‘Love Actually’ Director Richard Curtis Reflects On The Movie’s Infamous “Stalker Scene” Between Andrew Lincoln And Keira Knightley: “We Didn’t Think It Was A Stalker Scene”

Love Actually director Richard Curtis has some thoughts on the notorious “stalker scene” in his 2003 Christmastime rom-com.

In an interview with The Independent (per the New York Post), Curtis discussed the scene in question — in which Andrew Lincoln‘s Mark shows up at his best friend Peter’s (Chiwetel Ejiofor) home to confess his love to his wife Juliet (Keira Knightley), complete with handwritten cards and a boombox playing “Silent Night.”

“He actually turns up, to his best friend’s house, to say to his best friend’s wife, on the off chance that she answers the door, ‘I love you,'” he explained to the outlet, after which he shook his head. “I think it’s a bit weird.”

The director remembered being “taken by surprise about seven years ago,” when he first heard the controversy surrounding the scene during an interview.

“They said, ‘Of course, we’re mainly interested in the stalker scene,’ and I said, ‘What scene is that?’” he recalled. And then I was, like, educated in it.”

However, he highlighted that “a lot of intelligent people were involved in the film at the time,” and added, “we didn’t think it was a stalker scene.”

“But if it’s interesting or funny for different reasons [now] then, you know, God bless our progressive world,” he added.

In a 2014 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lincoln described his Love Actually character as a “weird stalker guy” while recalling his “big scene.”

“But I kept saying to Richard [Curtis], ‘Are you sure I’m not going to come off as a creepy stalker?'” he said.

The 2022 Hulu doc The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later featured Curtis expressing another regret about his film when he lamented its lack of diversity. He noted, “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“My film is bound in some moments to feel out of date,” he continued. “The lack of diversity makes me feel uncomfortable and a bit stupid.”

In the same doc, one of the film’s stars, Hugh Grant, deemed the script “a bit psychotic.” However, he acknowledged that when Curtis “writes about love, he means it.”

“And that is quite rare,” he shared.

If you’re interested in checking out the “stalker scene” for yourself, find out where to stream Love Actually this holiday season here.