Love Actually celebrates its 20th anniversary this year! We look back on the making of this festive favourite
WORDS: MAIRI HUGHES
Love Actually Is Everywhere
Released in 2003, Love Actually has become a Christmas classic. Written and directed by Richard Curtis, of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones’s Diary fame, the film has the ability to make us laugh, cry and reflect on what really matters. Curtis was inspired to pen the film after watching loved ones reuniting at LAX Airport, which led to the film’s opening scene.
The first few moments of the film provide a heartwarming bird’s eye view of the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. These interactions were totally genuine; filmmakers captured this footage covertly before tracking down the subjects to ask their permission to feature them in the film.
Casting Crackers
Bill Nighy, who plays washed-up pop star Billy Mack, didn’t realise he’d auditioned until he was offered the part. He read the script as a favour to the casting director to allow her to hear it aloud. Clearly she couldn’t imagine anyone else in the role. The scene in which Rowan Atkinson eccentrically wraps a necklace bought by Harry (Alan Rickman) for his secret lover could have been acted by Simon Pegg, who auditioned but was turned down. Curtis allegedly wrote the part of Natalie, the PM’s assistant, for Martine McCutcheon after seeing her in EastEnders. The housekeeper was played by Curtis’ mother-in-law.
Iconic Scenes
A favourite moment among fans is Hugh Grant’s dance around No. 10. Much as we loved it, Grant did not. He wanted this scene cut, mortified by the dancing it involved. Filmmakers accommodated him by changing the backing track from a Jackson 5 song to Jump (For My Love) by The Pointer Sisters at his request, which got him into the spirit. In another memorable moment Mark (Andrew Lincoln) declares his love for Juliet (Keira Knightley) with cue cards on her doorstep. Lincoln wrote the words on to the signs himself, as he is immensely proud of his handwriting. However, the lines were composed by Curtis, who read out various options to the women in his office to see which would go d
