10 Love Actually Facts to Fill Your Heart

Love Actually is one of the most feel good Christmas movies of all time, and makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside each time we watch it. We therefore thought we’d spread the Christmas cheer with 10 Love Actually facts that will fill your heart.

1. Fat Suit

Slim and slender Emma Thompson had to wear a fat suit in the film to appear heavier than she was.

2. Paycheck

Kris Marshall, who played Colin, handed back his paycheck for the scene where he got to have three American girls undress him. He said he had such a good time that he was willing to do the scene for free.

3. The Sign Scene

One of the most popular scenes in Love Actually has to be when Andrew Lincoln’s character, Mark, holds up signs to declare his love for Juliet, played by Keira Knightley.

Following the movie’s success, Andrew revealed, “it’s my handwriting! 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”.

4. The Food Scene

Colin makes a big blunder when he insults the food to the caterer he is flirting with. This scene was originally supposed to be included in Four Weddings and a Funeral, but it was cut in the final edit.

5. The Airport Footage

The airport footage at the start and end of the movie pulled at heartstrings all over the world. Well, it might fill your heart to learn that the airport footage is actually real, as a team of cameramen hung out at the airport for a week to film partners, families and friends reuniting. All the people in the clips later gave their permission to feature in the film.

6. All You Need is Love

Mark’s surprise of the band singing All You Need is Love at Peter and Juliet’s wedding was inspired by a real event. Richard Curtis came up with the idea after attending Jim Henson’s funeral, as all the puppeteers brought their Muppets and sung a song.

7. The Dance Scene

Hugh Grant did not want to do the dance scene, and Richard Curtis claimed he was very grumpy about it. He didn’t like the song choice of Girls Aloud’s Jump, and put off filming the scene for as long as possible. In the end, the scene went too well, with Hugh singing along to the song.

Richard Curtis later claimed that it was very hard to edit the dance scene, as he couldn’t use the shots of Hugh singing to maintain continuity.

8. The Barbie Dolls

Look closely at those Barbie Dolls that Emma Thompson holds up for his daughter’s friends, as they’re not Barbie dolls at all. It’s Ken dressed in drag.

9. Antique Furniture

Billy Bob Thornton has a rather odd fear of antique furniture, so Hugh Grant would sometimes flash a piece of antique in front of him during a scene to watch him squirm.

10. The Christmas Concert

Sam couldn’t help but fall further in love with his school crush, Joanna, when she sang “All I want for Christmas is You”. Apparently, she had such an amazing voice that Richard Curtis had to edit her vocal to make her sound more childlike.

Do you want to learn more about classic movies? Read 10 Beauty and the Beast Facts We Bet You Don’t Know.