Love Actually director reflects on fat-shaming jokes, lack of diversity
"I think I was unobservant and not as, you know, as clever as I should have been.”
Love Actually director Richard Curtis has spoken about the lack of diversity and slew of fat-shaming jokes in his hit 2003 film.
Speaking at The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival, the director was interviewed by activist, writer and daughter Scarlett Curtis, who quizzed him about criticism he's received over the film's lack of diversity and how it treated women and people of colour.
He said (via Today): "I think because I came from a very un-diverse school and a bunch of university friends.
"(With) Notting Hill, I think that I hung on to the diversity issue, to the feeling that I wouldn’t know how to write those parts. And I think I was just sort of stupid and wrong about that."
Speaking about the 1999 movie, which starred Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts in a main cast that was entirely made up of white actors while based in a London neighbourhood that is steeped in Black history, Curtis said: "I feel as though me, my casting director, my producers just didn’t think about it. Just didn’t look outwards enough."
Curtis also spoke about his portrayal of women in early '00s films like Bridget Jones and Love Actually, where the protagonists were subject to cruel jokes made about their appearance.
For instance, in Love Actually, Martine McCutcheon’s Natalie was referred to as "plumpy" and having "massive … tree trunk thighs".
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He said: "I remember how shocked I was like five years ago when Scarlett said to me, 'You can never use the word fat again.' And wow, you were right.
"I think I was behind, you know, behind the curve, and those jokes aren’t any longer funny, so I don’t feel I was malicious at the time, but I think I was unobservant and not as, you know, as clever as I should have been."
Read more:
- How swapping DiCaprio's Killers of the Flower Moon role changed film
- Fair Play asks "if capitalism is compatible with love", says director
While the winter months creep up ever closer, fans will, of course, be tuning into Love Actually once again - but this year, they can also enjoy the musical delights the film has to offer with a new live orchestra tour.
The show will be travelling across the UK, with shows in Edinburgh, Cardiff, London, Poole and more, this November and December.
The tour comes after the resounding success of the film, and will feature a full orchestra performing Craig Armstrong’s score live to picture.
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Authors
Morgan Cormack is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering everything drama-related on TV and streaming. She previously worked at Stylist as an Entertainment Writer. Alongside her past work in content marketing and as a freelancer, she possesses a BA in English Literature.
