Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Bill Nighy to reunite for special 20th anniversary celebrating “Love Actually”

The stars of Love Actually will reunite for a special 20th anniversary special on US network ABC, it has been announced.

The one-hour special will look at how the film became a beloved Christmas tradition and a global sensation, with exclusive interviews with cast members.

Love Actually

Hugh Grant, Dame Emma Thompson, Bill Nighy, Laura Linney and Thomas Brodie-Sangster will sit down with ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer for the show.

It will also include an appearance from writer and director Richard Curtis, as well as a message from Martine McCutcheon.

ABC said the special would offer new insight into behind-the-scenes secrets and the film’s famous scenes as well as examining how the Covid-19 pandemic “refocused the ways we love and connect”.

In an exclusive clip of the interview, Dame Emma recalled watching the film for the first time.

“Hugh came up behind me as we were walking out and said ‘is that the most psychotic thing we’ve ever been in?’” she said.

Grant, who plays the British Prime Minister in the iconic Christmas film, also reveals he thought he would “hate” the iconic dancing scene in Downing Street.

“But I will give myself the credit of having the secretary catch me,” he says.

In another clip, Curtis tells Sawyer: “I do think that the way to think about life is that every day has the potential just to be gorgeous.”

Sawyer also poses the ever elusive question to cast members: “Love actually is?”, to which Grant answers “dead”.

The special comes after cast members in 2017 reunited for the short sequel, Red Nose Day Actually, which was also made by Curtis and further developed key character storylines.

Several scenes from the short echoed iconic moments from the film such as the cue card scene with Keira Knightley’s and Andrew Lincoln’s characters.

In the mini sequel, Grant, Liam Neeson, Linney, Colin Firth and Rowan Atkinson made appearances.

Curtis, who was also involved in Four Weddings and a Funeral and Bridget Jones’ Diary as a writer, said in the lead-up he would “never have dreamt of writing a sequel to Love Actually”, but added: “I thought it might be fun to do ten minutes to see what everyone is now up to.”

“We’ve been delighted and grateful that so many of the cast are able to take part – and it’ll certainly be a nostalgic moment getting back together and recreating the characters 14 years later,” he said.

“We hope to make something that’ll be fun – very much in the spirit of the original film and of Red Nose Day – and which we hope will help bring lots of viewers and cash to the Red Nose Day shows.”

Love Actually has consistently rated as the top searched-for Christmas film in France, Italy and 17 other countries, totalling 887,000 worldwide searches a month.

The story of the original film, which is an international co-production between the UK, the United States and France begins five weeks before Christmas and is played out in a weekly countdown until the holiday, followed by an epilogue that takes place one month later.

The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later – A Diane Sawyer Special, will air on Wednesday, November 30 at 1am UK time on ABC.

Source: Love Actually: Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Bill Nighy to reunite for special 20th anniversary TV special celebrating popular Christmas film

The best films set in London to watch at home

As we all prepare to self-isolate, Luxury London picks some of our favourite, era-defining films set in the capital. Predictably, Richard Curtis and Hugh Grant clear up 

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

“You could choke a dozen donkeys on that! And you’re haggling over one hundred pound? What d’you do when you’re not buying stereos, Nick? Finance revolutions?”

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Guy Ritchie’s first and finest feature film, just gets better with age. A sharp, stylish insight into London’s gritty underworld, the film made a household name of its director and kick-started the acting careers of ex-driver Jason Statham and a former footballer by the name by Vinnie Jones – who proved he could be just as intimidating on screen as he was on the pitch. Witty, pacey and packed full of poster-worthy one-liners – “If the milk turns out to be sour, I ain’t the kind of pussy to drink it. You know what I mean, Nick?” – Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is the best British gangster flick of the past quarter-century – know what I mean, Nick?

Chosen by Richard Brown, editorial director

About a Boy (2002)

Having invented a son to impress single mum Rachel (Rachel Weisz), wealthy bachelor Will Freeman (Hugh Grant) faces a conundrum when she invites him, and his fictional child Ned, to a playdate. Enlisting the help of misfit teenager Marcus (Nicholas Holt), Will unwittingly enters into a relationship that forms the basis of this coming-of-age tale, which touches on themes of friendship, suicide and teenage anxiety. In Nick Hornby’s original novel, the story is set in Islington, but the film adaptation is shot across the capital, with Will’s apartment located in Clerkenwell, his local supermarket in Richmond, his hair salon in Westbourne Grove and his favourite restaurants (Otto Dining Lounge and Hakkasan) in Maida Vale and Hanway Place respectively. And let’s not forget Regent’s Park, the scene of Marcus’s accidental crime involving a duck and a stale loaf of bread…

Chosen by Ellen Millard, deputy editor 

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Mostly British film fest in SF celebrates ‘My Generation’ and  ‘Four Weddings’

2019 Mostly British film fest in S.F. features an anniversary “Four Weddings and a Funeral” party and screening.

Are you a big fan of the Hugh Grant-Andie MacDowell romantic charmer “Four Weddings and a Funeral”? If so, RSVP pronto and come out to toast the 25th anniversary of Mike Newell’s film.

The Feb. 16 champagne and cookies reception is part of the Mostly British Film Festival, an annual celebration of films from Britain, Ireland, Australia, India and South Africa. The “Wedding” party pops its cork at  5:30 p.m. at the Laureate Bar and Lounge, 444 Presidio Ave., in San Francisco, and is followed by a 6 p.m. screening of the romantic comedy classic at the Vogue Theatre

This year’s fest bubbles over with many worthwhile films, including the entertaining documentary “My Generation.” Michael Caine serves as a welcoming narrator and guide through David Batty’s colorful first-person accounts of the rebellious ’60s in England. Roger Daltrey, Paul McCartney and Twiggy are a few of the featured celebs recalling that raucous and creative period. It screens 3:45 p.m. Feb. 16 at the Vogue

Source: Mostly British film fest in SF celebrates ‘Four Weddings’

Four Weddings and a Funeral sequel set for Red Nose Day

Original cast to reunite for short film directed by Mike Newell and scripted by Richard Curtis, 25 years after release of groundbreaking comedy

Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, Kristin Scott Thomas and Rowan Atkinson are among the stars confirmed to take part in a short Four Weddings and a Funeral sequel to be screened in the UK on Red Nose Day 2019.

The film, which will be directed by the original’s Mike Newell, and scripted by original screenwriter Richard Curtis, takes place 25 years after the events of the original and features yet more nuptials.

Says Curtis: “We’re all definitely older – I suspect no wiser. It’s been really enjoyable working out what’s happened to all the characters – and now they get back together for the fifth wedding. Where, as usual, not everything will go as planned.”

Continue reading at THE GUARDIAN: Four Weddings and a Funeral sequel set for Red Nose Day | Film | The Guardian