‘Love Actually’ Fans Shocked to Learn These Two Actors Are Just 5 Years Apart

Love Actually remains a holiday favorite, but fans keep discovering surprising details about the 2003 rom-com, especially regarding the age difference between its cast members.

A recent discussion online has reignited attention on the small gap between Keira Knightley and Thomas Brodie-Sangster.

On screen, Knightley and Brodie-Sangster feel worlds apart. Knightley played Juliet, a newlywed caught in a famous love triangle with her husband Peter (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his friend Mark (Andrew Lincoln).

Brodie-Sangster, meanwhile, portrayed Sam, a schoolboy trying to win over his first crush with guidance from his stepdad, Daniel (Liam Neeson). Viewers naturally assume Knightley is a full-grown adult and Brodie-Sangster a young child—but in reality, they were only five years apart. Knightley was 17 during filming, while Brodie-Sangster was around 12, according to discussions on Reddit. One user summed up the surprise, writing: “Hey what the f***?

Yearly reminder that there is only a 5-year age gap between Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Kiera Knightley in “Love Actually” (2003)
byu/Penguin-Monk inshittymoviedetails

The age difference also puts some other casting choices into perspective. Knightley’s on-screen husband Ejiofor was 26 at the time, and Lincoln, who played Mark, was 30.

The famous boombox scene, where Mark silently confesses his love to Juliet, has since been seen as slightly uncomfortable. Knightley, now 40, told the LA Times that she remembered the scene’s “slightly stalkerish aspect.” She explained: “My memory is of Richard [Curtis], who is now a very dear friend, of me doing the scene, and him going, ‘No, you’re looking at [Andrew] like he’s creepy,’ and I’m like [in a dramatic whisper], ‘But it is quite creepy.’ And then having to redo it to fix my face to make him seem not creepy.”

Knightley also reflected on her age at the time, adding: “Also, I knew I was 17. It only seems like a few years ago that everybody else realised I was 17.” Director Richard Curtis has since acknowledged that the casting didn’t seem unusual at the time but admitted it might be handled differently today.

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