Skip to Content

Love Actually: Where are the cast now?

The film was first released back in 2003

By
love actually fans have noticed a weird detail about the film
Universal

As Christmas fast approaches, there's one film that's pretty much guaranteed to be on our collective watchlists: Love Actually, of course.

With an all-star cast including the likes of Hugh Grant, Keira Knightly, Colin Firth, Emma Thompson and Liam Neeson side-by-side, Love Actually holds its own as a Christmas classic - originally airing back in 2003. Plus, some of the movie's younger cast members (remember Sam and Joanna?) have grown up to star in some of our favourite new films and TV shows too.

So, if you're rewatching Love Actually this winter, here's a run through of what the cast look like now, and what they've all been doing in the 18 years since the film was released.

1

Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister

love actually cast then and now
Universal

Hugh Grant's Prime Minister was an iconic part of Love Actually. We saw him getting together with Natalie, snogging at the school Christmas play and, of course, dancing around Downing Street.

2

Hugh Grant now

love actually cast now
Jeff Spicer//Getty Images

Since then, we've seen Hugh starring in, well, pretty much everything - from the second Bridget Jones film, The Edge of Reason, to the Paddington franchise and, most recently, TV drama The Undoing alongside Nicole Kidman.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
3

Keira Knightly as Juliet

the love actually cast now
Universal Pictures

Keira Knightly's character Juliet headed up one of Love Actually's most iconic scenes: receiving an awkward handwritten declaration of love from Mark, her new husband Peter's best friend. Plus, remember the cringe zoomed in wedding video?

4

Keira Knightly now

love actually cast now
Dave J Hogan//Getty Images

Keira has, of course, starred in a tonne of films since Love Actually - including Pride and Prejudice, the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Anna Karenina and, more recently, Colette, Official Secrets and The Imitation Game which saw her receive an Oscar nomination.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
5

Alan Rickman as Harry

love actually fans have a controversial theory about karen and harry
Universal

Alan Rickman played Harry, the (kind of) cheating husband to Emma Thompson's Karen. In the film, we see him frantically buying a secret necklace for his colleague Mia which, of course, leads to heartbreak for Karen.

6

Alan Rickman now

love actually cast now
Stephen Lovekin//Getty Images

Alan Rickman sadly passed away in 2016, with a huge number of successful films to his name post-Love Actually. We saw him as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter franchise, as well as later roles in Alice in Wonderland, Sweeney Todd and Eye in the Sky.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
7

Emma Thompson as Karen

love actually fans have a controversial theory about karen and harry
Love Actually

Emma Thompson gave us one of Love Actually's other most iconic scenes, once she realised the gold necklace Harry had bought wasn't for her and she instead received a Joni Mitchell CD. Cue lots of crying to Joni playing in the background, followed by Karen pulling herself together to take the kids to the Christmas play 😢.

8

Emma Thompson now

love actually cast now
Karwai Tang//Getty Images

Like the rest of the star-studded cast, Emma Thompson has since appeared in everything. We saw her as Professor Trelawney in Harry Potter, plus as the titular Nanny McPhee. More recently, she's starred as Mrs Potts in the Beauty and the Beast live-action remake, and she also received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in Late Night.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
9

Martine McCutcheon as Natalie

love actually cast now
Love Actually

We saw Martine McCutcheon's Natalie, the Prime Minister's secretary, ending up in a relationship with the PM - in a situation that would probably be viewed differently today. Of course, the big kiss reveal at the school play was pretty iconic - and the pair got their happy ending eventually.

10

Martine McCutcheon now

love actually cast now
Joe Maher//Getty Images

Martine is known for her long-running role as Tiffany Mitchell in EastEnders, and she most recently starred in film The Bromley Boys.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
11

Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Sam

the love actually cast now
Universal

We saw young Sam being raised by his stepdad Daniel (aka Liam Neeson) after the sad loss of his mother. Deciding to declare his love to classmate Joanna (Olivia Olson), he embarked on learning the drums to impress her and even chased her through the airport (not recommended).

12

Thomas Brodie-Sangster now

love actually cast now
Dave J Hogan//Getty Images

Thomas has grown up quite a lot in the 18 years since Love Actually was first released (obviously) - and we've since seen him take on some high-profile roles. He starred as Paul McCartney in the John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy, as well as the Maze Runner franchise and (most recently) he appeared as Benny in The Queen's Gambit.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
13

Colin Firth as Jamie

love actually cast then and now
Universal

After finding his girlfriend in bed with his brother (ouch), Jamie decides to escape to France to focus on writing his novel. There, he meets Portuguese-speaking Aurélia, with whom he falls in love before very publicly proposing.

14

Colin Firth now

love actually cast now
David M. Benett//Getty Images

Colin Firth has racked up his fair share of awards since starring in Love Actually, winning an Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA and SAG award for The King's Speech. He also returned as Mark Darcy in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason alongside Hugh Grant, plus the Bridget Jones's Baby follow-up. We've also seen him in the Kingsman franchise, as well as films like 1917 and Supernova.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
15

Liam Neeson as Daniel

the love actually cast now
Nicole Kell, Riverside Walkway//Getty Images

Grieving widower Daniel is seen taking care of his stepson Sam, giving him much-needed lessons on love, before a fellow parent catches his eye.

16

Liam Neeson now

love actually cast now
Bravo//Getty Images

Liam Neeson is probably best known for his role in the Taken series, and we've also heard him voice Aslan in the The Chronicles of Narnia films too.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
17

Olivia Olson as Joanna

the love actually cast now
Universal Pictures

Joanna was young Sam's love interest at school. We saw her singing in the Christmas play (with Sam jealously playing the drums in the background), before Sam then chased her through the airport to open up about his feelings.

18

Olivia Olson now

love actually cast now
Karwai Tang//Getty Images

Olivia has since voiced numerous video game characters, as well as voicing Marceline in the Adventure Time TV series and Bliss in The Powerpuff Girls. She also recently appeared on X Factor Celebrity in 2019, proving that her voice is still as great as ever.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
19

Martin Freeman as John

love actually cast now
Universal

A professional stand-in for adult movies, John meets Judy (Joanna Page) on set during some painfully awkward sex scenes. While the pair bond slowly off-camera, they eventually go out together in the real world and the whole thing is pretty sweet.

20

Martin Freeman now

love actually cast now
Dave J Hogan//Getty Images

Martin Freeman was famously starring as Tim in The Office around the time Love Actually came out. Since then, he's landed bigger movie and TV roles, including playing Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit, Dr. Watson in Sherlock and (our favourite) teacher Paul in Nativity.

Watch Next 
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below