- The lake from the famous lake scene was actually very shallow.
- Olivia Olson has gone on to be a voice actor and she’s voiced many popular cartoon characters.
- The surprise wedding singers were inspired by the Muppets at Jim Henson’s funeral.
“Love Actually” debuted 15 years ago and no holiday season has been the same since. With a cast jam-packed full of stars like Liam Neeson, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Martin Freeman, Andrew Lincoln, and Keira Knightley, it’s no surprise that the film became an instant holiday classic. Following the lives of seemingly separate groups of people across the UK during Christmastime, “Love Actually” brings romance and heartbreak to the forefront of each intertwined story.
Just in time for the holidays, relive the magic of the film with 11 fun facts you probably didn’t know about “Love Actually.”
There’s a sequel that shows what some characters are up to now.
It’s only 10 minutes long and only includes a handful of the original characters, but “Love Actually” does have a sequel. Created for Red Nose Day, the film was produced for charity in 2017 and it reveals what some of your favorite characters have been up to over the years. And, according to Digital Spy, the UK and US each got slightly different versions of the sequel.
“Love Actually” was one of Martin Freeman’s first movies.
Before he was Bilbo Baggins and the famed Dr. John Watson, Martin Freeman played a porn stand-in named John in “Love Actually.” Technically, this film was his third feature-length project since launching his career in 1997.
Colin Firth wasn't sure how the film was going to work.
According to a Phase 9 interview with Colin Firth, the actor was first to film his parts and even though he thought the script was fantastic, he was worried about director Richard Curtis pulling it off, especially because he was the writer as well.
Of course, he was proven wrong, as the film has gone on to make nearly $250 million worldwide.
Olson is now primarily a voice actor.
Olivia Olson played Joanna, Sam's crush in the film, but she has since moved on to voiceover acting. She's voiced a plethora of characters including Marceline the Vampire Queen on "Adventure Time," Bliss on "The Powerpuff Girls," and Vanessa Doofenshmirtz on "Phineas and Ferb."
Emma Thompson channeled one of her real-life heartbreaks in the film.
In the scene where Emma Thompson's character uncovers her husband's affair, Thompson says she used her own heartbreak as fuel for the film. Thompson had also dealt with infidelity in her marriage to Kenneth Branagh and said in an interview with The Telegraph that she channeled those same emotions into the iconic scene - which is why the pain felt so tangible to some viewers.
The surprise wedding singers were inspired by the Muppets at Jim Henson's funeral.
Richard Curtis said that the inspiration for the surprise wedding singers in the film came from Jim Henson's funeral. Curtis, who attended the funeral, recounted that puppeteers who had worked with Henson brought their Muppets to the funeral and surprised guests by singing a song dedicated to the deceased creator.
"So what happened was there was this huge audience of people and then all of a sudden there was this audience full of Muppets singing together," Curtis told Montclair Film. "So that's where I got this idea of everyone bringing their instruments and playing."
Much of the airport B-roll footage was quite candid — it was secretly filmed by crew members.
Curtis told Montclair Film that the crew hid and filmed people at the airport. When they recorded something they liked, they got permission to use it from the people in the footage.
The lake in the film was actually only 11 inches deep.
Curtis recounts that the lake in which Colin Firth and Sienna Lúcia Moniz's characters splash in was actually very shallow.
"That lake where Colin loses his script is about 11 inches deep. No one inspected the depth of the lake! So you see them sort of lying around pretending to be swimming," the director told Montclair Film. Firth and Moniz had to kneel down and pretend to flounder for Jamie's lost script.
Keira Knightley was still a teen when she filmed the movie.
Although her character was getting married and settling down in the film, Keira Knightley was about 18 years old when she filmed "Love Actually."
And even though he played someone much younger Knightley's character, co-star Thomas Brodie-Sangster was only 13 at the time the movie was filmed - just five years younger than Knightley.
Read More: 11 classic romantic comedies you can skip - sorry
Thomas Brodie-Sangster learned to play drums for the role.
Playing Liam Neeson's love-struck son in the film, Thomas Brodie-Sangster had to learn to play the drums for his role in the film because his character learns how to play to impress his crush. Thankfully for Brodie-Sangster, his dad is a drummer and he taught him how to master the drum set in his grandfather's basement.
"I did learn to play the drums for it," Thomas told Sunday Post. "My dad's a drummer and he taught me in my grandad's basement bashing away on his old kit and trying to play along to 'All I Want For Christmas.'"
Hugh Grant messed with Billy Bob Thornton on set.
Playing the Prime Minister and President of the US respectively, Grant reportedly messed with Thornton on set. Thornton previously told The New York Times about his fear of antique furniture and Grant apparently took note.
According to the New Zealand Herald, Grant would point out antiques to Thornton while on the set of the movie.
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