There are some movies that we just love watching them around the festive season. While the intrinsic Christmas value of Die Hard is fiercely debated every year, Love Actually has become as beloved as Miracle on 34th Street (for some people). Its star-studded ensemble cast and vignettes give us lots of characters to root for — like Hugh Grant as a dancing politician. But even though his depiction of the prime minister has become central to Christmas, Grant still doesn’t understand the film’s enduring popularity.
“I don't know why Love Actually is still so popular,” Grant said to Bang Showbiz. Talk about a take a hot as a burning Yule log. Maybe people enjoy Love Actually because of its corny but heartwarming emotional human moments, performed by an outstanding cast that includes Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, and Colin Firth? Just a thought, prime minister.
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Grant also acknowledged that “everyone watches it at Christmas, which is nice,” seeming bemused about the movie’s status as a Christmas mainstay.
He did admit, however, that filming that dancing scene wasn’t all sugar and spice. “Do I remember anything from filming?” he asks rhetorically. “I mean, there was the horror of that scene where I had to dance around. I suspect that was the most excruciating scene ever committed. It wasn't easy for an Englishman in his 40s to do at 7 in the morning, stone-cold sober.” Perhaps Grant missed his morning cup of English breakfast tea.
Martine McCutcheon, who played his love interest, Natalie, seemingly had cheerier memories of filming. She shared a photo of herself and Grant on Instagram, where she retold a story about the movie’s premiere. “We were staying at the Ritz and we were treated like royalty — Even our dressing gowns and slippers had our names beautifully embroidered on them...I felt like I was living in a fairytale,” she wrote — a fitting story for a film as heartwarming as Love Actually.