‘I was cut out… for being too brown’: Omid Djalili claims he was reduced to a cameo role in rom-com Notting Hill because producers wanted diverse inner-city area to ‘look more white’
- Djalili made an uncredited cameo as a vendor who sells Hugh Grant the orange juice that he accidentally spills on Julia Roberts
- The moment would prove to be the catalyst for hapless Hugh’s unlikely romance with the actress Julia, as their characters fall in love
- But the celebrated actor claims he was reduced to little more than a cameo role after originally being given more lines
Notting Hill cemented Hugh Grant’s reputation as Britain’s leading man and helped property prices in the once run-down corner of West London to soar to those of Mayfair or Belgravia.
Yet, the comedian Omid Djalili has now slammed the 1999 smash-hit romantic comedy, claiming that ethnic actors’ scenes were axed — and his own role reduced — to make it ‘more white’.
Djalili, who compered the Platinum Jubilee celebrations for the Queen at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in May, claims he was reduced to little more than a cameo role after originally being given more lines.
Hitting out: Omid Djalili has slammed the 1999 romantic comedy Notting Hill, claiming that ethnic actors’ scenes were axed — and own role reduced — to make it ‘more white’
He said: ‘Notting Hill, another film I was cut out of, for being too brown.
‘Notting Hill was a film where they tried to show the diversity of the Notting Hill area, then [a] producer goes: “We want this to be more white.” So they got rid of everyone.’
In the film written by Richard Curtis, Djalili, 56, made an uncredited cameo as a vendor who sells Will, played by Grant, the orange juice that he accidentally spills on Hollywood star Anna, played by Julia Roberts.
Old times: In the film, Djalili made an uncredited cameo as a vendor who sells Will, played by Grant, the orange juice that he accidentally spills on Anna, played by Julia Roberts
Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts in Notting Hill
The moment would prove to be the catalyst for hapless Will’s unlikely romance with the American actress, who is visiting west London while filming in the United Kingdom.
‘I had some lines that were taken out, so it looks like I’m an extra,’ says Djalili, who was born in London to Iranian parents.
‘I just give Hugh Grant the orange juice. The only ethnic minority who stayed in the movie was Sanjeev Bhaskar — he had a couple of lines. But, yeah, they whitewashed the film, unfortunately.’
Looking back: ‘I had some lines that were taken out, so it looks like I’m an extra,’ says Djalili, who was born in London to Iranian parents
Special moment: Djalili compered the Platinum Jubilee celebrations for the Queen at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in May
Speaking on Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Theatre podcast, Djalili, whose film credits include roles in Gladiator and The Mummy, adds: ‘I’m not bitter about it. I’m just saying that as fact.
After the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, he said: ‘I would write different movies now. We are all thinking about things in different ways.
‘We have a really impatient younger generation who are focusing on things I never focused on.’
Advertisement
Share or comment on this article:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11237031/Omid-Djalili-claims-reduced-cameo-role-rom-com-Notting-Hill.html
