American fans of Love Actually probably don't think it's quite fair that British audiences got to see the highly anticipated mini-sequel a full two months before the U.S. premiere date. The 12-minute reprisal of the 2003 hit debuted in the U.K. on Friday, March 24, for their national Red Nose Day charity event — while stateside viewers still have to wait until May 25 to catch up with their favorite characters. But it turns out that American fans aren't getting such a bad deal after all. In fact, the U.S. version of the short movie, Red Nose Day Actually, is getting a little extra oomph, thanks to the exclusive addition of yet another beloved character.
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Laura Linney is joining the version of the movie airing in the U.S., Entertainment Weekly reports. The actress, who has participated in the charity event before, told EW that taking part in the short sequel — starring Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley, Andrew Lincoln, Colin Firth, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Liam Neeson, and Bill Nighy — was a no-brainer. "[He] sent me an email, explaining this short film reunion. I said yes, obviously. How could I say no? And right away we were figuring out our schedules."
But apparently, Linney wasn't available to film her scene before the U.K. premiere. The actress, who played the sympathetic Sarah in the original, told EW that she will shoot her scene in April. "I have no idea what I’m doing yet. Not a clue," she said.
Well, we think we have some idea of what to expect. While it sadly looks like Rodrigo Santoro (who played Karl, the extremely good-looking office colleague she hooked up with) isn't returning (he's too busy playing cowboy on Westworld), it would be lovely to see Sarah at least dating, if not happily in a relationship.
Red Nose Day Actually premieres May 25 on NBC (time TBA).