About Time Filming Locations | Behind the Scenes with Richard Curtis

About Time filming locations in London and Cornwall for Richard Curtis film

Director: Richard Curtis
Production Company: Working Title Films
Locations: London & Cornwall
Location Brief: Notting Hill life and family escapism in Cornwall

Working with Richard Curtis on About Time

After the scale and chaos of World War Z, my next film could hardly have been more different.

About Time was the new Richard Curtis film for Working Title, starring Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams and Bill Nighy.

The script was funny, warm and beautifully written, with some fantastic locations to get my teeth into.

London and Cornwall.

100% on location.

No studio builds whatsoever.

Exactly how I like to work.

I was working out of Richard’s office in Notting Hill, and he was fairly black and white about the London locations: everything had to feel as close to Notting Hill as possible.

The brief was essentially two worlds.

The lived-in, slightly chaotic atmosphere of Notting Hill and West London, contrasted with the family’s beautiful Cornish escape.

Our job was to find those worlds for real.

Finding the World of About Time

Richard Curtis was one of the nicest directors I have ever worked with.

Whenever we visited a potential filming location, he treated everyone exactly the same — owners, security, assistants, residents and crew.

Always polite.

Always interested.

Always grateful.

From a location manager’s point of view, that makes an enormous difference. People instinctively wanted to help him.

We had several night sequences in the film, so naturally we also carried out night recces. We would sometimes meet at Richard’s house beforehand, where his wife Emma would make fresh homemade tomato soup while we discussed the scenes and upcoming scouts.

It was certainly a different atmosphere to most film recces.

A Very Richard Curtis Moment at Maida Vale

One evening we were recceing Maida Vale Underground Station for a sequence showing the passage of time.

I had already carried out earlier scouts with the London Underground Film Office, and now we were back with Richard.

One of the film office team arrived slightly late and asked:

“Can you remind me of the scene again?”

Before I could explain, Richard launched into a detailed breakdown of the sequence.

She listened for a moment and then suddenly said:

“Oh… so basically like that scene in Notting Hill when Hugh Grant walks through Portobello Market?”

There was a slight pause.

Richard smiled.

“Yes. Exactly like that scene.”

She later called me, mortified.

I told her not to worry.

She was absolutely spot on.

Filming in London During the 2012 Olympics

As the 2012 London Olympics approached, everyone in the film industry seemed to be saying the same thing:

Do not film in Central London during the Olympics.

Then the production schedule changed.

Suddenly, we were filming directly in Central London during the Olympics.

Which immediately became a locations problem.

Oddly enough, it turned out to be easier than normal.

So much attention was concentrated around Stratford and the Olympic zones that large parts of Central London felt strangely quiet.

Roads and locations that would normally have been incredibly difficult to manage were suddenly far more workable.

Against all expectations, filming in Central London became something of a dream.

From Cornwall to Notting Hill

We began filming in Cornwall, creating the beautiful coastal world of the Lake family home, before moving back to London.

The film was entirely location based, which gave it a wonderful authenticity.

The London locations had to feel lived-in rather than polished. Richard wasn’t looking for a glossy postcard version of the city.

It needed character.

Streets, houses, restaurants, stations and everyday London spaces that felt as though the characters genuinely belonged there.

Looking back, the cast was also extraordinary.

Alongside Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams and Bill Nighy were two young supporting actresses called Margot Robbie and Vanessa Kirby.

Both were still relatively early in their careers at the time.

It’s slightly surreal looking back now.

Asking Richard Curtis to Keep Quiet at 3am

Of course, even on About Time, there were still moments of location madness.

We had a night shoot in Earls Court on a residential street.

I had worked hard to secure late-night filming permissions, but the conditions were strict.

Absolute quiet after 11pm.

Everything was going perfectly.

The crew were behaving.

Generators were controlled.

No shouting.

Then, at about 3am, I realised we had one problem.

Richard.

Richard has quite a deep, booming voice, and as he enthusiastically discussed scenes with the actors and crew, his voice was echoing down a completely silent residential street.

So at three in the morning I found myself walking over to Richard Curtis and quietly saying:

“Richard… I’m really sorry, but would you mind speaking slightly quieter?”

The things you find yourself doing as a location manager.

Of course, he immediately apologised.

The Abbey Road Scene That Never Made the Film

One of the biggest location sequences for me involved Abbey Road Studios.

Richard had written a brilliant scene where Rachel McAdams’ character’s waters break in a car outside the studios.

Domhnall Gleeson’s character jumps out and tries to cross the famous Abbey Road zebra crossing, but tourists continually stop him and ask him to recreate the Beatles album cover with them.

Classic Richard Curtis.

Logistically, however, it was an absolute nightmare.

It took months of negotiations with Westminster Council, the police and transport authorities to get the sequence approved.

Eventually, I secured a full five-way traffic management system around Abbey Road.

It was a massive operation.

Then came the filming day.

Rain.

All day.

We had no choice but to postpone the entire sequence.

Six weeks later, I rebuilt the whole operation from scratch.

This time the weather held.

Months of negotiations.