24 Photos Of The Love Actually Cast Then & Now

Love Actually premiered in 2003, but two decades later, it remains a holiday rom-com we love to talk about to this day. Here’s a look back at the Love Actually cast, then vs. now — including the big names you might have forgotten were part of the enormous ensemble.

Andrew Lincoln played Mark, the amateur videographer with a crush on his best friend’s new wife.

Seven years after Love Actually, the British actor pivoted to a role that could not be more different than the festive rom-com: AMC’s The Walking Dead. He and much of the original Love Actually cast reunited for a Red Nose Day mini-sequel in 2017.

Chiwetel Ejiofor and Keira Knightley played newlyweds Peter and Juliet.

Knightley was still a teenager at the start of her career during Love Actually. Since then, she’s starred in several iconic films — including Pride & Prejudice and the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

In addition to starring in the Doctor Strange films, Ejiofor made his feature directorial debut with 2019’s The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.

Hugh Grant played David, the new prime minister who’s immediately drawn to Natalie (Martine McCutcheon), a member of his in-house staff.

A few of Grant’s recent roles include 2017’s Paddington 2 and an Emmy-nominated turn in crime mystery, The Undoing.

Alan Rickman is universally beloved, but his character in Love Actually is a little less so. Rickman played Harry, a husband and father who entertained an affair with a colleague, much to his wife’s (Emma Thompson) heartbreak.

Sadly, Rickman died of cancer in 2016. “It seemed like a miracle to me when Alan agreed to do our film ... as an actor he almost literally made every single word complex and interesting,” Love Actually writer-director Richard Curtis remembered.

Thompson may just be the heart of Love Actually — her character, Karen, is Harry’s wife, David’s sister, and Daniel’s (Liam Neeson) best friend.

Recently, Thompson starred in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. She also portrays Miss Trunchbull in the new Matilda musical adaptation.

Colin Firth and Lúcia Moniz play Jamie and Aurélia, the lonely writer and housekeeper who forge a strong romantic connection without speaking the same language.

Firth went on to star in the two Mamma Mia! films and, most recently, HBO Max’s The Staircase, based on the real-life death of Kathleen Peterson.

In Love Actually, Laura Linney’s Sarah harbored a major office crush on Carl (Rodrigo Santoro).

Most recently, Linney has been known for her turn as Wendy Byrde on Netflix’s Ozark, for which she received multiple Emmy nominations.

Kris Marshall played horny traveler Colin — who, upon his arrival in Wisconsin, miraculously meets a group of beautiful women eager to take him home. Among them? January Jones, in an early screen role.

Jones would go on to play Betty Draper on the AMC series Mad Men from 2007 to 2015.

Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Olivia Olson played preteen lovebirds Sam and Joanna.

Brodie-Sangster has recently starred in several buzzy TV projects — including Pistol and The Queen’s Gambit, for which he received an Emmy nod.

Martin Freeman and Joanna Page played sex scene body doubles (yes, this movie had a lot of plotlines!), who were adorably awkward in their own real dating life.

Freeman’s latest role as Everett Ross in the Black Panther films is a giant leap from his small supporting part in Love Actually.

Bill Nighy’s Billy Mack is a pop star who hopes to reach the top of the charts by Christmas Eve with his (truthfully catchy) “Christmas Is All Around.”

Nighy recently starred alongside Anya Taylor-Joy in 2020’s Emma.