Richard Curtis says lack of diversity in ‘Love Actually’ “makes me feel uncomfortable”

Love Actually writer-director Richard Curtis has admitted that the film’s lack of diversity makes him feel “uncomfortable and a bit stupid”.

The 2003 Christmas classic follows numerous romantic storylines, and most of which predominately centre on white, heterosexual characters (although there is an interracial marriage between Keira Knightley and Chiwetel Ejiofor, as well as some homoerotic subtext between Bill Nighy’s rock star and his manager).

Curtis’s criticism of his own film came during an interview in the new one-hour special, The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later, which aired on the US network ABC on Tuesday (29 November).

When asked if there any parts of the film that made him “wince”, Curtis replied: “There are things that you would change, but thank God society is changing.

“My film is bound in some moments to feel out of date. The lack of diversity makes me feel uncomfortable and a bit stupid.”

The director went on to say that the love he sees people share in real life makes him “wish my film was better”.

“It makes me wish I’d made a documentary just to kind of observe it,” he added.

You can watch a clip from the special below.

Now, more than ever, we all need some love…actually.

"The Laughter & Secrets of 'Love Actually,' 20 Years Later: A @DianeSawyer Special" premieres Tuesday, Nov. 29th at 8/7c on @ABC. Stream later on @Hulu. https://t.co/ZGewRPfd2o pic.twitter.com/aDUYk4gAJR

— 20/20 (@ABC2020) November 22, 2022

Back in 2019, Curtis revealed what he’d change about Love Actually – which toured the UK with a full accompanying orchestra last year.

Speaking to NME at the Global Citizen Awards, the ‘Four Weddings’ director revealed that he’d be interested in making a series of small tweaks to the film.

“That’s a really difficult question,” he said when asked about what he might change. “I think the naked people should be wearing more clothes.”

In addition to Knightley, Ejiofor and Nighy, the film also starred the likes of Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Liam Neeson, Martin Freeman, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Laura Linney, and Colin Firth.

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