Love Actually Director Thinks A Controversial Scene Is “A Bit Weird”

Love Actually director Richard Curtis is looking back on the 2003 festive favorite, and he now thinks one iconic scene is “a bit weird.”

The scene in question sees the character of Mark (Andrew Lincoln) declare his love for Juliet (Keira Knightley) on her doorstep using cue cards that famously read: “To me, you are perfect, and my wasted heart will love you.”

Two decades after the film’s release, Curtis has shared his mixed feelings over the memorable scene in a new interview with the Independent.

“He actually turns up, to his best friend’s house, to say to his best friend’s wife, on the off chance that she answers the door, ‘I love you,’” Curtis told the outlet. “I think it’s a bit weird.”

“Stalker Scene”

Curtis also recalled the moment he became aware of the so-called “stalker scene’s divisive reputation among Love Actually fans.

“I remember being taken by surprise about seven years ago,” he confessed. “I was going to be interviewed by somebody and they said, ‘Of course, we’re mainly interested in the stalker scene,’ and I said, ‘What scene is that?’”

Curtis also revealed that he “didn’t think it was a stalker scene” at the time of the film’s release, adding: “If it’s interesting or funny for different reasons [now] then, you know, God bless our progressive world.”

Curtis Had Doubts

In an annotated version of the Love Actually script recently published by The Sunday Times, Curtis shared his doubts over the cue-card scene.

“I came up with four things Mark could do as his big gesture,” he wrote. “The people in the office chose their favorite and I went for it. I wonder: do we all regret the choice now?”

Meanwhile, Love Actually star Martine McCutcheon, who played Natalie in the film, defended the infamous scene back in 2020.

“I don’t think it’s creepy at all,” McCutcheon told Digital Spy. “I think people do crazy things when they are in love with people. He had his moment where he thought, ‘Enough now, I’ve told her how I feel, I love my friend too but I had to get it off my chest in the right way.’”