Christmas isn’t complete without watching Richard Curtis’ Love Actually, and although you might think you know the story well, there are some secretly deleted scenes you might never have heard of
More than 20 years on, Richard Curtis’ rom-com Love Actually is still a firm favourite at Christmas time.
Its much-loved cast and intertwined storylines of love, lust and betrayal have kept fans hooked since its release in 2003. But what many may not realise is that the hit film has a few deleted scenes which resurface every year – and some are totally heartbreaking.
One features a lesbian couple in a tragic romance and another of an African couple supporting each other through famine. However, director Richard struggled to fit everything in to just one movie and had almost gave up entirely. The Four Weddings and a Funeral creator, 68, told the Radio Times: “We thought Love Actually was a disaster for months while we were trying to edit it.
“I only thought of setting Love Actually at Christmas halfway through the writing process. I was thinking, ‘How can I squeeze all these stories to end at the same time?” Here, the Mirror takes a look at the scenes that unfortunately didn’t make the cut…
The 2003 romantic comedy boats several emotional and intertwining storylines featuring a large ensemble cast of many of Britain’s finest actors. The relationships range from platonic friendships to romantic love triangles, but they all have one thing in common: they only feature heterosexual couples.
However a scene from the movie, which was scrapped from the final edit, featured a lesbian love story. The plot follows a stern headmistress – played by Anne Reid – who returns from work to tend to her terminally ill partner Geraldine – played by Frances de la Tour.
The twosome were linked to the wider story by a subplot involving Emma Thompson, whose son was a pupil at Reid’s school. As the headmistress tells her visibly sick partner about her day, it’s clear that Geraldine is full of spirit despite her illness.
The pair share just two short scenes together, with the second one featuring Geraldine coughing in bed before being comforted by the headmistress. Movie viewers were supposed to watch a scene in which the duo bicker over their differing tastes in fancy sausages and display wicked senses of humour, before cuddling up at night.
In the resurfaced deleted scene, the two are tucked into bed and Geraldine is seen coughing violently in her sleep. The scene then cuts to the school’s Christmas show where Emma’s character makes a moving speech about the headmistress’ loss.
Richard Curtis later explained that the story was meant to show that each person has their own complicated tale of love. He said of the scene on the DVD’s bonus footage: “I was really sorry to lose this. The idea was meant to be that you just casually meet this very stern headmistress, but later on in the film, we suddenly fell in with her and you realise that, no matter how unlikely it seems, any character you come across in life has their own complicated tale of love.”
In an effort to show that “love actually is all around”, Curtis and the team shot also shot scenes in Kenya that were never used. The storyline followed the poignant tale of an African couple who had supported each other through famine.
The festive favourite is watched by many in the run-up to Christmas with an all-star cast including Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley and Colin Firth. Curtis is now launching his latest film on Netflix, That Christmas, which is a cartoon starring Brian Cox, Bill Nighy and Jodie Whittaker.
The director revealed that he’s enjoyed the process of working on something different for viewers. He said: “I love the fact that this is a more diverse film. I liked the opportunity to work with the diverse acting cadre in this country. It’s lovely to be able to have Guz Khan and Lolly Adefope.”
