The spirited favorite famously interweaves 10 separate stories of Londoners looking for love and navigating relationships in the six weeks leading up to Christmas. And it's the film's mix of cheeky British humor, heartwarming romance, festive antics and, among other things, a great soundtrack (we personally haven't been able to listen to the Pointer Sisters the same way since!) that has allowed the holiday hit to endure these decades later.
To get in the spirit of the holidays — and to remind us that love actually is all around — here are 50 lovely facts about Love Actually.
50 Lovely Facts about Love Actually
As you might remember, Love Actually begins with a sweet montage of loved ones reuniting at Heathrow Airport. And, movingly, those reunion clips are all real: Director Richard Curtis had the crew set up a hidden camera at the busy airport for a week to get authentic footage of real-life family and friends coming together in the arrivals hall.
2. Keira Knightley was barely legal when she played blushing bride Juliet
The Pirates of the Caribbean star was just 18 years old when she portrayed newlywed Juliet opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor's Peter in Love Actually. In fact, the actress was only five years older than co-star Thomas Brodie-Sangster was when he played lovelorn schoolboy Sam.
Olson, as you know, knocked the singing scene out of the park, so much so that music labels came calling with record deals after the film came out, though the actress turned them down. "It seemed kind of stupid and forced," Olson told Family That Geeks in 2016, per Self magazine. "Looking at the grand scheme of things, I could have been some child star and had a total breakdown by the age I am now, and I probably wouldn't have had the opportunities I have now. I might have been a has-been by now instead of still trying to build up my career. So, I don't regret it not working out that way."
4. There were 14 different storylines in the original script
5. Colin Firth's character name is a dig against the director's own brother
Colin Firth's character, a jilted author called Jamie, was actually named after Richard Curtis' own brother. The iconic line "I hate Uncle Jamie!" was included as a playful jab against the director's real-life sibling.
Related: Love Actually Is All Around! 25 Love Actually Quotes to Warm Your Heart This Holiday Season
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"He was hugely grumpy about it," Richard Curtis told TheDaily Beast about Grant's animosity towards the dance number. “He was so wanting his bit not to be fake; he wanted to feel as though he could be prime minister.' He added: "He kept on putting it off, and he didn’t like the song — it was originally a Jackson 5 song, but we couldn’t get it — so he was hugely unhappy about it'."
7. Rowan Atkinson filmed his hilarious cameo at midnight inside Selfridges
During a December 2018 appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan, actor Joe Alwyn (The Brutalist, The Favourite) revealed that he had auditioned to play the role of yearning youngster Sam. He had caught the eye of the film's casting director during a fencing lesson of all things, but the part ultimately went to Thomas Brodie-Sangster. "I didn't get it in the end, obviously, but I do remember meeting Hugh Grant and [writer-director] Richard Curtis and sitting down and reading some scenes,” he shared.
9. Richard Curtis' adorable son cameos as Spider-Man during the film's Christmas pageant
And it wasn't just his kids popping up in the Christmas classic: His mother-in-law plays the housekeeper at Downing Street.
10. Martine McCutcheon’s role was written just for her
Related: 25 Sad Christmas Songs for When You Don't Feel Like 'Joy to the World'
Emma Thompson in Love ActuallyUniversal Pictures
"I've had so much bloody practise at crying in a bedroom and then having to go out and be cheerful, gathering up the pieces of my heart and putting them in a drawer," Thompson later told The Telegraph.
12. Claudia Schiffer's cute scene with Liam Neeson almost didn't happen
The cringey scene in which Colin (Kris Marshall) insults the wedding caterer to her face was actually originally written for another Richard Curtis classic: The Hugh Grant-led rom-comFour Weddings and a Funeral.
14. Billy Bob Thornton suffered from a strange phobia on set
15. Sarah's apartment was modeled Bridget Jones scribe Helen Fielding's flat
Everyone remembers the frustrating scene where Sarah (Laura Linney) doesn't get to consummate her feelings for her office crush Karl (Rodrigo Santoro) at her apartment. You might not know, however, that the layout for said apartment was inspired by that of real-life author Helen Fielding, famous for the Bridget Jones' novels. (Curtis co-wrote the screenplays for Bridget Jones's Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.)
Related: 30 Festive Facts About Jim Carrey’s ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’
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And the actor himself had a hand in creating that magical moment: "It is my handwriting!" Lincoln told Entertainment Weekly in November 2013. "It's funny, because the art department did it, and then I said, 'Well, can I do it?' because I like to think that my handwriting is really good. [Laughs]."
17. The large cast hung out with each other in a trailer park
The surprise "All You Need is Love" performance at the nuptials of Juliet (Keira Knightley) and Peter (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is one of the rom-com's sweetest moments, and it's made even more heartwarming by the fact that director Richard Curtis himself has an uncredited cameo as one of the trombone players.
19. The Prime Minister scenes were not actually shot at 10 Downing Street
20. Emma Thompson wore a fat suit
Reportedly, Emma Thompson was much slimmer than Richard Curtis had envisioned for the character of Karen, so the actress wore padding to portray the slightly heavier woman.
Related: The Most Believable Christmas Movie Isn’t the One You Think
January Jones in Love ActuallyUniversal Pictures
But it was future Mad Men star January Jones who really made an impression, the film's script editor (and Richard Curtis' wife) Emma Freud divulged on social media. "January Jones wrote half of her lines," Freud tweeted in 2015. "She was sooooo funny when we filmed that scene."
22. Hugh Grant and Colin Firth’s storylines were originally intended as two standalone films
Though their characters Sarah and Karl were finally getting somewhere with their own relationship, off-screen, actors Laura Linney and Rodrigo Santoro were both dealing with respective breakups during filming.
24. Keira Knightley had a massive zit under that big baker-boy hat
Juliet's gigantic baker-boy hat was selected more for function than fashion, Keira Knightley revealed. “I had a massive spot in the middle of my forehead,” the star recalled to BBC Radio 1 in 2018. "This is the problem with being 17 and being in films! It was humongous, so there was no choice but to find a hat to cover it — because there was no lighting or makeup that was going to cover it."
25. Mission Impossible star Simon Pegg auditioned to play Rowan Atkinson's role
Related: Heat Up Your Holidays With the 42 Most Romantic Christmas Movies of All Time
Bill Nighy in Love ActuallyUniversal Pictures
27. Natalie and David's last scene together was actually their first
The first scene Martine McCutcheon and Hugh Grant shot together was actually their loved-up reunion at Heathrow from the film's finale, which required the actress to dramatically jump into Grant's arms. "We had such a laugh, just trying," McCutcheon shared during a 2017 interview with BUILD. "I mean, the amount of times I'd run and he'd go, 'Come on!' It was like a really bad Dirty Dancing!"
29. A Love Actually sequel came out in 2017
In March 2017, in celebration of Red Nose Day, the Love Actually crew — including director Richard Curtis and actors Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley, Colin Firth, Andrew Lincoln, Liam Neeson and Billy Nighy — reprised their roles for a special short film, Red Nose Day Actually.
30. It took a lot of underwear trial-and-error to decide Aurélia's lakeside ensemble
A silly scene sees writer Jamie (Colin Firth) and housekeeper Aurélia (Lúcia Moniz) flailing into a lake to save the loose pages of the former's in-progress crime novel. While Firth goes into the water clothed, Moniz's character strips down to her undergarments before jumping in — the costume department reportedly tried out 20 different sets of bras and underwear before choosing the final look.
Related: 15 Fun Facts About the Christmas Movie 'Elf'
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32. Richard Curtis was desperate to find someone Laura Linney-like to play Sarah
To play American graphic designer Sarah, Richard Curtis reportedly was after "someone like Laura Linney" but couldn't find what he was looking for among the numerous British actresses trying out for the part. Finally, his exasperated casting director offered up the suggestion that he seek out Linney herself; she auditioned and got the part.
34. Tony Blair had some issues with Hugh Grant’s fictional Prime Minister
Many viewers saw similarities between Hugh Grant's character David and IRL former Prime Minister Tony Blair. And even the politician himself was aware of the comparisons — in 2005, in response to criticism of his dealings with U.S. President George Bush, Blair said: “I know there’s a bit of us that would like me to do a Hugh Grant in Love Actually and tell America where to get off. But the difference between a good film and real life is that in real life there’s the next day, the next year, the next lifetime to contemplate the ruinous consequences of easy applause.”
35. Richard Curtis wrote the character of "Bernard" as part of a running joke
Related: 30 Alternative, Unconventional Christmas Movies You Should Watch Right Now
Martin Freeman in Love ActuallyUniversal Pictures
He shared a hilariously awkward moment with GamesRadar+, saying: "I was talking to someone yesterday who pointed out to me that they'd sat down last year with their kids to watch Love Actually, the lovely Christmas film, and then suddenly the naked couple came on. It never occurred to me - of course, it's a friendly family film but with some fairly graphic sex in the middle, which I can't apologize for enough."
37. A lot of TV airings cut out the stand-in storyline
Billy Mack/s Christmas cover was reportedly recorded at the iconic Abbey Road Studios in London, made famous by The Beatles and immortalized in their album (duh) Abbey Road.
39. Colin Firth and Lúcia Moniz had to act like that lake was way deeper than it really was
40. Olivia Olson had her first real-life kiss in the movie
"It was my first kiss and on-screen kiss, too," Olson told E! News in 2016, about her sweet on-camera smooch with co-star Thomas Brodie-Sangster. "I was really nervous because I kind of had a crush on Thomas back in the day and I was also worried because I was taller than him."
Related: 19 Little-Known Facts About the Holiday Classic, 'White Christmas'
Keira Knightley and Chiwetel Ejiofor in Love ActuallyUniversal Pictures
42. An early screen test added a change to Sarah and Karl's ending
The original script had Sarah and Karl's storyline end after that awkward phone call from her brother. However, test audiences weren't satisfied by the vague ending and wanted a more clear-cut finale for the couple, so an extra scene was shot of the duo back at the office where it's evident that the romantic moment has sadly passed them both by.
44. Rowan Atkinson's character was almost going to be an angel
Selfridges employee Rufus initially wasn't just hilariously detail-oriented, but also divine— he was originally meant to be a holiday angel. “In the end, the film turned out so sort of multiplicitous that the idea of introducing an extra layer of supernatural beings was (too much),“ Curtis said in the DVD commentary.
45. Emma Thompson drew on her real-life heartbreak to play Karen
“I had my heart very badly broken by Ken, so I knew what it was like to find the necklace that wasn’t meant for me. Well it wasn’t exactly that, but we’ve all been through it,” Thompson has said of the art-imitating-life moment, per The Huffington Post.
Related: Laugh and Swoon With the 82 Best Romantic Comedies of All Time
Colin Firth in Love ActuallyUniversal Pictures
47. Before capturing Colin Firth's heart in Love Actually, Lúcia Moniz was a Eurovision star
Speaking of, the Lisbon-born Lúcia Moniz is not only an actress but also a singer — represented Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1996 and has released five albums over the years.
49. There was an alternate ending with the various characters converging on a bridge
"One character was going to be driving over a bridge, one was going to be running under it, one was going to be at the Houses of Parliament, and so on. It was going to cost us half a million dollars. Eventually, the producer said, and I agreed, that I didn’t have the skill to do it," Richard told Empiremagazine in 2017.
50. The word "actually" is said 23 times in the romantic comedy
Actually, that's kind of a lot!
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