Love is all around! 2003’s Love Actually may have been mainly focused on England-based romances, but it has become a worldwide holiday staple among its fans.
The rom-com begins five weeks before Christmas and takes viewers on multiple journeys of love and romance. In the weeks leading up to the holiday, 10 separate stories are told, most of which crossover with one another. The thing that binds them all together? Love.
The ensemble includes Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Andrew Lincoln, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth and more.
In the film, Neeson’s Daniel tries to navigate the loss of his wife, while guiding his stepson Sam (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) through his first love experience.
Meanwhile, Daniel’s friend Karen (Thompson) is trying to decide how to move forward with her marriage after her husband, Harry (Alan Rickman), begins flirting with his receptionist.
As Karen’s relationship is being tested, her brother David (Grant) is settling into his new role as Prime Minister — which he does by dancing like no one’s watching through his new residence.
Throughout the film, washed-up rock star Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) is focused on his musical comeback, recording “Christmas Is All Around.” The song becomes the anthem for the season that plays in the background as even more love stories unfold, including John (Martin Freeman) and Judy (Joanna Page) who meet while filming a sex scene for a movie.
Romance is in high supply in the fan-favorite holiday flick, especially when Mark (Lincoln) professes his love using cue cards to Juliet (Keira Knightley), whom is married to his best friend Peter (Chiwetel Ejiofor). It can also be seen when Jamie (Firth) learns Portuguese to propose to his housekeeper Aurélia (Lúcia Moniz).
Nearly two decades later, the heartwarming story still resonates with fans who feel it in their fingers and feel it in their toes. Creator Richard Curtis couldn’t be happier about the film’s staying power and how the cast has stayed charming from year to year — even while filming the 2017 minisequel Red Nose Day Actually.
“What was so sweet was that people’s fundamental characters haven’t changed much over 15 years,” Curtis told The New York Times in May 2017, when speaking about the mini-reunion the cast did for NBC’s Red Nose Day. “Keira was cast for the youthfulness and cheerfulness of her spirit, and she is still like that. Bill is everlastingly young and irresponsible; Liam terribly paternal. Hugh Grant behaved well for one week of the original shoot, very badly for the rest, and did exactly the same thing over one day now. It’s rather reassuring.”
Scroll down to see what some of the main characters in Love Actually have been up to since the film’s 2003 release.
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Liam Neeson
Neeson’s Daniel famously helps his stepson Sam (Brodie-Sangster) navigate first love while they mourn the loss of his wife, Joanna. The actor has since become a predominantly action-based star, leading the Taken franchise and starring in The Grey, Cold Pursuit and The Marksman. He also appeared in Widows, Men in Black: International and Made in Italy. The Northern Ireland native lost his real-life love, Natasha Richardson, after a skiing accident in 2009 and has since raised their two sons alone.
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Thomas Brodie-Sangster
The England native’s role as lovestruck Sam was his first feature film. As he’s grown in Hollywood his roles have gotten bigger, starring in Nanny McPhee, Nowhere Boy, and Newt in The Maze Runner franchise. He voiced Ferb on Disney Channel’s Phineas and Ferb for four seasons, before landing the role of John Tracy on Thunderbirds Are Go. He also played Jojen Reed on Game of Thrones. In 2010, Brodie-Sangster joined the band Winnet, as the bass guitarist, alongside his family. He played Benny Watts in the Netflix series, The Queen’s Gambit, for which he was nominated for an Emmy.
Brodie-Sangster and actress Talulah Riley stepped out as a couple at the British Academy Film Awards Gala Dinner in March 2022, confirming their relationship after months of speculation.
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Olivia Olson
Olson played Sam’s love interest, and musical pageant partner Joanna in Love Actually. She was 11 years old when she nabbed the role. The L.A. native reunited with her movie beau, Brodie-Sangster, on Phineas and Ferb in 2008 and voiced Vanessa until its 2015 end. He other voice work includes Adventure Time, The Powerpuff Girls and Fast & Furious Spy Racers. The actress released her first solo album, Nowhere Land, in 2018 and a year later she competed on The X Factor: Celebrity. She has several upcoming roles and in 2020, released the short film, Grapefruit the Musical. She frequently shares photos with her boyfriend via Instagram.
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Colin Firth
Firth’s character Jamie was heartbroken at the beginning of the movie, but he finds love with his Portuguese housekeeper Aurélia (Moniz) in the end. In addition to the rom-com, the Oscar winner has had a major career. His hits include The King’s Speech, the Mamma Mia! movies and the Bridget Jones’s Diary franchise. He has also starred in the Kingsman films, Mary Poppins Returns and The Secret Garden. In 2019, the English actor split from wife Livia Giuggioli after 22 years of marriage. The couple shares two children. He is set to star as convicted felon Michael Peterson in the TV adaptation of The Staircase, and is rumored to be dating the show’s coshowrunner Maggie Cohn.
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Lúcia Moniz
Moniz won over Jamie’s (Firth) heart as Aurélia and famously learned English for him before he asked for her hand in marriage in the film. The Portuguese actress has since appeared on numerous TV shows, including Vingança, Aqui Não Há Quem Viva, Olhos nos Olhos and Na Corda Bamba. She also starred in Fatima, Thirty Minutes and Sombra. Moniz released five albums, the latest being 2015’s Calendar (Vidisco). In 2004, she welcomed her daughter Júlia. She is still acting and has several upcoming roles both on the big screen and the small screen.
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Hugh Grant
Grant’s dancing scene as David, the newly elected Prime Minister of England, is one of the most memorable in the film. Plus, his character gets caught snogging (kissing) his former worker Natalie (Martine McCutcheon) at the school play! After the 2003 role, Grant appeared in rom-coms including the Bridget Jones films and Music and Lyrics. He’s also the star of the Paddington franchise and appeared in The Gentlemen before landing the role of Jonathan Sachs in The Undoing. In 2018, Grant married TV producer Anna Elisabet Eberstein. The couple share three children. Grant also shares two children with Tinglan Hong. The actor is set to star in the film adaption of Dungeons & Dragons, a release set for 2023.
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Martine McCutcheon
McCutcheon played David’s (Grant) love interest Natalie, who leaves her job after the U.S. President (played by Billy Bob Thornton) makes a pass at her. The EastEnders alum later returned to TV, appearing in Moving Wallpaper and Echo Beach. She was also seen in The Bromley Boys. The actress, who shares one son with husband Jack McManus, released her fourth studio album in 2017 after taking a break from music in the mid-2000s. McCutcheon was diagnosed with Lyme disease in April 2017. Her last onscreen role was in 2018.
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