Richard Curtis, the director of the 2003 holiday romantic comedy Love Actually, has stated that he feels “a bit dumb” about some aspects of the film, particularly its lack of diversity.
Curtis admitted that parts of the film “are bound to feel dated now.” The British director went on to say that seeing how much people still love his film was “very moving.” Curtis made the remarks during a one-hour ABC special titled The Laughter and Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later.
He appeared on the show alongside Hugh Grant, Dame Emma Thompson, Bill Nighy, Laura Linney, and Thomas Brodie-Sangster.
“There are things you would change,” Curtis said, “but thank God society is improving.” Curtis responded to anchor Diane Sawyer’s question about any aspects of the film that “made you cringe” by saying:
“My film is bound to feel out of date in some places,” he admitted. “The lack of variety makes me uncomfortable and a little foolish.”
“I wish my film was better because there is so much wonderful love happening every minute in so many different ways [in life] all over the world.”
“I wish I had done a documentary just to kind of see it,” said the speaker.
He went on to say that well-made movies can “serve as a reminder of how beautiful things can be and how there are all kinds of things that we could pass by, but which are actually the best times in our lives.”
The legendary Love Actually combines a number of distinct but linked love stories into one merry feast that many viewers have continued to enjoy even today. Some viewers, however, believe that Love Actually is problematic and misogynistic in several places. The box office smash received two Golden Globe nominations but received mostly negative reviews from critics.
At the time, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called it a “belly-flop into the sea of romantic comedy,” while Variety’s Todd McCarthy called it a “roundly amusing romantic comedy” and a “doggedly happy confection.”
“Lust Actually,” according to BBC Culture’s Nicholas Barber, could have been a better title because “there’s actually no love in Love Actually.”
“A little psychotic”
Some of the cast members of the aforementioned ABC show praised Curtis, with Dame Emma describing him as a man with a “golden heart.” He is genuinely a good person, which is important in our line of work. Grant went on to describe the script for Love Actually as “a little insane,” or “Richard on steroids.”
“But the thing about him is, what you have to remember is that when he writes about love, he means it,” Grant said. That is rather unusual. While intoxicated with my wife, I watched a portion of Love Actually, and she was the one to point out that the movie was all about misery and pain.
Nighy, whose performance in the film earned him a Bafta for best actor in a supporting role, described the experience as “awesome to be a part of.” He remarked, “It’s incredible how it’s gotten into the vernacular.” “People come up to me and tell me that I watch it whenever I’m alone, or that it helped me get through my divorce or chemotherapy.” It is actually done.
Nighy’s Love Actually co-star Grant, who played a fictitious British prime minister, called his iconic Downing Street dance “the most agonizing scene ever committed to film” in another segment of the show.
He can be seen dancing around the offices of Number 10 Girls Aloud’s cover of The Pointer Sisters’ 1983 song Jump before being apprehended by his personal assistant. Many others, including former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker, have recreated the dance online over the years.
“I suppose I saw it in the script and thought, ‘I’ll detest doing it,'” Grant recalls. He joked that no Englishman could dance in the morning while they were sober. Many people still believe it is the most agonizing scene ever captured on film, and I agree with them.
“However, some people find it enjoyable.”
According to director Curtis, the actor, who had previously worked on Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill, was “grumpy” about performing the routine but went ahead with it out of “contractual responsibility.”
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