Whether you’re watching it for the first or 101st time – there’s one scene in Love Actually that’s guaranteed to break your heart.
Yes, we’re obviously talking about the moment Emma Thompson’s character takes herself off for a little cry upon the discovery that the necklace she found in her husband’s things was not her present after all, but his mistress’.
But more than 20 years after the original release, one fan has pointed out an even more heartbreaking detail that’s been under our noses this whole time.
Last week, TikTokker Kathie of @The_Koo_Koo_Nest_ shared a video of herself watching Love Actually, with the caption: “The way she matched her earrings to the necklace.
“The way she holds it together for the kids. The way she pats down the bed I stand with Emma Thompson.”
Kathie’s video – which has now been viewed upwards of 100,000 times – was the first realisation for many Love Actually fans that Emma’s character had tried to match her earrings to the necklace she thought she was getting, breaking everyone’s hearts all over again.
“What do you mean she matched her earrings?!! How have I NEVER noticed that???” one commenter wrote, to which Kathie also pointed out: “And her lipstick and cardi.”
“Now my day is ruined!” another wrote, while a third agreed: “How have I never noticed the earrings?”
Back in 2018, Emma admitted that she channelled her own personal heartache when filming this one Love Actually scene.
“It’s something everyone’s been through,” she claimed. “I had my heart very badly broken by [Kenneth Branagh, her first husband]. So I knew what it was like to find the necklace that wasn’t meant for me.”
Speaking to the Sunday Times years earlier, Emma said: “I’ve had so much bloody practice at crying in a bedroom, then having to go out and be cheerful, gathering up the pieces of my heart and putting them in a drawer.
“That is... all blood under the bridge. You can’t hold on to anything like that. I just think... pfft.”
Emma and Kenneth were married for six years, parting ways in 1995 after he had an affair with fellow actor Helena Bonham-Carter.
In 2013, the Nanny McPhee star insisted she and Helena “made our peace years and years ago”, describing her as “wonderful woman”.
“It’s pointless,” she said of any potential hard feelings. “I haven’t got the energy for it.”