Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley, Andrew Lincoln, Laura Linney, Liam Neeson and Bill Nighy have all returned, along with other cast members, for a reunion special of Love Actually and fans cannot wait. The special was created in honor of Red Nose Day and we get to see what all the characters are up to in present day. Check out a trailer for the sequel special above.
During the special, Grant, who is still prime minister, delivers a speech and an onlooker says to him:
When you became Prime Minister the first time, you were very optimistic. You said that the power of good would finally win, that love actually was all around. Fourteen years later, do you still feel as upbeat?
Grant’s character replies:
Obviously, times for many people have grown harder and people are nervous and fearful. And it’s not just in politics that things are tough. Usain Bolt has run his last Olympics, the Harry Potter films are finished, Piers Morgan is still alive
In the reunion special, Daniel is still coaching Sam about love, Jamie and Aurelia are still together, as are Natalie with the Prime Minister, and Juliet with Peter. It appears that Sarah is still around and mark is still somewhat pining over his best friend’s wife, Juliet. Billy Mack is still a rock star and actor Rowan Atkinson returns as the extraordinarily slow salesman.
The sequel is a 15-minute segment, according to Hollywood Life, and it comes nearly 14 years after the original film. In addition to the original cast, there are a couple other stars who will be making cameo appearances in the special and they are Patrick Dempsey and Kate Moss.
Several people are not returning for the sequel. Actress Emma Thompson told the Press Association that she was approached by the writer/director Richard Curtis, but felt it would be too sad to participate without actor Alan Rickman. Rickman was a friend of hers and played her husband in the original movie, but he has since passed away. According to The Guardian, Thompson said that:
Richard wrote to me and said, ‘Darling, we can’t write anything for you because of Alan’, and I said, ‘No, of course, it would be sad, too sad.’ It’s too soon. It’s absolutely right because it’s supposed to be for Comic Relief but there isn’t much comic relief in the loss of our dear friend, really, just over a year ago. We thought and thought [about it] but it just seemed wrong. It was absolutely the right decision.
In the original film, Rickman’s character cheated on his wife, but the two of them stayed together.
Starting at 10 p.m. ET, A Two-Hour Facebook Live Fundraising Broadcast will run alongside NBC’s Night of Special Programming. Hosted by Akilah Hughes and Richard Bacon and featuring stars like Bryan Cranston, Chris Hardwick, Laura Linney, Lucia Moniz and Richard Curtis, Red Nose Day’s live broadcast will give fans the chance to donate via the new Donate button in Facebook Live, interact with special guests, see exclusive Red Nose Day content, participate in live fundraising challenges, and donate to Red Nose Day through Facebook Live. It was the first time a fundraiser on Facebook Live used the new Donate buttons in Facebook Live in association with a traditional television broadcast.