It’s been 23 years since the release of Love Actually. I loved the film when it came out, and I enjoy a holiday rewatch some years. These days, I’m not really Love Actually’s biggest cheerleader, nor do I think it’s trash. It’s uneven and not all of the little vignettes work, but the ones that work are pretty great. One of the most “iconic” scenes involves Keira Knightley’s Juliet standing in her doorway – with her husband Chiwetel Ejiofor in the next room – as Andrew Lincoln holds up signs to confess his love for her. This scene has been spoofed ever since. At the time, it sort of established Keira as one of the It Girls and British beauties of the day. Well, guess who doesn’t want to talk about Love Actually? Guess who wants everyone to remember that she was only 17 years old when filming those scenes?
You actually shouldn’t quote Love Actually to Keira Knightley. Despite starring in the beloved rom-com, the actress says she essentially remembers nothing about the film, and so the constant references made by fans go right over her head.
“I have not watched Love Actually since the premiere, which was when I was 18,” she told Heart. “So, I think I’m the person that knows it the least of anybody. I know that people have a particular look on their face and then they say things to me and I know that means they’re quoting Love Actually but I don’t really know what it is. It means nothing to me.”
Knightley points out that she was only working on Love Actually for a week when she was 17 years old. But her brief time on the movie did include one of the most unforgettable and meme’d scenes in big screen history.
Written and directed by Richard Curtis, the 2003 rom-com includes a number of separate love stories, including a complicated triangle featuring Knightley’s Juliet, who is recently married to Peter (Chiwetel Ejiofor). And yet, she soon learns that Peter’s best friend Mark (Andrew Lincoln) has feelings for her, which he proclaims through a series of cue cards, all while Peter is nearby. Juliet responds by giving Mark a quick kiss, before heading back to her husband.
“My big scene with the cards in the doorway felt so easy,” Lincoln previously told Entertainment Weekly. “I just had to hold cards and be in love with Keira Knightley. It’s why cinema is so pure. It’s like a silent film. That was why I totally got it, even on the script level. But I kept saying to Richard, ‘Are you sure I’m not going to come off as a creepy stalker?’”
Curtis added, “Retrospectively, I’m aware that Andrew’s role was on the edge. But I think because Andrew was so openhearted and guileless, we knew we’d get away with it.”
For her part, Knightley has called the scene “quite creepy,” at least as far as she remembers.
LOL, Keira calling the scene “quite creepy” (which she’s done before) – I think Richard Curtis is correct, it’s on the edge of being creepy and it’s all about how the two actors play the scene. Keira never looks freaked out, and Lincoln plays it like he’s just sort of a sad-sack but not a threat. The message being conveyed on the posters is important context too – he’s not saying “run away with me, leave your husband.” He’s just like… yeah, I have these feelings and I’m sorry. All that being said, Keira has every right to feel how she feels about this movie and these scenes. The fact that she filmed this when she was 17 does add a really creepy dimension too.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images. Screencap courtesy of Universal Pictures’ clip.
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- Chanel photocall during Paris Fashion Week – Haute Couture Fall Winter 2025/2026 Featuring: Keira Knightley Where: Paris, France When: 08 Jul 2025 Credit: Jerome Domine/Abaca Press/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Keira Knightley promotes ‘Boston Strangler on ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’ Featuring: Keira Knightley Where: New York, New York, United States When: 15 Mar 2023 Credit: Roger Wong/INSTARimages
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- Special screening of ‘The Women In Cabin 10’ at Bafta Featuring: Keira Knightley Where: London, United Kingdom When: 25 Sep 2025 Credit: Jordan Pettitt/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Special screening of ‘The Women In Cabin 10’ at Bafta Featuring: Keira Knightley Where: London, United Kingdom When: 25 Sep 2025 Credit: Jordan Pettitt/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
The movie really doesn’t stand up today but I will always have a soft spot for it. All my favourite actors are in it so I do give it a pass I probably wouldn’t otherwise.
I used to struggle a bit with Keira Knightley but over the years she’s grown on me and the Netflix spy series Black Doves has turned me into a fan. I highly recommend it for pure escapism.
Confessing his love at her door when he knows full well that her husband is inside is effed up enough, but it’s really that he is a total a-hole to her because he can’t have her that bothers me the most. Ugh TOXIC.
The fat-shaming of Natalie is what put me off “Love Actually.” I couldn’t bear it.
And it wasn’t just Natalie who was the target of terrible fat jokes — it was also Aurelia’s sister and Billy Mack’s manager.
It was all just pathetic.
She was too young for the part…. I can’t watch her scenes in the movie now because it is sickening that a child was cast as a bride and object of obsession in a frothy holiday movie. Wtf was Richard Curtis/the studio/everyone involved in the project thinking casting a 17 year old in that romantic part? Kiera, like Jennifer Lawrence a decade or so later, is a wonderful actress, but was cast in roles that were not age appropriate consistently as a young woman/teen while participating in a massive frachise where she was playing an age appropriate character. Hollywood is so @#$%ing weird.
I always find it weird when people expect actors to watch their old movies the way fans do. Why would they? It’s a whole different thing for them — it’s not about the story, it’s about their work.
The whole point was he was never gonna get the girl and he knew it. When he told Peter that ( at the alter by the way and that was out of line), Peter was never worried. I think that is why their storyline worked.
Juliet being young and a bit naive also worked, especially the scene when she went to Mark’s place to review the video footage. I’m glad that it finally clicked for her because she would have been trying and trying to get into his orbit to be friends.
Just on a side note, I will go to my grave hating Harry for what he did to Karen. Her brother had MI-6 on speed dial, Sir.