Indeed, Hugh Grant’s first reaction to love was anything but celebratory

Two decades after Love Actually first graced our screens and became one of the most beloved – and successful – Christmas movies of all time, some of its stars have been doing a bit of reminiscing.

In a 20th anniversary special released in 2022, the cast, including Bill Nighy, Laura Linney, Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant, came together to take a trip down memory lane.

Fortunately, most of them have long memories – including Emma, ​​who remembers the first time she and Hugh saw the finished version of the festive film.

Although according to Emma, ​​Hugh’s response wasn’t exactly warm and fuzzy.

“Hugh came up behind me when we were walking out and said, ‘Is this the most psychotic thing we’ve ever been in?'” Emma recalled in the special.

Hugh then replied sheepishly, “Did I say that?”

Love actually may be ingrained in the public consciousness, but a year earlier Hugh admitted he’s a little less familiar with the details of the 2003 film – revealing he can’t actually remember what happened to his character.

Asked about the possibility of a Love Actually sequel in the an interview with Digital Spy in 2021, Hugh replied: “I don’t know. I’ve never thought about that… I don’t even remember what happens in the movie.”

He explained with a laugh: “It’s been so long since I’ve seen it. You have to remind me. How will I end up?”

The Bafta wi played the British Prime Minister, David, who falls for Downing Street employee Natalie, played by ex. EastEnders star Martine McCutcheon.

In one of the film’s most memorable scenes, Hugh, as Prime Minister, can be seen striding around No. 10 for Pointer Sisters’ Jump (For My Love), which the actor later described as “absolute hell”.

He said: “There was this dance written and I thought, ‘This is going to be excruciating,’ and it has the power to be the most excruciating scene ever committed to celluloid.

“I was definitely dreading filming it and Richard (Curtis) kept saying, ‘Don’t you think we’d better rehearse the dance scene,’ and I’d be like, ‘Uh yeah, I’m just going to learn some lines…my ankle hurts today’, so it was never practiced.”

“It was absolute hell,” he added.