Now, with the inevitable summer TV recycling upon us, script editor Emma Freud has finally set the record straight – yes, Karen, played by Emma Thompson, and husband Harry (Alan Rickman) do stay together after she discovers he’s having an affair with his secretary Mia (Heike Makatsch).
The penny drops for Karen after she gets a Joni Mitchell CD for Christmas instead of the gold necklace she accidentally finds in Harry’s jacket pocket.
But after a confrontation and much Joni-infused soul-searching, the movie’s ending throws us for six.
“Good to have you back,” Karen tells Harry with a half-hearted smile at the airport.
Cue more than a decade of debate and confusion for a legion of fans…until now!
“They stay together but home isn’t as happy as it once was,” tweets script editor Emma Freud in response to a fan’s question.
Emma, the great-granddaughter of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and partner of the film’s writer/director, New Zealand-born Richard Curtis, also confirmed that it was a full-on affair.
“I begged Richard just to make it a flirtation, but no. The whole way.”
Emma and Richard were at a midnight screening of Love Actually in New York as she went on a tweeting spree, unwrapping gem after film gem, including a few of our favourites below:
“Remember the housekeeper in the ‘Hugh Grant arriving at Downing Street line-up?’ That was my mum. And still is.”
“He [Rowan Atkinson] was meant to be an angel but we cut that bit in the edit. Thank goodness.”
“Originally Rowan’s character over-wrapped the gift on purpose to stop Alan Rickman being able to buy the necklace. Because he was an angel.”
“Joni Mitchell. Help. Still hurts. Sat on the floor watching her do that scene — seven takes. Crying every time. Goddess.”ay.”
“Richard (Curtis) only called Colin Firth’s character ‘Jamie’ so the kids could say, ‘I hate uncle Jamie’. His brother is called Jamie.”
“When the children sing at the school concert. My daughter is the second lobster! The. Second. Lobster. My. Daughter.”
“I ‘designed’ the kiss between Colin Firth and the Portuguese girl. My signature move? His thumb on her lip before they snog.”
“In the original edit, Sam did amazing parkour all through the airport when he ran to find his girlfriend.”
For the films The Carousel is tipping to set the box office alight this summer, click here.
