Love Actually
Short description
Love Actually takes place in London in the weeks leading up to Christmas, following a large group of characters whose romantic lives keep overlapping. Among them are a newly elected prime minister drawn to a member of his own staff, a writer who retreats to the south of France after a breakup, a married woman who senses her husband growing distant, a recent bride who notices the coolness of her husband's closest friend, a widower raising his stepson, and a schoolboy hoping to impress a classmate. Across these separate threads, love arrives in forms that are awkward, unreturned, unexpected and sometimes requited, and the stories gradually touch and collide as the holiday approaches.
The film is Richard Curtis's directorial debut, released in 2003, and he also wrote the screenplay. Its large ensemble includes Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister, Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson as a married couple, Liam Neeson as the widower, Martine McCutcheon as Natalie and Colin Firth as Jamie Bennett, with 124 credited cast members in all. It was produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Duncan Kenworthy for Working Title Films with Universal Pictures, StudioCanal and DNA Films.
Made for about 40 million USD, it took roughly 245 million USD worldwide, a strong return for a British romantic comedy. On IMDb it holds 7.5/10 from around 579,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.1/10 from about 7,500 votes, while critics' reviews average 6.7/10, so audiences have rated it a little more warmly than reviewers did.
What's left behind the scenes
- Claudia Schiffer received a fee of £200,000 for an episode lasting approximately one minute.
- Originally, Rowan Atkinson was supposed to play the role of an angel.
- Portuguese actress Lucia Moniz got her role completely by chance. A close friend of hers who was involved in casting sent her photos to a colleague who was casting for the film. Soon Lucia received an invitation, came to the audition, and left the film studio with a signed contract the same day.
- The lake in which the characters of Lucia Moniz and Colin Firth splashed was actually only 45 cm deep, and the actors had to show considerable skill to make the scene look believable on screen. In addition, during the filming of this episode, Colin was severely bitten by mosquitoes, and the actor even had to seek medical attention.
- The DVD release became the most in-demand in the UK in 2004.
- Three plot lines were cut during the editing process.
- Richard Curtis said that one of the reasons he decided to make this film was that it took him 3-4 years to film each romantic film – thus, he wouldn't have enough life to realize all his ideas, and he decided to combine several films into one and see how it would turn out.
- Simon Pegg auditioned for the role of Harry, a necklace salesman.
- The first shots of the film, depicting numerous reunions in the airport, were filmed without the use of extras. The film crew set up cameras at Heathrow and filmed random people, subsequently asking for their consent to use the footage in the film.
- Daniel's favorite saying is 'When I meet Claudia Schiffer.' After a New Year's concert at school, he meets Carol, a single mother played by Claudia Schiffer herself.
- The roles of the hosts of the chart-topping show, won by Billy Mack, were played by the duo Ant&Dec.
- The comedic song “Christmas is All Around,” which plays throughout the film, was indeed released as a single, but it didn't achieve great success (unlike the film itself). This composition was a cover of Wet Wet Wet’s 1994 hit, which topped the British charts for 15 weeks.
- At the foreign language school where Jamie learns Portuguese, one of the students sitting nearby is learning Russian. However, the phrase he pronounces in Russian – “There’s a lot of snow this year” – is accompanied by the subtitle “Is this way to the train station?”
- At a press conference following the previous day’s negotiations between the British Prime Minister and the US President, responding to a question from a journalist, David jokingly lists the book “Harry Potter” as one of Britain’s “achievements.” The actors who played David’s sister Karen (Emma Thompson) and her husband Harry (Alan Rickman) starred in the Harry Potter films, playing the roles of Professor Sybill Trelawney and Severus Snape, respectively.
- At Peter and Julie’s wedding, the orchestra performs The Beatles’ song – “All You Need Is Love.”
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
