“Love Actually” entered the club of great romantic comedies as soon as it was released in 2003. A real critical and commercial success, we see Hugh Grant in particular in a sequence that has become cult. But which the actor nevertheless hated to shoot…
Love Actuallyqueen of romantic comedies
In 2023, Love Actually will be 20 years old. A film with worldwide popularity, and a great classic of romantic comedy served by an incredible cast. Under the direction of Richard Curtis, we find there, among others, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Keira Knightley, Julia Davis, Alan Rickman, Bill Nighy, Colin Firth, Martin Freeman and Laura Linney… Without forgetting one of the great English stars of the time: Hugh Grant.
In Love actually, he plays David, the English Prime Minister. He is young and single, and will fall in love with one of his collaborators, Natalie. It is one of the many stories that make up the whole of Love actuallyand that of David and Natalie shows one of the iconic sequences of the film: David/Hugh Grant’s famous dance. And if this one is forever in the hearts of fans of the film, it is not really the case of Hugh Grant, who declared hated shooting this scene.
“I’m gonna hate doing this”
In an excerpt from the ABC News special The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Laterthe actor therefore revealed that he dreaded the shooting of this sequence as much as possible, and that he would have done everything to avoid it, if his contract had not obliged him to do so…
I saw that in the script and I thought, “Well, I’m going to hate doing that.” I didn’t have fun doing this dance at all, and I’m not even talking about rehearsing it… And I’m not even in the rhythm, especially at the beginning when I’m shaking my butt.
To this day, there are many people – and I agree with them – who think this is the worst scene ever captured on film. But others love it.
On the side of Richard Curtis, who does not deny that this scene was embarrassing, says that this day of shooting Hugh Grant was in a particularly bad mood, but couldn’t help but run. But for the director, it was simply what he expected: “It is extraordinarily embarrassing. He is just perfect.“
