The Love Actually Sequel Airs Tomorrow in the US (With a Different Ending)

Written by

Tara BellucciNews and Culture Director
Tara BellucciNews and Culture Director
Tara is Apartment Therapy's News & Culture Director. When not scrolling through Instagram double-tapping pet pics and astrology memes, you'll find her thrift shopping around Boston, kayaking on the Charles, and trying not to buy more plants.
published Mar 16, 2017
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5/24 Update: American Love Actually fans, your time has come. The sequel to the popular rom com will air tomorrow, May 25 on NBC—with a surprise twist.

The ten minute sequel, produced for Red Nose Day, aired on March 24 in the UK, but the American version will have a twist—Laura Linney’s character Sarah, a graphic designer with a mentally ill brother, makes an appearance.

“I’d done something for the last Red Nose Day,” the actress told EW. “So I’d kept in touch with [Love Actually director] Richard Curtis. And then he sent me an e-mail, explaining this short film reunion. I said yes, obviously. How could I say no?”

To find out what happens to Sarah and the rest of the cast, tune into the Red Nose Day special on NBC starting at 8/7c.

Original post:

The BBC has released the first trailer for the upcoming sequel—and in it, Andrew Lincoln picks up his famous cards once more.

These days, Andrew Lincoln spends his time fighting off zombies on The Walking Dead, but he’s returned to play Mark, the guy who’s in love with his best friend’s wife (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor and Kiera Knightley).

Last month, BBC and Comic Relief announced that the majority of the original cast would revive their beloved characters to make a ten-minute short sequel in honor of Red Nose Day. Started in 1988, Red Nose Day is a day where comics and other entertainers come together to raise money to help end child poverty. The sequel will air on BBC One on March 24 (which—you guessed it—is Red Nose Day) in the UK.

It’s been 14 years since the original film, and we’ll get to see what’s become of the characters played by Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Lincoln, Ejiofor, and Knightley. Other returning cast members include Lucia Moniz (Aurelia), Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Sam), Olivia Olson (Joanna), Bill Nighy (Billy), Marcus Brigstocke (Mikey), and Rowan Atkinson (Rufus).

Written by the movie’s original writer and director, Richard Curtis, there will be one storyline notably missing from the sequel. “Richard wrote to me and said, ‘Darling we can’t write anything for you because of Alan [Rickman],'” says Emma Thompson, “and I said, ‘No of course, it would be sad, too sad’.” Rickman, who passed away in January 2016, played Thompson’s on-screen husband.

Thompson does hypothesize what their characters would be up to, all this time later. “Both of them would be in therapy by now and I would be working on some kind of ward. It was absolutely the right decision [to leave the storyline out].”

Check out the teaser below: