WITH a love triangle, an affair and doomed romances – who could have predicted that Love Actually would become such an iconic Christmas movie?
But the festive film unites Brits across the country and millions of us gather around our TV screens to watch it every year.
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It’s been 18 years since Love Actually came out and many have been eagerly following the careers of the actors who starred in it.
Among them was Thomas Brodie-Sangster – the child star who, at 13, played amorous drummer Sam.
Fans were shocked when it was revealed he was now 31 and would be dating Elon Musk’s twice-divorced ex-wife Talulah Riley.
The pair co-star in Danny Boyle’s upcoming Sex Pistols drama Pistol, where he plays popstar Malcolm McLaren and she takes on Vivienne Westwood.
Since the release of Love Actually in 2003, Thomas has starred in everything from the Maze Runner series to Game Of Thrones and The Queen’s Gambit – but what happened to his co-stars?
Here we examine the fate of those behind one of Britain’s all-time favorite Christmas films.
Olivia Olson
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Olivia stole the show when she sang Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You at just 11 years old.
Now the American actress is 29, lives in Los Angeles, and you may have followed her on The X Factor: Celebrity, where she ended up coming 12th in 2019.
Olivia was also part of the cast of the animated series Adventure Time on Cartoon network, where she voices Marceline the Vampire Queen.
She also worked on Disney’s Phineas and Ferb, where she voices Vanessa Doofenshmirtz.
Heike Makatsch
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German actress Heike Makatsch became one of the biggest Christmas villains when her character Mia flirted with her married boss, Harry, played by the late Alan Rickman, in the film.
One of the most emotional scenes saw Harry buy Mia a gold necklace, which his wife, Karen, played by Emma Thompson, thought was for her.
After flirting with Mia, Heike played Leisel’s mother in the film version of The Book Thief in 2013.
Heike, 50, had a string of high-profile romances. She previously dated James Bond star Daniel Craig and was married to actor Max Martin Schröder for 10 years.
She is in a relationship with actor Trystan Pütter and lives in Berlin.
Lulu Popplewell
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Lulu played Emma Thompson’s daughter in Love Actually and dressed up as a lobster for her school’s nativity.
She was 12 when she appeared in the beloved Christmas film, but in recent years has called it “cheesy and sexist”.
Speaking on the Almost Famous podcast, Lulu said: “I think it’s not a movie. I think it’s aged badly. All the women in it are sort of passive objects.”
The 30-year-old, who is now a comedian, was described as unrecognizable by fans of the 2003 film.
Chiwetel Ejiofor
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In Love Actually, he was Kiera Knightley’s doting husband, Peter, and was unknowingly caught in the middle of a love triangle.
While their marriage remained intact, her best friend Mark, played by Andrew Lincoln, made a questionable attempt to woo Kiera’s character.
Since the 2010 film, Chiwetel has had a role in Doctor Strange, starred as Scar in the Lion King remake, and starred as Solomon Northup in 12 Years A Slave.
The latter earned him Best Actor nominations at the Golden Globes, Oscars and a winning BAFTAS nomination.
Andrew Lincoln
One of the film’s most memorable scenes sees Andrew’s character, Mark, expressing his love to Juliet via cardboard signs outside his house.
As she ran out and kissed him, the couple does not get along and Juliette remains married to her best friend.
Since his tragic story in Love Actually, Andrew’s career has skyrocketed, starring on the AMC series The Walking Dead as Deputy Sheriff Rick Grimes.
Although he didn’t get his fairy tale ending in Love Actually, he did in real life.
In June 2006, three years after the heartwarming film was released, he married Gael Anderson. They have two children, Mathilde, 14, and Arthur, 11.
Joanna Page
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Joanna, who played the character of “Just Judy”, was one half of the adorably awkward duo who replaced sex scenes in a porn movie, alongside Martin Freeman.
After Love Actually, she continued to appear in everything from Midsomer Murders to Nativity 2: Danger In The Manger and Doctor Who.
But she is best known for starring as Stacey Shipman in the hit BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey, which ran from 2007 to 2010. A Christmas special was released in 2019.
Martine McCutcheon
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Former EastEnders star Martine was memorable in Love Actually as the jolly member of Downing Street staff who insulted Hugh Grant’s Prime Minister but ended up winning his heart.
Martine has since proven her talents off-screen on stage, winning an Olivier for her role as Eliza in My Fair Lady in the West End.
Although she endeared herself to millions as Natalie, Martine’s post-Love Actually career unfortunately didn’t go so smoothly.
The 45-year-old has struggled to land big roles in any major show or movie and has only had a few small roles on TV shows.
She’s made appearances on Celebrity Gogglebox and more recently The Masked Singer UK, but she’s had nothing as well-known as Love Actually.
Martine has also been a panelist on Loose Women, alongside Katie Price, Andrea McLean, Nadia Swahala and Ruth Langsford.
She has been married to singer Jack McManus since 2012 and has a six-year-old son, Rafferty.
But she hasn’t had it easy, having to file for bankruptcy in 2013 and openly struggling with her health, suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia.
Laura Linney
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In Love Actually, she broke hearts playing workaholic Sarah, who, in addition to her busy schedule, had to care for her mentally ill brother.
An outburst from her brother ended a moment of naughty passion between Laura’s character and heartbroken actor Rodrigo Santoro prematurely.
She has since spent a year on the American comedy Frasier, starring in American Dad! and starred in the dark drama Ozark since 2017.
Although they don’t share any scenes together, Laura and Liam Neeson are close friends in real life and he even walked her down the aisle for her wedding in May 2009.
Rodrigue Santoro
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Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro’s romance with Sarah, played by Laura Linney, unfortunately came to nothing in the film – but since then he’s had a number of great roles.
He was unrecognizable after shaving off his hair to play the “god” Xerxes in the 2006 action movie 300 and also starred as Paulo in Lost.
Recently, Rodrigo played Westworld’s “most wanted” bandit, Hector Escaton, and he starred in Boundless, a drama about two men who sailed around the world 500 years ago.
Lucie Moniz
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Lucia played Colin Firth’s housekeeper turned love interest, Aurelia, in Love Actually.
Towards the end of the film, he won her heart in a hilariously awkward scene where the writer tried and often misspoke Portuguese.
Since then, Lucia has acted in a number of television series and films in Portugal.
January Jones
January played Jeannie, one of the pretty American girls that sex-obsessed Colin (Kris Marshall) meets in Wisconsin.
She was the leader of the group of girls who fell in love with her accent and her English charms.
A few years later, in 2007, she starred as Betty Draper in Mad Men, which ran until 2015 and is considered one of the best television series ever made.
The role was nominated in January for two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in a Drama Series and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
Alan Rickman
Alan was already a movie legend when he starred in Love Actually alongside Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant.
He had previously taken on the iconic role of Severus Snape in the Harry Potter franchise, and previously starred in Die Hard, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Sense and Sensibility.
Alan played the character of Harry, a successful director of a design agency, who cheats on his wife Karen with his young, pretty secretary Mia.
Alan couldn’t have been more different from his real-life on-screen love interest, married to former Labor Party councilor Rima Horton after meeting in their late teens.
Tragically, Alan passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2016 at the age of 69, having won Bafta, Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG awards during a distinguished career.
