Romantic comedies about love are bread and butter of any production film company, because projects of this genre are always in fashion. Unfortunately, there are not many really good and life-affirming films about love (in which everyone would have survived, and not like in Romeo and Juliet). Let's look at one of the best projects of this kind, shot in the XXI century, - Love Actually, as well as the actors who played in it.
Features of the project "Real Love" (2003)
This film was shot in 2003. Its feature was that both famous artists and their novice colleagues starred in the project. Moreover, the main roles between them were distributed equally.
The project was so successful that with a budget of 40 million, it collected almost 247 million at the box office.
The success of the painting in subsequent years contributed to the emergence of several more projects of this format: “To promise does not mean to marry”, “Valentine's Day”, etc.
Moreover, at the beginning of 2017, the short film Red Nose Day Actually was shot, which briefly describes the fate of the characters of Love Actually. Unfortunately, not all actors of "Real Love" (2003) were able to star in this project.
Key storylines
The British Christmas film "Real Love" is a lot of interconnected stories about how this feeling happens. Each of the characters is looking for his love and as a result finds it. However, it does not always turn out to be exactly as expected.
In the film, several stories take place in parallel, in which they participate:
- British Prime Minister and his secretary.
- Writer Jamie and his Portuguese maid Aurelia.
- The newlyweds Juliet and Peter, as well as his best man Mark.
- Actors John and Judy.
- Co-workers Karl and Sarah.
- Spouses with experience Harry and Karen.
- Widower Daniel and his stepson Sam.
- Aged rock musician Billy Mack and his manager Joe.
- Lovelace losers Tony and Colin.
The story of the prime minister and his secretary
David is one of the youngest heads of government in history. When he took office, he was appointed a new secretary - chubby pretty Natalie. Despite her modest behavior, the girl attracted David's attention.
However, when the prime minister hosted the US president, he began to harass Natalie. Seeing this, David in rather harsh tones held negotiations with the head of the White House. In the future, the politician realized that he really likes the girl and can affect the clarity of his thinking. Therefore, he asked to transfer her to another job.
However, on Christmas Eve, David receives a postcard from Natalie in which she confesses his love to him. Since the hero knows only the street where she lives, he goes around all the houses on it until he finds his beloved. It turns out that their first kiss was accidentally shown on television and now the whole country knows about the romance of the head of government.
The main roles in this story were played by Hugh Grant (“Four Weddings and One Funeral,” “Bridget Jones's Diary”) and Martin McCutchen (“Miss Marple Agatha Christie,” “Murders in Midsomer”).
The film "Real Love": actors and roles in the story of the writer and the maid
Detective writer James accidentally found out that his girlfriend was constantly cheating on him with his sibling. To calm his nerves, as well as finish the novel, he rents a mansion in France. The hostess offers to hire a maid from Portugal Aurelia.
During the time spent together, the writer and the girl fall in love. However, both of them speak different languages and do not understand each other's speech.
Later James returns home and begins to learn Portuguese there. On Christmas Eve, he drops all affairs and scheduled meetings and goes to Aurelia to confess her love. Later it turns out that all this time the girl was learning English. A happy writer takes the girl to his homeland to meet friends and family.
The main roles in this story were played by such actors of “Real Love” as Colin Firth (“Pride and Prejudice”, “The King Says”) and Lucia Monis (The Right Juice, Second Life). It is worth noting that in this storyline, as in the previous one, the main roles were distributed between famous and unknown artists.
The film "Real Love": actors and roles in the story of a love triangle
Juliet and Peter are deeply in love with each other and get married. It would seem that they only live happily ever after, but the young wife does not like the too cold attitude to her best friend Peter - Mark. To somehow make friends with him, the girl comes to visit and asks to show her the video from the wedding, as the hired operator did not manage to make a good celebration.
Examining the recording, Juliet is surprised to find that Mark shot only her all over the wedding and, most likely, was in love with her, but hid it so as not to upset his friend.
On Christmas Eve, Mark secretly from Peter comes to his wife and with the help of posters confesses his feelings, and then promises to overcome them and leaves.
Unlike previous stories, in this the actors played little-known (at the time of the release of the movie). These are Keira Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Game of Imitation), Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years of Slavery, Doctor Strange) and Andrew Lincoln (The Walking Dead). Interestingly, all three of these actors from "Real Love" subsequently became famous.
Love story of porn actors
John and Judy act in films for adults. Despite the fact that every day they see each other naked and even mimic sex, the actors are not even familiar. Once, having decided to correct this omission, young people find that they have a lot in common.
Overcoming embarrassment, John invites his colleague on a date. And in the finale it turns out that they are going to get married.
Like many actors of "Real Love", the performer of the role of John - Martin Freeman, at that time was little known. However, today his popularity is off scale, thanks to two roles - John Watson in Sherlock and Bilbo Beggins in The Hobbit.
But his partner, the Welsh actress Joanna Page, was less fortunate. After Love Actually, she starred in few places, and her career fell into decay.
A few more service novels
Karl and Sarah, as well as John and Judy, are colleagues. However, they work in an advertising agency. Sarah is already young and has a bunch of complexes. Therefore, it is difficult for her to take the initiative in relation to Karl. Therefore, for more than three years, their relationship does not go beyond insinuating views.
To help Sarah, her boss Harry himself brings colleagues at one of the parties. After the holiday, colleagues go home to Sarah to make love. But the romantic atmosphere is interrupted by a call from a psychiatric clinic, where the heroine’s brother lies. Despite feelings for Karl, she is forced to give up everything for the love of her brother and go to him to help survive the next crisis.
The caring boss Sarah is also not all well in the family. Although he has been happily married to Karen for many years and they have charming children, the man feels unhappy. The fact is that his wife is all mired in life and worries about others, and Harry wants to extreme. That is why the pretty and annoying secretary Mia easily seduces him.
A man buys an expensive jewelry for his mistress, and Karen accidentally finds out about this. She speaks very correctly with her husband, and the question of their further relationship remains open. But at the same time, they both love their children and take care of them.
In these two stories, actors from Real Love played such as Laura Linney (The Truman Show, The Nanny's Diary), Rodrigo Santoro (300 Spartans, I Love You, Phillip Maurice), Alan Rickman (" Die Hard ”,“ Harry Potter ”) and Emma Thompson (“ Mind and Feelings ”,“ Junior ”).
Stepfather and stepson
Daniel recently lost his wife and is not yet ready for a new relationship. At the same time, he bears responsibility for the education of Sam's stepson. Trying to establish contact with him, Daniel gradually comes to his senses.
In the future, it turns out that the boy is in love with one girl from his school, and his father is trying hard to help him find a common language with her. Thanks to a series of coincidences, the man meets a single mother, Carol, who turns out to be outwardly similar to his ideal woman - Claudia Schiffer. And it seems that both the stepson and the stepfather got a chance to establish their heartfelt affairs.
In this storyline from the movie “Real Love” (2003), the actors played such: Liam Neeson (“Hostage”, “Schindler's List”), Thomas Sangster (“Game of Thrones”, “The Maze Runner”) and Claudia Schiffer in the role of Carol .
Friendship love stories
Former rock star Billy Mack, to somehow remind himself, rewrote his outdated hit in a new way. In an interview, he joked that if this record reaches the top of the hit couple by Christmas, he will perform naked live.
This statement interested the listeners, and unexpectedly a “hit” Billy began to rise in ratings and reached the top by Christmas. Now he has regained his popularity again, and producers with fans began to besiege him. However, the musician himself realized that for all these years he was really supported only by his manager Joe. Therefore, instead of parties, he went to celebrate his victory with a true friend. By the way, the hero also fulfilled his promise to sing in the “Adam costume”.
Colin and Tony are comrades in misfortune. They are young and full of hopes to pick up beautiful girls. However, for some reason, none of their compatriots pays attention to the guys. Then Colin (believing in the legend that Americans are just crazy about guys with a British accent) decides to go to Christmas in the USA. Since “Real Love” is still a good comedy, his dream comes true, and he not only spends a great time there, but also gets a girlfriend. In addition, as a true friend, Colin brings a sexy American girlfriend to Tony.
In these stories, the main roles were played by Bill Nyei (“Another World”, “A Loyal Gardener”), Gregor Fisher (Brotherly Love, Oliver Twist), Chris Marshall (“Merchant of Venice”, “Easy Behavior”), Abdul Salis (“Sahara” , “Animal”) and the beautiful American actresses Denise Richards (“And the whole world is not enough,” “Ask Cindy”), Shannon Elizabeth (“American Pie”, “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back”) and the legendary “neighbor” Elisha Cuthbert .
Also among the actors of "Real Love" (the project photos are posted in the article), it is worth noting the famous British comedian Rowan Atkinson. He was present in most of the storylines as a minor character named Rufus. By the way, in Red Nose Day Actually his character is also there.