It’s not a stretch to say that Love Actually is a Christmas masterpiece. The cast list is insane (Bill Nighy, Keira Knightley, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson and more), the plot is more interwoven than Charlotte’s Web and the snapshot of early noughties London is enough to make even the big smoke’s most scrooge-esque inhabitant feel nostalgic.
As the film approaches its twentieth anniversary, more and more details have been revealed. There’s the cut lesbian plotline, the one scene director Richard Curtis finds “a bit weird” and now, a Hugh Grant-related costume blunder that fans are only just picking up on.
Speaking to GamesRadar+, Richard recently revealed exactly what he liked about the film – and that, surprisingly, included a magical wardrobe malfunction for Hugh’s Prime Minister.
“I have some ‘off things’ that I like about the film when I watch it,” the director began.
“I like the fact that my mother-in-law is in it, that two of my kids are in it, and that I seem to be the only person who notices that Hugh Grant changes his tie 20 times in one scene because we put on the wrong tie after lunch. So from the side, he’s wearing one blue tie, and from the front, he’s wearing another.”
If you don’t believe him, watch below for yourself:
As you can see, Hugh’s newly elected PM enters Downing Street to meet his household staff, including eventual flame Martine McCutcheon’s assistant.
In front-on shots, he’s wearing a blue tie with large white dots; in profile, however, the PM’s tie has gone chequered.
In the same interview, Richard revealed that despite the blunder, he has no regrets:
“Sometimes when you finish movies, when you watch them, they’re like a very expensive diary,” he said.
“So when I watch it, I remember all the times, troubles, and fun of shooting it. But I just consider myself very lucky. I start getting texts around December 1 from people who have watched it and I just think, ‘Well, I never dreamed that would happen.’”
Love Actually is available to stream on Netflix