History Trivia / LoveActually

* ActorAllusion:
** Creator/AlanRickman [[Film/DieHard standing in an office, talking about a man named Karl, and saying "It's Christmas."]]
** Harry manages a graphic design business. Creator/AlanRickman ran one before becoming an actor.
** Many people mock Natalie for being chubby when she clearly isn't. This appears to be a TakeThat to a time when the media was obsessed with Martine [=McCutcheon=]'s weight.
** Creator/HughGrant references ''Franchise/HarryPotter''. He was originally cast as Gilderoy Lockhart in the second film but had to back out. This film also stars a few Potter cast members: Alan Rickman (Severus Snape), Creator/EmmaThompson (Sybil Trelawney) and retroactively Creator/BillNighy (Rufus Scrimgeour) and Frances de la Tour (Madam Maxime) in a deleted scene. What's more is that Creator/MichaelGambon (the second Dumbledore) was one of the choices for the role.
** When Sarah leaves Harry's office following their conversation about Karl, two clocks can be seen on the wall set for New York and Brazil. Laura Linney (Sarah) is from New York and Rodrigo Santoro (Karl) is from Brazil.
* [[AuthorExistenceFailure Actor Existence Failure]]: The Red Nose Day sequel was made a year after Alan Rickman's death. This also caused Emma Thompson to decline to participate, not wanting to do it without him.

* CastingGag: At his wife's funeral, Daniel jokes that his wife said to bring Claudia Schiffer as his date. At the end of the film, Daniel makes a love connection with a mother at Sam's school...played by Claudia Schiffer.

** Creator/AndrewLincoln has turned hard on Mark, outright calling him a stalker.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The film is easy to date to the early 2000s because of one of the plots. Billy Mack's entire storyline is based around releasing a track and getting to the top of the Christmas Top 40 music charts (a very big deal in the British music business). The problem is that the next year, ''Series/TheXFactor'' started and between 2005 and 2008[[note]]and again in 2010 and 2013[[/note]], the winners of that show has always gotten the UK Number One. Also, it's from when Creator/AntAndDec were still working on children's television. Billy Mack's rival for Christmas Number One is BoyBand Blue who took a hiatus not long after this film. The American president is also a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed composite of Bill Clinton and George W Bush.

* PlayingGertrude:
** We hope that Keira Knightley's character is meant to be older than she was at the time - barely ''eighteen'' when the movie was filmed.
** Minor example. David is Karen's older brother. Emma Thompson is a year older than Hugh Grant.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The film is easy to date to the early 2000s because of one of the plots. Billy Mack's entire storyline is based around releasing a track and getting to the top of the Christmas Top 40 music charts (a very big deal in the British music business). The problem is that the next year, ''Series/TheXFactor'' started and between 2005 and 2008[[note]]and again in 2010 and 2013[[/note]], the winners of that show has always gotten the UK Number One. Also, it's from when Creator/AntAndDec were still working on children's television.

* AbilityOverAppearance: In a sense. Sarah was written to be British like the rest of the cast. They looked at hundreds of potential actresses but Richard Curtis kept saying "I want someone like Laura Linney". Eventually the casting director snapped and said "For [[PrecisionFStrike fuck's sake]], get Laura Linney then" - and she got the part immediately. The character was then rewritten to be an American that moved to Britain.

** Andrew Lincoln has turned hard on Mark, outright calling him a stalker.
* TheDanza: Bill Nighy playing Billy Mack.

* CreatorBacklash: Richard Curtis has said in a 2014 [[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/06/richard-curtis-love-actually-a-catastrophe-film-hugh-grant interview]] that the editing process of the film was a "catastrophe" and that it was ChristmasRushed.

* AllStarCast: Creator/LiamNeeson, Creator/AlanRickman, Creator/ColinFirth, Creator/HughGrant, Creator/EmmaThompson, Creator/RowanAtkinson and many more less internationally famous but who are very well known in Britain. Probably even more star-studded today with the elevation of Creator/KeiraKnightley, Creator/MartinFreeman and Creator/AndrewLincoln up the star charts. At the time the movie came out, Kris Marshall and Martin Freeman were both surprise breakout actors from BBC sitcoms, one would be practically forgotten about but one would star in some of the biggest film series in history.
** Also Creator/ChiwetelEjiofor. That entire storyline full of then-unknowns has done well.

* CreatorCameo: Director Richard Curtis appears in the concert scene playing the trombone.

* FreezeFrameBonus: When Juliet visits Mark's flat, a video copy of ''Film/RearWindow'' can be seen. Very interesting, considering what he's been doing...
* MythologyGag: The awkward scene at the wedding reception between Colin as a waiter and the attractive woman who turns out to be the caterer whose food he is criticising to make smalltalk with her was written for ''Film/FourWeddingsAndAFuneral''. It ended up being drafted out of the final film, but was used as one of the Charles audition scenes. It appears in its original form in the appendix at the back of the published screenplay. Curtis reveals in the commentary that he forgot to change one speaker identifier in the script, so the line is still attributed to "Charles."

** Alan Rickman [[DieHard standing in an office, talking about a man named Karl, and saying "It's Christmas."]]

** Hugh Grant references ''Franchise/HarryPotter''. He was originally cast as Gilderoy Lockhart in the second film but had to back out. This film also stars a few Potter cast members: Alan Rickman (Severus Snape), Emma Thompson (Sybil Trelawney) and retroactively Bill Nighy (Rufus Scrimgeour) and Frances de la Tour (Madam Maxime) in a deleted scene. What's more is that Michael Gambon (the second Dumbledore) was one of the choices for the role.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Rowan Atkinson's character was originally going to appear in every single story (rather than just being a OneSceneWonder) with the strong implication that he was an angel. This is hinted in the airport scene where Atkinson's character gives Daniel a knowing glance after he "accidentally" allows Sam to get through airport security, and how he just sort of shows up at the counter in the jewelry store after the previous attendant walks off with a customer. Sort of the Christmassy equivalent to Sam from ''Film/TrickRTreat''.
** Simon Pegg also auditioned for that part.

* AllStarCast: Creator/LiamNeeson, Creator/AlanRickman, Creator/ColinFirth, Creator/HughGrant, Creator/EmmaThompson, Creator/RowanAtkinson and many more less internationally famous but who are very well known in Britain. Probably even more star-studded today with the elevation of Creator/KeiraKnightley, Creator/MartinFreeman and Creator/AndrewLincoln up the star charts. At the time the movie came out, Kris Marshall and Martin Freeman were both surprise breakout actors from BBC sitcoms, one would be practically forgotten about but one would star in the biggest film series in history.

* HeyItsThatGuy: If someone wasn't a star already, they are this trope.
** [[Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy Arthur Dent]] / [[Series/{{Sherlock}} John Watson]] / [[Film/TheHobbit Bilbo Baggins]] was a porn body double.
** Colin manages to find [[Series/MadMen Betty Draper]], [[Series/TwentyFour Kim Bauer]], and [[Film/CasinoRoyale2006 Valenka]] all hanging out together in a bar in Wisconsin.
*** He gets to that bar in a taxi driven by Ivan from Film/TheMachinist.
*** And he brings [[AmericanPie Nadia]] and [[Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough Christmas Jones]] back to the UK.
** [[GavinAndStacey Stacey]], back when she was known as "Just Judy". [[GavinAndStacey Dawn]] used to cater weddings.
** Jamie's girlfriend at the start of the movie is [[Film/ResidentEvilApocalypse Jill Valentine]] in the 2nd and 4th Film/ResidentEvil movies.
** [[Creator/KeiraKnightley Elizabeth Swann]] is marrying [[Film/{{Serenity}} The Operative]]. (Chiwetel Ejiofor has had an increased exposure to U.S. audiences thanks to this role.)
** Mark moved to Atlanta to deal with Series/TheWalkingDead.
** Sarah is in love with [[Film/ThreeHundred Xerxes]] aka [[Series/{{Lost}} Paulo]] aka [[{{Film/Che}} Raul Castro]]
** [[Film/ThePhantomMenace Qui Gon-Jin]] is the stepfather of [[Series/GameOfThrones Jojen Reed]] / [[WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb Ferb Fletcher.]]
** [[Film/HarryPotter Professor Snape]] and [[Film/HarryPotter Professor Trelawney]] are married now?
** Joanna is [[WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb Vanessa]] and [[WesternAnimation/AdventureTime Marceline]].
** [[Film/SenseAndSensibility Elinor Dashwood and Edward Ferrars are brother and sister, while Elinor is married to Colonel Brandon]].
** Film/JohnnyEnglish/[[Disney/TheLionKing Zazu]]/Series/MrBean works at the jewelry store.

* ActorAllusion: Alan Rickman [[DieHard standing in an office, talking about a man named Karl, and saying "It's Christmas."]]

* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/AlanRickman especially.

** And what about Olivia Olsen more recently becoming a major star as [[AdventureTime a certain Vampire Queen]]?

** Colin manages to find [[MadMen Betty Draper]], [[Series/TwentyFour Kim Bauer]], and [[Film/CasinoRoyale Valenka]] all hanging out together in a bar in Wisconsin.

** Jamie's girlfriend at the start of the movie is [[Film/ResidentEvil Jill Valentine]] in the 2nd and 4th Film/ResidentEvil movies.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Rowan Atkinson's character was originally going to appear in every single story (rather than just being a CardinalWolsey) with the strong implication that he was an angel. This is hinted in the airport scene where Atkinson's character gives Daniel a knowing glance after he "accidentally" allows Sam to get through airport security, and how he just sort of shows up at the counter in the jewelry store after the previous attendant walks off with a customer. Sort of the Christmassy equivalent to Sam from ''Film/TrickRTreat''.

* AllStarCast: Creator/LiamNeeson, Creator/AlanRickman, Creator/ColinFirth, Creator/HughGrant, Creator/EmmaThompson, Creator/RowanAtkinson and many more less internationally famous but who are very well known in Britain. Probably even more star-studded today with the elevation of KeiraKnightley, MartinFreeman and Andrew Lincoln up the star charts. At the time the movie came out, Kris Marshall and Martin Freeman were both surprise breakout actors from BBC sitcoms, one would be practically forgotten about but one would star in the biggest film series in history.

** [[KeiraKnightley Elizabeth Swann]] is marrying [[Film/{{Serenity}} The Operative]]. (Chiwetel Ejiofor has had an increased exposure to U.S. audiences thanks to this role.)

*** He gets to that bar in a taxi driven by Ivan from TheMachinist.

** [[KeiraKnightley Elizabeth Swann]] is marrying [[Film/{{Serenity}} The Operative]].
*** Chiwetel Ejiofor has had an increased exposure to U.S. audiences thanks to this role. This troper's own mother refers to him as "that black British guy from 'Love Actually' whose name I can't pronounce."
*** So has Bill Nighy (Billy Mack).

** Don't forget [[Film/ThePhantomMenace Qui Gon-Jin]] and his step-son [[Series/GameOfThrones Jojen Reed]] / [[WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb Ferb Fletcher ]]

* MythologyGag: The awkward scene at the wedding reception between Colin as a waiter and the attractive woman who turns out to be the caterer whose food he is criticising to make smalltalk with her was written for ''FourWeddingsAndAFuneral''. It ended up being drafted out of the final film, but was used as one of the Charles audition scenes. It appears in its original form in the appendix at the back of the published screenplay.
** And Curtis reveals in the commentary that he forgot to change one speaker identifier in the script, so the line is still attributed to "Charles."

** JohnnyEnglish[=/=][[Disney/TheLionKing Zazu]][=/=]MrBean works at the jewelry store.

** Mark moved to Atlanta to deal with TheWalkingDead.

** Sarah is in love with [[ThreeHundred Xerxes]] aka [[{{Lost}} Paulo]] aka [[{{Film/Che}} Raul Castro]]
** Don't forget [[ThePhantomMenace Qui Gon-Jin]] and his step-son [[Series/GameOfThrones Jojen Reed]] / [[PhineasAndFerb Ferb Fletcher ]]

** JohnnyEnglish/[[TheLionKing Zazu]]/MrBean works at the jewelry store.
* MythologyGag: The awkward scene at the wedding reception between Colin as a waiter and the attractive woman who turns out to be the caterer whose food he is criticising to make smalltalk with her was written for ''FourWeddingsAndAFuneral''. It ended up being drafted out of the final film, but was used as one of the Charles audition scenes. It appears in its original form in the appendix at the back of the published screenplay.