Wimbledon > Trivia

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  • Getting the actors to play professional-looking tennis proved much harder than expected. Eventually, it was decided to film them performing the strokes and digitally add the ball afterward.
  • The movie cast professional, but little-known, tennis players to play against the stars. In the director’s commentary, Richard Loncraine shared that he met an up-and-coming female tennis player but rejected her as she looked too similar to Kirsten Dunst. She was Maria Sharapova, before she went on to win several Grand Slam Titles, including Wimbledon.
  • The film was shot during the 2003 Wimbledon tournament. The actors walked onto the court at the beginning or end of a match as though they were really competing. The officials and spectators were actual tennis officials and spectators, rather than extras. It is the only time in the tournament’s history that this has been allowed.
  • Paul Bettany mentions in Assembled: The Making of WandaVision that he was asked to voice JARVIS in Iron Man when Jon Favreau remembered him from their work on this film.
  • The set for Peter Colt’s home is the same one used for William Thacker’s house in Notting Hill (1999).
  • Paul Bettany trained for six months with former champion Pat Cash to convincingly play a professional tennis player. (He had never played tennis before.) Seemingly, his serve was nearly at pro standard.
  • At the end of the movie, Peter climbs into the stands to his family after winning the title. This was actually done at Wimbledon for the first time after Australian Pat Cash won the title in 1987.