10 Movies You Didn't Know Were Based On Real-Life People

2. Notting Hill

Uma Thurman Notting Hill
Universal Pictures

The actual inspiration for this entire article came from a recent report that Richard Curtis' Notting Hill was based on an on-off romantic relationship of Uma Thurman's back in the 1990s.

For years, Notting Hill star Hugh Grant has claimed that Curtis told him that the movie was inspired by a secret relationship of an extremely famous woman - although Grant would never reveal just who said woman was.

Recently, the Daily Mail reported that the famous woman in question was none other than Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill and Dangerous Liaisons favourite, Uma Thurman. If true, Notting Hill was partly inspired by a chance meeting Thurman had with a stranger in Harrods back in '94.

That stranger was William Sieghart, a friend of Richard Curtis'. After that first meeting, Sieghart and Thurman would privately meet up whenever the actress found herself in London. Well, until Uma met (and later married) Ethan Hawke.

Of course, in Notting Hill, Julia Roberts' Anna Scott is the big-name actress who strikes up an unlikely romance with Hugh Grant's Will Thacker.

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Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.