Love Actually is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, so more of us than ever will be getting ready to settle down for a festive rewatch.
However, director Richard Curtis has admitted that there’s one particular scene in his hit film that he finds it a little odd to revisit.
Among the rom-com’s many memorable scenes is the moment where Mark (played by The Walking Dead’s Andrew Lincoln) turns up at Juliet’s (Keira Knightley) house with cue cards to silently declare his love for her, which over the years, some critics have admitted to finding a little on the creepy side.
“He actually turns up, to his best friend’s house, to say to his best friend’s wife, on the off chance that she answers the door, ‘I love you,’” Richard recalled during a new interview with The Independent. “I think it’s a bit weird.
“I mean, I remember being taken by surprise about seven years ago, I was going to be interviewed by somebody and they said, ‘Of course, we’re mainly interested in the stalker scene,’ and I said, ‘What scene is that?’ And then I was, like, educated in it.”
“All I can say is that a lot of intelligent people were involved in the film at the time, and we didn’t think it was a stalker scene,” he laughed. “But if it’s interesting or funny for different reasons [now] then, you know, God bless our progressive world.”
Keira previously shared that she knows exactly who her character chose in that scene, claiming: “I know that I stay with my husband.”
Richard, also known for his classics Notting Hill and Bridget Jones’ Diary, has acknowledged in recent history that there are a number of aspects of the film that haven’t aged so well in the last two decades.
He voiced his regret over poor choices back in October, admitting he was “unobservant and not as clever as I should have been”.
Last year, he also admitted that the lack of diversity in Love Actually makes him feel “uncomfortable and a bit stupid”.