Secrets of Love Actually: Casting, Crazy Filming Moments, and Holiday Magic

“Love Actually” may be set at Christmas-time, but to many people it’s the ultimate romantic comedy all year round!

Written and directed by Richard Curtis, the film features an all-star ensemble cast and delves into 10 separate stories exploring the different aspects of love and romance, wrapped in a kooky tale of aging rocker Billy Mack trying to make a comeback with a “crap” holiday song called “Christmas Is All Around.”

Curtis wanted to hire a real musician like David Bowie, Sting or Mick Jagger, but producers figured a real rock star would make too many script and music demands … and cast Bill Nighy instead.

When casting the role of Sarah and auditioning many British actresses, the writer-director says he wanted “someone like Laura Linney.” The casting director finally snapped, “Oh for @#$% sake, get Laura Linney then.” And they did.

One vignette centers on Hugh Grant as Britain’s prime minister standing up to the president of the United States (Billy Bob Thornton). In a memorable scene, Grant dances to the Pointer Sisters’ hit “Jump” — a scene the actor hated filming.

Curtis says Grant was “grumpy” on the day of filming and “he kept saying, ‘No.’ I think he was hoping I’d get ill or something and we’d say, ‘Oh, well, what a shame, we’ll have to lose that dancing sequence.’ ” Not a chance!

But Grant took his frustration out on Thornton, who has a quirky fear of antique furniture. Grant would point to a piece of the antiques that are abundant in Britain and watch him freak out moments before the cameras rolled!

Meanwhile, Rowan Atkinson drove Alan Rickman crazy in a store gift wrapping scene. “Rowan was just taking his time, so he would do 11-minute takes,” Curtis recalls. “Poor Alan was there all the time, going ‘Grr, ugh, ugh.’ ”

Another story has Mark (Andrew Lincoln) smitten with his best friend’s new bride, Juliet (Keira Knightley), and reveals his forlorn love in a series of romantic cards at her door. “It is my handwriting,” says Lincoln, who starred as Rick in “The Walking Dead” TV series. “It’s funny, because the art department did it, and then I said, ‘Well, can I do it?’ because I like to think that my handwriting is really good. Actually, it ended up with me having to sort of trace over the art department’s, so it is my handwriting, but with a sort of pencil stencil underneath.”

Lincoln also felt his character’s actions were “borderline stalker territory.” One key moment happens when Colin Firth’s writer character’s manuscript blows into a lake, sending him and love interest Aurélia (Lúcia Moniz) in to retrieve it. The lake was actually just 11 inches deep!

“No one inspected the depth of the lake, so you see them sort of lying around pretending to be swimming,” Curtis confides. The director also notes he and the production team held a 45-minute meeting just to determine what color underwear Aurélia would wear!

Supermodel Claudia Schiffer has a one-minute cameo at the end when she meets Liam Neeson’s forlorn widower and his love-sick son. She was reportedly paid a whopping $300,000!

The inspiration for the airport reunion clips with the voice-over by Grant came while Curtis was stuck at an airport in 1997 — and they were not scripted or staged.

“I was stuck inside, and I suddenly saw all this extraordinary emotion,” Curtis recalls. “And I thought, ‘That is the proof that there is so much overflowing love in the world, and it’s absolutely core to people’s lives.’ That was real documentary footage that we shot without anyone knowing we were shooting, and we had to rush up to people and ask for their permission to use it.”

“Love Actually” banked a total of $244.9 million — a hefty return on a $40 million investment! It has also become a holiday staple that viewers can’t wait to watch!