Love Actually’s Kelly Clarkson Scene Is Different In The UK

The Love Actually soundtrack is a feast for the ears, from Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” making you sob for Emma Thompson to The Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows” convincing you (if only for a moment) the airport really is a beautiful place.

But when I revisit the movie’s beautiful “Glasgow Love Theme” on Spotify, there was one song on the film’s soundtrack that always escaped me: Sugababes’ “Too Lost in You.”

Was I missing something? I could never place where the English girl group’s song plays in the film until I researched online and discovered it doesn’t exist in the movie. At least, not in the version I know.

An International Edit

Alas, this isn’t a Christmas-y version of the Mandela Effect. The reason I never heard “Too Lost in You” in my many Love Actually re-watches is because I’ve only ever seen the U.S. cut of the film.

If that’s the case for you, then you’re used to Kelly Clarkson’s “The Trouble With Love Is” playing during the work party scene, where Harry (Alan Rickman) dances with his employee Mia (Heike Makatsch), while his wife, Karen (Emma Thompson), anxiously watches from afar.

But as it turns out, in the film’s U.K. version, the Sugababes song plays instead.

So, why does each version have different songs? Right Music founder Kirsten Lane, who served as Love Actually’s music consultant, remembers the international edit was a way to appeal to viewers on both sides of the pond.

“At the time, the Sugababes were massive here in the U.K., and Kelly Clarkson was huge in America,” she says. “I think it was thought that it would suit the local audiences better if they had different tracks in the different versions.”

Lane explains that changing a scene’s music in such a fundamental way isn’t typical. Thankfully, in Love Actually’s case, both tunes work well. But Lane notes that it does give the cue “a different feel.”

The Scene Gets Even Darker

Watching the scene with a different song also unlocks a new layer of meaning. Clarkson’s “The Trouble With Love Is” describes the pull of romance and how, despite all its turbulent ups and downs, you’re unable to run away from it.

“Too Lost in You” also revolves around that all-consuming emotion, but it’s slightly more sinister — specifically illustrating Harry and Mia’s affair with angsty lyrics like “I can’t help myself / I can’t break the spell” and “You whisper to me / And I shiver inside.”

Even though many fans are accustomed to the American cut, the U.K. version’s use of “Too Lost in You” deserves major props. The song, which Diane Warren penned, aligns with Harry’s choice to give into lust and hurt his family in the process.

For A Post-Credits Surprise...

Love Actually is kind of the Avengers: Endgame of actors — its ensemble features many of the United Kingdom’s biggest names. And like a Marvel movie, you’ll want to stick around as the credits roll.

In the American version, you can hear “Too Lost in You” in the final minute of the credits, and the same applies to Clarkson’s song in the U.K. cut. So, the songs weren’t completely omitted.