Why Rowan Atkinson’s Love Actually character took so lengthy to wrap

Love Actually is among the many hottest Christmas movies of all time, watched yearly by hundreds of individuals to get into the festive spirit.

And even with an A-list forged, together with Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson and Keira Knightly appearing out candy love scenes and dramatic proposals, there’s one scene that sticks within the reminiscence of tens of millions.

Rowan Atkinson has a cameo within the smash hit as store assistant Rufus, who takes a comically very long time to wrap up a necklace that Alan Rickman‘s character Harry is shopping for for his secretary, Mia (Heike Makatsch), behind his spouse Karen’s again.

Karen, performed by Emma Thompson, is buying in the identical retailer on the time.

Panicking, Harry hopes Rufus will wrap up the current shortly, however Rufus clocks this and wraps up his buy additional elaborately.

Harry might be seen turning into so bodily irate with Rufus’ including of ornate gildings that he tells him to cease what he’s doing.

While many viewers assumed that the hilarious scene from the 2003 was purely comedic, 20 years on many are simply clocking the actual causes behind it.

Taking to X, previously recognized Twitter, many have realised that he’s intentionally being sluggish within the hope Emma’s character Karen catches them.

The principle was confirmed on Twitter by script editor Emma Freud, 61, who labored on the movie alongside her husband and its director Richard Curtis, 67, penned a proof on X, previously often known as Twitter.

 ‘Alan Rickman’s character over-wrapped the present on function to cease Alan Rickman having the ability to purchase the necklace. Because he was an angel,’ she wrote in 2015.

One surprised consumer then requested: ‘Did anybody ask the if Harry ACTUALLY have an affair or simply tempted to? Alan Rickman villains are often loveable however not this one!’

The esteemed script editor then defined: ‘DEFINITELY had an affair. I begged Richard simply to make it a flirtation, however no, the entire method’.

It comes after Four Weddings and a Funeral author Richard Curtis mentioned he was ‘silly and flawed’ for joking about folks’s dimension in his movies after he was confronted by his daughter.

The  director mentioned he regrets a lot of his work and he was ‘unobservant’ and ‘not as intelligent’ as he ought to have been.

He added that he would by no means use the phrases ‘fats’ and ‘chubby’ once more.

The weight of Renée Zellweger’s character Bridget Jones was mentioned within the movie whereas the prime minister’s private assistant Natalie in Love Actually, performed by Martine McCutcheon, was depicted because the ‘chubby one”.

But Curtis mentioned these jokes weren’t humorous any extra when he was quizzed by his daughter Scarlett at The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival.

It comes after Richard Curtis revealed that Love Actually nearly featured an LGBTQ+ romantic storyline nevertheless it was ‘minimize’ out.

The screenwriter has beforehand spoken about the shortage of variety in Love Actually and addressed criticism of his jokes about folks’s sizes within the film.

Now, talking to Katie Strick on the London Love Stories podcast, Richard admitted he felt like he ‘let himself down’ by reducing out the LGBTQ+ story from the ultimate edit.

‘There are issues about Love Actually that I want I’d carried out,’ Richard mentioned as he spoke on a Christmas episode of the podcast in assist of Comic Relief. 

‘If I had 10 tales – we did actually have a form of LGBTQ story nevertheless it obtained minimize and I really feel as if I let myself down there.’

Richard went on to element some extra adjustments he would make to the movie if he was writing it right now as he addressed its lack of variety.

‘The variety concern may be very totally different now and it might’ve been pretty to make the movie extra culturally wealthy,’ he mentioned.

‘To have had Hanukkah, to have had Diwali in there, I did not give attention to that. So I do assume if I did it once more it might have a broader unfold to it than the movie now does.’

When requested if he would make a brand new model of Love Actually now, Richard insisted that he does not intend to recreate the Christmas basic.

He defined: ‘I do not assume I’ll do one other one, as a result of Love Actually was one among my movies that was closest to a catastrophe actually. Two months earlier than it got here out, it was an absolute mess. So I really feel as if I obtained fortunate as soon as, I do not wish to threat it once more.’

The film is now well-known for its interwoven storylines, however Richard revealed the script was initially organized in a way more linear trend, earlier than he determined it wasn’t fascinating sufficient.

He mentioned: ‘With all these tales, it was very exhausting preserving folks . I initially wrote the movie like A, B, C, D, E, F, G – I might have one a part of the movie one after the opposite. 

‘But once I watched the movie, it was as if I did not truly care about any of the tales. The second you probably did an additional bit, you misplaced curiosity.’

‘The last movie is like I threw up the unique script and put it again collectively in a very totally different order,’ he added.

It isn’t the primary time that Richard has addressed Love Actually’s lack of variety and its jokes about girls and other people’s sizes.

Last 12 months, Richard admitted Love Actually’s lack of variety now makes him really feel ‘uncomfortable’ and ‘a bit silly’.

‘There are belongings you’d change, however thank god, society is, , altering. So, my movie is certain, in some moments, to really feel, , outdated,’ he mentioned.