Richard Curtis: 'We thought Love Actually was a disaster while we were trying to edit it'

Radio Times spoke to screenwriting maestro Richard Curtis about all things festive.

Love Actually, Bridget Jones and now That Christmas – why is Christmas key to so many of your films?

When you work on sitcoms, there’s a tradition of Christmas specials. When Rowan Atkinson and I used to write sketches, there were lots of headmasters and politicians and priests, people in a formal situation that could go wrong. Christmas is, in some ways, the time that’s most up for grabs for things going wrong. And it’s a really good deadline. I only thought of setting Love Actually at Christmas halfway through the writing process. I was thinking, “How can I squeeze all these stories to end at the same time?”

Where will you be at Christmas?

I’m lucky in that, where we live in Suffolk, we have a communal Christmas. My childhood was itinerant. We lived in New Zealand, the Philippines, Sweden, then two places in England. Now we’ve had the past 20 Christmases in the same village and a group of about 30 of us all share lunch in a barn.

Just like the families in That Christmas?

I don’t have much of an imagination. My first film, The Tall Guy, was originally called Camden Town Boy because I lived in Camden Town. And when I later wrote another film about London, it was called Notting Hill... because I lived in Notting Hill.

In That Christmas the kids complain about the boring Christmas film that’s on TV, which turns out to be... Love Actually!

I didn’t know that was going to happen! I assumed they’d take a clip from some stiff American movie of the 1940s or 50s like Miracle on 34th Street. So, I turn up on the day and it’s the kids watching, as they say, the “boring Christmas movie”, and they’d stuck in Love Actually. Fortunately, I thought it was pretty amusing, and I had to accept that probably the “boring Christmas movie” most children don’t want to watch now is Love Actually; so it has the justification of truth. Not many families now would watch a 1950s American movie, but probably quite a lot do watch Love Actually, and quite a lot of them would rather be watching Gremlins.

Including Hugh Grant?

I wish him nothing but joy and happiness.

Are you pleased that so many people make Love Actually part of their festive celebrations?

I just consider that so lucky. We thought Love Actually was a disaster for months while we were trying to edit it. So, I always look back on it and think, “I can’t believe we got away with it!”

Do you often feel that way about your work?

I remember watching Notting Hill and thinking, “Oh, it’s exactly the same as Four Weddings!” I’d been working on it for two years and I didn’t realise, but it was a bunch of friends, there was an American girl, and it ended happily.

What will your family be watching when you’re holed up in Suffolk?

I have three Christmas movies that I really love. A Charlie Brown Christmas is just lots of little kids and simple animation. The voices are mysterious and American, and it’s such a beautiful movie. I was fond of White Christmas when I was young because my dad was a huge Bing Crosby fan, and it has those beautiful old Irving Berlin songs. And I’m very fond of Elf. The fact that Will Ferrell didn’t win an Oscar is just insane.

Do you still believe in the magic of Christmas?

There are lots of mysteries about Christmas. Brussels sprouts are back in fashion, but they spoil Christmas lunch. And why only have turkey? For most people it’s the one time of year they go to church, or when 15 people try to go out for a family walk. Christmas could do with a reboot.

The Christmas double issue of Radio Times is out now – order your copy here.

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