While Love Actually is a holiday favorite for many, leading man Hugh Grant just might disagree. The actor had much to say as he looked back on his experience filming the romantic comedy during ABC’s new special, The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later.
Boasting a star-studded cast, the 2003 movie follows ten separate love stories during a 5-week countdown to Christmas. The stories interlink throughout the runtime with the characters finding themselves playing roles in each others’ journeys. While it received mixed reception following its release, the movie was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and three BAFTA awards, winning one.
Grant steps into the role of David, the British prime minister who must navigate the murky waters of falling in love with a new junior member on his team.
Looking back on the complexities of the film, the actor said that Richard Curtis’ script is “a bit psychotic” and described it as “Richard on steroids,” per The Independent. He said in the special, “The thing is with him, what you have to remember is when he writes about love, he means it. And that is quite rare.”
Grant has a few more revelations about the movie, and at one point, admitted to watching the movie “drunkenly” with his wife, Anna Eberstein, who felt the film was “all about pain” and “suffering.”
And suffer Grant did. He also recalled his infamous dance sequence in the special, which left him cringing.
“I saw it in the script and I thought, ‘Well, I’ll hate doing that.’ I didn’t fancy doing the dance at all, let alone rehearsing it,” he said.
Per Variety, Grant described the bit as “the most excruciating scene ever committed to celluloid.”
Curtis, who also served as the director, claimed Grant tried to get out of the number by feigning illness, but he had to tough it out because it was a “contractual obligation.” He called watching Grant perform the sequence “agonizingly embarrassing” but added that he was “perfect.”
The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later is streaming on Hulu.
