Today is the 20th anniversary of Love Actually, which means it’s been 20 years since we first saw Hugh Grant dancing to Girls Aloud around 10 Downing Street – while also bawling when Alan Rickman handed Emma Thompson another Joni Mitchell CD.
The Richard Curtis film, which also stars Keira Knightley, Andrew Lincoln, Bill Nighy, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, and Martine McCutcheon, initially debuted in theatres on November 14, 2003, and has become a Christmas favourite ever since.
To be honest, is it truly the holiday season until Rowan Atkinson has spent an inordinate amount of time wrapping presents? Certainly not.
However, a lot has changed since the film’s premiere, and casting director Fiona Weir, who worked on the film with the late Mary Selway, spoke up about how they would depict the contrasts in the contemporary day.
‘The first thing is I would cast a female prime minister,’ she said when asked who would make the cut if Love Actually was released now.
‘I think if we were doing it today, Richard would write it very differently. 20 years on, it’s a different country, it’s a different world, a lot has changed.
‘So, I think it will be a very different script, you can’t really sort of transpose actors on it. But the one thing I can declare is that we would definitely, definitely cast a female prime minister.
‘Adjoa Andoh would be brilliant. I think she’d be wonderful.’
We’d absolutely be on board with this after seeing how casually Adjoa commands the globe as Lady Agatha Danbury in Bridgerton.
Richard has previously opened out about his biggest regrets while behind the camera on Love Actually, revealing that the ‘lack of diversity’ made him feel ‘uncomfortable and a bit dumb’.
He also expressed regret for making ‘jokes’ about Martine’s character’s weight, as Natalie was characterised as ‘plumpy’ with ‘big thighs’ throughout.
When asked how she thinks the film has held up over the previous two decades, Fiona acknowledged that some lines wouldn’t be featured today, but commended the film’s general timelessness.
‘Of course, there’s a couple of things in it, which I would rather weren’t,’ she continued. ‘There’s a certain comment about Martine McCutcheon’s physicality which Richard himself would say, he’d wished that wasn’t in there.
‘It was something that he felt was humorous at the time, but now realizes it’s not appropriate. I think that is obviously the case.
‘But where it does hold up is that the emotion in it is completely authentic. As it says, love is all around, it’s not always seen. All the characters, they’re wonderful actors.
‘Nothing is sent up, it’s not cynical in any way. It’s joyous and celebratory. I think that’s why it holds up, because it was done with a complete lack of cynicism, which is Richard.
‘Richard is completely without cynicism.’
