Ensemble Exploration- Love Actually

Woohoo! New series! This won’t be a weekly series like my Mt. Rushmore one, more of just a sporadic drop here and now of me breaking down ensembles from a variety of films & saying where you may recognize the actors from. If you really wanted to know, you could probably just Google it… but whatever. We’re going to start with one of my favorite Christmas movies that truly gets better upon every rewatch & helps you remember that ‘Love Actually’ is all around us.

**Rowan Atkinson as Rufus-** The character that was originally intended to be a Christmas angel & still shows remnants of this design in his interactions with Alan Rickman & Thomas Sangster’s characters, Rowan Atkinson is a household name in the UK known for his titular roles in ‘Blackadder,’ ‘Johnny English,’ and of course, ‘Mr. Bean.’ He has appeared in other roles as well including ‘Never Say Never Again,’ ‘Scooby-Doo,’ ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral,’ ‘Wonka,’ & as the voice of Zazu in ‘The Lion King.’

**Elisha Cuthbert as Carol Anne-** Playing one of the ‘hot American women’ that Colin meets, the Canadian actress had a starring role in ‘24’ as Jack Bauer’s daughter & has appeared in films such as ‘Old School’ & ‘The Girl Next Door.’

**Chiwetel Ejiofor as Peter-** One of the characters who gets done the dirtiest in the film is Peter, whose best friend is secretly in love with his new wife. The actor behind Peter, Chiwetel Ejiofor made his film debut at age 19 in Steven Spielberg’s ‘Amistad.’ Since then has appeared onscreen in ‘Four Brothers,’ ‘Children of Men,’ ‘2012,’ ‘The Martian,’ ‘Doctor Strange’ and its sequel, and had voice roles as Dr. Watson in ‘Sherlock Gnomes’ & Scar in 2019’s ‘The Lion King.’ He also received an Oscar nomination for his lead role in ‘12 Years a Slave’

**Shannon Elizabeth as Harriet-** Another one of the American women met by Colin, Harriet is dubbed ‘The Sexy One’ by her friends and is played by real life sex symbol, Shannon Elizabeth. Elizabeth has starred in comedy movies, ‘American Pie,’ ‘Scary Movie,’ & ‘Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back’ and had a recurring role in ‘That 70s Show.’

**Colin Firth as Jamie-** Playing a man who was cheated on by his girlfriend with his brother and finds love while on holiday, is one of the heavy hitters of British cinema. Firth rose to widespread fame when he starred as Mr. Darcy in the BBC’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and appeared in ‘The English Patient’ & ‘Shakespeare in Love’ in the late 90s. He then starred as a modern day Mr. Darcy in the ‘Bridget Jones’ films, and one of three possible fathers in the ‘Mamma Mia!’ movies. He played an action role as a secret agent in ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ and its sequel, and became an Oscar winner for his role as King George VI in ‘The King’s Speech.’

**Gregor Fisher as Joe-** The manager of aged rock star, Billy Mack, Joe is under appreciated by his client, but they make up towards the end of the film. Joe is played by Gregor Fisher, a Scotsman, who also appeared in ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four,’ ‘The Merchant of Venice,’ & ‘Whiskey Galore!’ He also has played the titular character of ‘Rab C. Nesbitt’ intermittently since 1988, which is one of Scotland’s biggest sitcoms.

**Martin Freeman as John-** The first big film role for Martin Freeman came in this film as John, who works as a stand in for actors in “intimate” scenes. Though Freeman became an international star in 2012 when he took on the role of Bilbo Baggins in ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy (one of my all-time favorite performances), he was already a star in the UK. He played a lead role in the UK version of ‘The Office’ (he played the character Jim Halpert was based on) & played Watson in ‘Sherlock.’ His other films roles include supporting roles in ‘Shaun of the Dead,’ ‘Hot Fuzz,’ ‘The World’s End,’ & a recurring role in the MCU.

**Hugh Grant as David, the Prime Minister-** My wife & I literally just watched this and I asked her if she thought there was a main character. We agreed there wasn’t, but I said that if I had to pick one it would be David (he’s for sure the best character). I would say this is my favorite storyline due to the dialogus & chemistry between he & Natalie, but his occupation as the Prime Minister makes it even more interesting. One of the GOATs of the rom com scene, he has appeared in films like ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral,’ ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary,’ & ‘Notting Hill.’ He has recently started to break his typecast appearing in silly villainous roles in ‘Paddington 2’ & ‘Unfrosted,’ playing a horror villian role in ‘Heretic,’ & even playing an Oompa Loompa in ‘Wonka.’

**January Jones as Jeannie-** Another one of the American beauties Colin meets, Jeannie is played by January Jones who has had other film roles in ‘We Are Marshall’ & ‘X-Men: First Class,’ but is mostly known for her role as Betty Draper in ‘Mad Men.’

**Keira Knightley as Juliet-** This is bonkers to me. Knightley was only 18 when she appeared in ‘Love Actually.’ She had previously appeared in a small role in ‘Star Wars: Episode I- The Phantom Menace’ & starred in ‘Bend It Like Beckham.’ And just a few months before ‘Love Actually’ she starred as Elizabeth Swann in the first ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ which is a role she would reprise several times. She is also known for her roles in ‘Pride & Prejudice,’ ‘Atonement,’ ‘Anna Karenina,’ & ‘The Imitation Game,’ both the first & last of which earned her Oscar nominations.

**Andrew Lincoln as Mark-** Hands down the most iconic moment in this film is when Andrew Lincoln’s Mark showed up at the home of his best friend & showed his friend’s wife cue cards declaring his love for her. Which is honestly so weird. What would make Andrew Lincoln a true A-list star was his lead role as Rick Grimes in ‘The Walking Dead’ which was a cultural phenomenon.

**Laura Linney as Sarah-** Another one of the saddest storylines comes from Sarah, a woman who sacrifices relationships in her own life to be a caretaker for her special needs brother. Sarah is played by Laura Linney who is a 2x Golden Globe winner, 4x Emmy Winner, 5x Tony nominee, & 3x Oscar nominee. She has appeared in shows such as ‘Frasier’ & ‘Ozark,’ and films like ‘Kinsey,’ ‘Congo,’ ‘Primal Fear,’ ‘The Truman Show,’ & ‘Mystic River.’

**Heike Makatsch as Mia-** Serving as the mistress in the storyline between Harry & Karen, Mia is played by German actress, Heike Makatsch. Makatsch has also appeared in ‘Resident Evil,’ ‘The Book Thief,’ & ‘Where’s Wanda?’

**Kris Marshall as Colin Frissell-** Dubbing himself ‘Colin the Sex God,’ Colin is a down on his lucks British man who goes to America to pick up babes with his accent. Classic. Another film role Marshall is known for is ‘The Merchant of Venice,’ though he is mostly known for his TV roles on ‘My Family,’ ‘Citizen Khan,’ & ‘Death in Paradise.’

**Martine McCutcheon as Natalie-** The woman who woos the Prime Minister, Natalie is played by Martin McCutcheon who also starred in ‘EastEnders.’ McCutcheon is also known as a pop singer with her debut album peaking at number two in the UK.

**Lúcia Moniz as Aurélia-** A Portuguese woman who falls for an Englishman despite their language barrier, Aurélia is played by Lúcia Moniz. Moniz is better known as a singer, representing Portugal in Eurovision 1996, with five albums released. Almost all of her other acting credits are in Portuguese productions.

**Liam Neeson as Daniel-** The Northern Irish Neeson plays Daniel, a recently widowed man who must now be a single parent to his stepson. Neeson plays the character & his emotions very well. The actor has earned himself nomination for an Oscar, a BAFTA, Golden Globes, & Tonys. He rose to notoriety for his role in ‘Schindler’s List’ and has played bigger budget roles like Qui-Gon Jinn in ‘Star Wars,’ Ras al Ghul in ‘Batman Begins,’ & Aslan in ‘The Chronicles of Narnia.’ He also starred in the ‘Taken’ films, ‘Silence,’ ‘Wrath of the Titans,’ & ‘The Grey.’

**Bill Nighy as Billy Mack-** Nighy rose to stardom with his role in this film, which won him the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor. He also has starred in the ‘Underworld’ series, as Davy Jones in the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise, ‘Shaun of the Dead,’ ‘Hot Fuzz,’ ‘About Time,’ ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part One,’ & ‘Living,’ which earned him an Oscar nomination. Nighy has also done narration & voice work, providing his vocal talents in my favorite Christmas flick, ‘Arthur Christmas.’

**Olivia Olson as Joanna-** The American actress who played the apple of young Sam’s eye, Olivia Olson would go on to become a popular voice actress, with her most well known roles coming as Marceline the Vampire Queen in ‘Adventure Time’ & Vanessa Doofenshmirtz in ‘Phineas and Ferb.’ Vanessa serves as the love interest to Ferb, who we will get to in a bit…

**Joanna Page as Judy-** The other half of the couple who meets will serving as doubles in explicit scenes, ‘Just Judy’ is played by Joanna Page. The Welsh actress is known for her titular role in ‘Gavin & Stacey,’ playing Dora Spenlow in 1999’s ‘David Copperfield,’ and has joined the talk show ‘Loose Women’ as a regular panelist.

**Alan Rickman as Harry-** Of all the detestable character that Alan Rickman played, this may be his most loathsome. Though this storyline is incredibly sad, it’s very emotional and well executed, making you truly upset at Harry. Rickman’s other credits include the Sheriff of Nottingham in ‘Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves’ (for which he won a BAFTA), ‘Galaxy Quest,’ ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,’ ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ & his villainous role in another Christmas film, Hans Gruber in ‘Die Hard.’ Oh yes! He also played Severus Snape in ‘Harry Potter.’

**Denise Richards as Carla-** In what is really more a cameo role as the final hot American girl that we meet in the epilogue, Carla is played by actress & model, Denise Richards. Richards has also appeared in ‘Starship Troopers,’ ‘Wild Things,’ & ‘The World Is Not Enough’ as Bond girl, Christmas Jones. She also has made TV appearances in ‘Blue Mountain State,’ ‘Twisted,’ & ‘The Bold and the Beautiful.’

Thomas Sangster as Sam- Another fan favorite of this film is young Sam, played by Thomas Brodie-Sangster, credited as Thomas Sangster. Brodie-Sangster’s other major film roles comes in ‘Nanny McPhee’ & ‘The Maze Runner’ films. He has appeared in TV shows like, ‘Accused,’ ‘The Queen’s Gambit,’ ‘Game of Thrones,’ & voiced the character of Ferb on ‘Phineas and Ferb.’ As I mentioned earlier, his love interest in this film also voices Ferb’s eventual love interest. Also, just a tidbit of knowledge for you, there is only a five year age gap between he & costar Keira Knightley.