, that's perfect. Well
done.
SPIKE:
Thanks. Great. Wish me luck.
WILLIAM:
Good luck.
Spike turns and walks upstairs proudly. Revealing that on the
back of the t-shirt, also printed in big letters, is written
'Fancy a f***?'
EXT. PORTOBELLO ROAD - DAY
WILLIAM (V.O.)
And so it was just another hopeless
Wednesday, as I set off through the
market to work, little suspecting
that this was the day which would
change my life forever. This is
work, by the way, my little travel
book shop...
A small unpretentious store... named 'The Travel Book Co.'
WILLIAM (V.O.)
... which, well, sells travel books
-- and, to be frank with you, doesn't
always sell many of those.
William enters.
It is a small shop, slightly chaotic, bookshelves everywhere,
with little secret bits round corners with even more books.
Martin, William's sole employee, is waiting enthusiastically.
He is very keen, an uncrushable optimist. Perhaps without
cause. A few seconds later, William stands gloomily behind the
desk.
WILLIAM:
Classic. Absolutely classic.
Profit from major sales push -- minus
?347.
MARTIN:
Shall I go get a cappuccino? Ease the
pain.
WILLIAM:
Yes, better get me a half. All I can
afford.
MARIN:
I get your logic. Demi-capu coming up.
He salutes and bolts out the door -- as he does, a woman walks in.
We only just glimpse her.
Cut to William working. He looks up casually. And sees
something. His reaction is hard to read. After a pause...
WILLIAM:
Can I help you?
It is Anna Scott, the biggest movie star in the world -- here --
in his shop. The most divine, subtle, beautiful woman on earth.
When she speaks she is very self-assured and self-contained.
ANNA:
No, thanks. I'll just look around.
WILLIAM:
Fine.
She wanders over to a shelf as he watches her -- and picks out a
quite smart coffee table book.
WILLIAM:
That book's really not good -- just
in case, you know, browsing turned to
buying. You'd be wasting your money.
ANNA:
Really?
WILLIAM:
Yes. This one though is... very
good.
He picks up a book on the counter.
WILLIAM:
I think the man who wrote it has
actually been to Turkey, which helps.
There's also a very amusing incident
with a kebab.
ANNA:
William suddenly spies something odd on the small TV monitor
beside him.
WILLIAM:
If you could just give me a second.
Her eyes follow him as he moves toward the back of the shop and
approaches a man in slightly ill-fitting clothes.
WILLIAM:
Excuse me.
THIEF:
Yes.
WILLIAM:
Bad news.
THIEF:
What?
WILLIAM:
We've got a security camera in this
bit of the shop.
THIEF:
So?
WILLIAM:
So, I saw you put that book down your
trousers.
THIEF:
What book?
WILLIAM:
The one down your trousers.
THIEF:
I haven't got a book down my trousers.
WILLIAM:
Right -- well, then we have something
of an impasse. I tell you what --
I'll call the police -- and,what can
I say? -- If I'm wrong about the whole
book-down-the-trousers scenario, I
really apologize.
THIEF:
Okay -- what if I did have a book down
my trousers?
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"Notting Hill" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/notting_hill_709>.
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