Spilling some Love Actually tea… 20 years later!
A deleted scene from the 2003 holiday rom-com Love Actually was recently re-surfaced after fans watched it on the physical DVD release of the film that includes bonus footage. In the commentary on the DVD, filmmaker Richard Curtis explains that the scene involves the headmistress of Karen’s children’s school, played by Anne Reid, coming home to her terminally ill partner, Geraldine, played by Frances de La Tour.
Universal Pictures
In a clip that was re-shared on YouTube, the writer and director of Love Actually provided details about that particular scene and explained why it was deleted. Curtis said:
“I was also really sorry to lose this next bit. But obviously when we lost the bit with [Emma Thompson] and her son, we couldn’t do this. The idea was meant to be that he just casually met this very sort of stern headmistress, and you’d just think, ‘Well, there’s a stern headmistress.’”
He continued, “And the idea was that 15 minutes later, we suddenly fell in with the headmistress. You realize that no matter how unlikely, it seems that any character that you come across in life has their own complicated tale of love.”
Besides the actual scene between Reid and De La Tour’s characters, Curtis also highlighted another deleted scene that was related to the events in the headmistress’ life. Spoiler alert: it’s about the character of Geraldine dying. (“Bury your gays” much?!) The writer and director explained:
“The headmistress’ little tale it jumps rather quickly at the end because you sort of find out what’s happened to them in a sort of oblique manner. But I thought that it was worth you seeing the fullness of it even though it’s slightly clumsy toward the end.”
In an interview with The Independent from September 2022, De La Tour recalled her deleted scene – and character – from Love Actually. “We had a lovely scene,” she told the publication. “And I think it was the only gay scene. It’s odd that they cut it. Maybe it was too dark to bring into it. Because it ended up being quite a light and fluffy film, didn’t it?”
Curtis, who was experiencing a string of hit movies with 1994’s Four Weddings and a Funeral, 1999’s Notting Hill, and 2001’s Bridget Jones’ Diary, also reportedly wrote a note to De La Tour and apologized for the scene being cut from the film. “We’re terribly sorry, but it’s got to be cut,” Curtis told De La Tour.
Love Actually really said “straights only!”
