Emma Thompson on Alan Rickman and the “Love Actually” Sequel

by · February 24, 2017

We were ecstatic when we learned that some of the characters from one of our favorite festive films, Love Actually, would be returning to the small screen for a charity special. The writer behind Love Actually, Richard Curtis, revealed earlier this month that he would be reuniting many of the stars from the cast for a Comic Relief ten-minute special.

But one question hung over the reunion: What about the characters of Emma Thompson and the late Alan Rickman? How would they deal with the passing of Rickman? At the end of the film, we were left with questions about the characters – ones that we have been wondering about ever since the credits rolled – and we hoped that they might be answered in this short reunion.

But it seems that Thompson will not be joining her fellow castmates after all.

She spoke about the decision not to return to the character.

Richard [Curtis, the writer] wrote to me and said, ‘darling we can’t write anything for you because of Alan,’ and I said, ‘no, of course, it would be sad, too sad’.

It’s too soon. It’s absolutely right because it’s supposed to be for Comic Relief, but there isn’t much comic relief in the loss of our dear friend, really only just over a year ago.

We thought and thought, but it just seemed wrong, but to revisit the wonderful fun characters of Bill Nighy and Hugh Grant and Liam [Neeson] and all of that, that’s fantastic, but obviously, what would he [Richard Curtis] have done?

Thompson also spoke briefly about where she thought her character and husband might be now.

Both of them would be in therapy by now, and I would be working on some kind of ward.

The Comic Relief Love Actually special will feature most of the original cast, including Potter star Bill Nighy, and will air on March 24 on BBC1, as part of Comic Relief. Filming is currently underway, and you can find out more about the reunion here.

Despite Thompson not returning to film, are you looking forward to seeing where the Love Actually characters are now?