This article was first published in December 2020.
Fans of the festive classic Love Actually have been left howling over a deleted scene from the film that has started doing the rounds on social media.
Anyone who treated themselves to a Love Actually rewatch in the last few weeks will remember the tense scene towards the end of the film, in which schoolboy Sam runs through Heathrow Airport to declare his love for classmate Joanna.
Well, as a newly-resurfaced deleted scene has revealed, the scene almost looked very different.
It turns out that Sam was originally supposed to be a promising gymnast, so as he navigated his way through the airport, he was supposed to put his skills to use, and do an incredible backflip over a barrier.
The stunt was even filmed but eventually abandoned, and while the footage was originally revealed in 2013, many fans of Love Actually are only discovering it now, and itâs sparked a pretty big reactionâŠ
Director Richard Curtis previously said of the âvery roughâ footage (via The Sun): âWeâre a bit torn as to whether we were to put this bit in - there would have been some effects and polish done on it. We didnât in the end, and I thought it was fun.
âIn the original draft of the movie, there was lots of mentions about the fact that Sam, the little boy, was a brilliant gymnast and when it was sad youâd just see him casually being brilliant at gym.â
Love Actually was previously voted the UKâs sixth favourite Christmas film of all time, ahead of the likes of White Christmas, Miracle On 34th Street and The Polar Express.