Love Actually (2003)

Hello, I'm Richard Curtis, I wrote and directed the film. I'm sitting here in a room in Soho with Bill Nighy... Hello. -... Thomas Sangster, and they have not seen the film before. That's the bizarre thing. This is going to be the first time they've seen it, DVDs are done so early. And Hugh Grant is late and stuck in traffic. - What's new? But we'll just chat our way through and slurp tea. In fact, Colin, my tea is cold now.

If we could fix that, that'd be great. So that was the... What do you think of the Studio Canal? -/ think it's beautiful. - lt's got weird tweeting noises. It's pretty good so far. What do you think, Tom? -/ like it, yeah. - Good stuff. So here we go. - Oh, no. So these... This is my favorite bit of the film, in fact. This footage was shot by a hidden camera which was in Heathrow Airport for a whole week. And every time they saw something they really liked, then a runner would charge off and ask the people to sign a bit of paper, whether or not they were happy that it should be shown in the film. I still think it'll be quite a surprise to the people who go to the cinema and see themselves. But this was my inspiration for the film because

I got stuck in an airport in LA for an hour and a half waiting for a package and I just saw these people all hugging and kissing, and you realize that behind normal people in the park and in the street, there's all these stories of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around.

Bill, what do you think of this guy? Oh, God. Help. Oh, my God almighty. I look like my dad with long hair. Oh, my God, talk about a sad, old...

Good old Gregor. - Yeah. It's just, I know the old version so well, you know.

Right, okay, let's go. Who do you think the costume is tougher on? Which one, mine or... Yours or Gregor's? -/ see. Yours makes you look as though you don't exist and Gregor's looks as though he's a wrestler. Yeah. Love is all... Fuck, wank, bugger, shitting ass head and hole. I'm sorry about that. You're a Shakespearean actor, basically. Yeah, I know. I never... I know. Shakespeare would have written those words if they'd existed in his day. So this is singing... Love Is All Around was... Everyone in England knows, but it was number one here for 15 weeks after the release of Four Weddings and a Funeral. Bloody hell. And I couldn't think of a funnier way to start the film than actually making them listen to the same song again. Very good. Now, that's kind of good. Take a look, Tom. This must be excruciating for you, isn't it, watching middle-aged men doing hip-grinding.

We never decided... Here we go. Stop, Hugh's turned up. Okay, this is the first time they've seen the film. Don't be ridiculous. - No, it's true. I'm just recovering from the sight of myself in that dodgy shirt. Yes, you do, you look terrible. - Yeah, I know. See what I mean. When Hugh first got the film, you were quite cross about Bill's part, weren't you? I'm still quite cross about it. I still think it could be trimmed, to be absolutely honest. You felt that you would take some of the attention. This was a controversial piece of casting. What do you think about this guy, Hugh? Very bad. - Oh, yeah. No, no, no. No, he has been good. - Who is he? He just looks a little long in the fang. I love you. - I Know. SO... - Who's that girl? That's not part of... No, that's Sienna Guillory, who's... -/ think we're watching the wrong film. She's so beautiful it hurts. We in fact shot this scene later. We thought we wanted to know a little bit more about Colin. Oh, good God. Bloody hell. - That was a tough shock. I've never seen this scene. Let's see that... Can we wind back? Right, so... - So what's the idea, that she dumps him? Yeah. That's the girl who, with the brother, dumps... So here we have Liam. It's very odd, just looking at that phone, it was very odd, talking on the phone to Liam Neeson, trying to ask him if he'd do the part. It's such a legendary voice, it strikes you that you're probably talking to an impressionist, not to the real person. Understood. Emma"s very good with vegetables. - Yeah. You used to always have food in your films. Yes, I used to get letters about it from my Japanese fans.

The lobster? - Yeah.

There was more than one lobster present... This is a completely different film. - Yeah. Or was it 'cause I missed the beginning? - Yeah, you missed the beginning. You missed the beginning. Hugh was late. You were late for the Reading screening. So here we go, this is Kris Marshall. Absolutely fantastic. Appears in a television series which we like to call My Hero, but is in fact My Family, in the UK. Thomas, do you watch him on television? - Yeah, I sometimes do. Are you a fan of his or do you think his work's beneath you? No, I think it's great. I really like it. - Okay. That's Heike, who is now blonde.

Jim Clay, a very wonderful production designer. He is wonderful. - He did About a Boy of course. Yeah, fantastic film. Available on DVD? Yes, with a commentary. That's a very good joke. Brilliant. Where is that building? It was a set, it was a set. Really early on, I have to say now, that there's been a few misunderstandings. These people are stand-ins for what I hoped was going to be a very sexy mainstream film, that was the idea. Something like Don't Look Now. That's why it's set in Venice. A mainstream film with lots of sex. -/s that your mobile? - His phone has gone off. Who is it? - It's Hugh, my golf coach. I'd better talk. Hang on a sec. Hugh, hi. That is true. Oh, dear. Okay, and here we go. We've got Andrew and Chiwe in another church. I know. Now this is my favorite shot of the film. Wow. Great. I should say so. Artistic as well. Directorial flair. - And now it gets a bit disappointing here. That's what you call an entrance. Here we are, outside cardboard Downing Street. Cardboard Downing Street, but... -/f you pushed hard on that... -/t would just tip over. ...the whole of Downing Street would fall over backwards. But this was us trying to show off about our set, that we had the one shot and then headed on in. So we did this how many times? Like 30 times. The whole thing. - Yeah. Ad nauseam. I must work on my wave. Yeah, that's true, it wasn't just a facade. You remind me now. It actually went straight into the... The whole of Downing Street was built together. Now this is one of our favorite things in the whole film, you and your tie. Do you want to talk about that? I don't remember there being anything amusing about my tie. Remind me. You went to sleep between this shot and the close-ups. And when you woke up... I put on the wrong tie. - You put on the wrong tie. So this tile changes now? - Yeah. This tie changes. Oh, get out. - When we go to a close-up, you'll notice. That"s my mother-in-law. - ls it? That's Emma Freud's mum Jill. - Oh, God, yeah. And the funny thing was her line consisted on saying, "Hello, sir." But Emma rewrote it so she now says, "Hello, sir. I'm Pat, the housekeeper." She doubled the size of her part. - She got a name. I'm just so excited for my tie change. Any minute now. Any minute now, the magic tie change is going to happen. There it is. - Yes! No spots. Well, no, there are spots, but they're just much, much, much smaller. And the guy who was in charge of Hugh's dress, called Martin, was forced, in a sort of medieval manner, to wear the tie around his neck for the next few days. Now this is Martine McCutcheon. And when I wrote the part, I actually called the character Martine 'cause I so wanted Martine to play it. But when we sent it to her we called it Natalie, so she wouldn't get cocky. But then she turned up for the read-through and did it so brilliantly. - She was pretty cocky anyway. That's Jill, trying to get some extra lines. The girl on the right here is my favorite. She was very cross for some reason. Just look at her. - What, the dark girl? Totally furious. She voted for the other side. Oh, no.

Bad hair for the prime minister, wasnt it, really? I think I was still shooting another film and I couldn't change it. That's such a pretty shot. This guy is a real vicar. Now if I can just say a little bit about this scene here. This was in fact inspired by Jim Henson's funeral, which was the most moving thing I've ever been fo, and at the end of it Frank Oz was talking and he suddenly lifted up Kermit's puppet and started to sing this song called One Voice. And it turned out that all the guys in the memorial service had brought their puppets with them and they lifted them up, and when you turned around and looked backwards, there were 50 puppets, all singing. And Big Bird walked down the aisle of St. Paul's Cathedral and they all came forward and just this massive chorus of puppets, all singing. It was an extraordinary thing. So this was our little stab at that. ... that can't be done It... Nothing you can sing... This is David Lynden Hall, who is such an adorable man. When he came in to talk to us in the offices, he sat there with his guitar and charmed the girls more than I think was necessary.

love I've never seen any of this. This is looking very good, this scene. Very good, this film. - This is terrific. Look, it's Pikey. Who's that, with the guitar? Is that... He's a friend of our friend, Adams, and is an exceptionally good guitarist. - Oh, God, we're back to the boring bit. What the hell are you doing here? I just popped over to borrow some old CDs. The lady of the house let you in, did she? - Yeah. Lovely, obliging girl. - Yeah. This is Dan, who was one of our favorite actors, who came in for... To audition for some part, ended up with this one, and the next time I saw him, he was actually in Claudia Schiffer's house. So he's rather well-connected in a slightly annoying way. Blimey. - So he's the evil... Do you hang out with supermodels, Bill? - Not... No. Thomas? - No. But you, Hugh...

Okay, this was all shot by the river. What's going on? Oh, yeah, he's a caterer. - Yeah, that's right. How much will you pay me not to reveal the secret of this scene? Taste explosion? No, you can reveal the secret of this scene. Okay, so this highly amusing scene coming up now about catering, with this girl, is a reworking of a highly amusing scene about catering which bore a remarkable resemblance, down to the last line, which was originally in Four Weddings and a Funeral, and which was one of my audition scenes, but which got cut from the final film. But waste not, want not. - Do you know what's most shaming about it is that when I put it in the film, I forgot to change the name on one of the lines. So it said, "Colin says this, Colin says this," and then, "Charles says this," for some reason. So this woman is the most extraordinary actress. I think you'll get to know her very well in the future. I've just worked out why I can never find true love. Why is that? - English girls. Now, this was Abdul's first film, I think, and I have never known a man be happier on a set. Yeah. He was lovely. I really liked him. - He had no nerve. Just always completely perky. Unlike some people. Hugh, over to you. What was my cousin like on the film set? Deep. - Was he? Yeah. Completely unflustered. We're talking about Thomas here, who is related to Hugh. Did you know that? Is that something you'd been talking about at school or were you shocked and ashamed when you found out? -/ think he's played it down. - Did you know? Did you know? I knew, yeah. - Yeah, okay. No, I mean, I wouldn't talk about it if it was me. His great-grandmother... - Yeah. ... Aunt Bala... Bala? -... yes, is my grandmother's sister. There you are. - Nice. And I used to play cricket with his Uncle George. Now these two... This was a very, very brave part to accept. Martin is a star of The Office, and the first time I saw The Office, I just thought, "He just has to be in the next film we do." - Crikey! Yeah. - And I mean he is the most wonderful actor. And Joanna here is so divine. She's marvelous. - And so guilelessly sweet. Yeah. - Nice face, too. She's getting married in a few weeks' time, and I spoke to her about her wedding and she said that her best friend wasn't going to be the bridesmaid because she'd had a breast job and she wasn't having a woman with enormous breasts walking behind her down the aisle. down the aisle. And then I said, "Well, who's taking her place?" And she said, "The dog." She's actually going to have a dog dressed in white. And I said, "If you thought that the people in the audience were going to be distracted "by a large-breasted woman, I promise you, a dog's gonna be worse." Now, this is clearly a sad scene. And the girl in the pictures is a girl that I've been in love with a long time called Rebecca Frayn. Yeah. - She's a director and a writer and her dad's Michael Frayn and her husband is Andy Harris. I managed to get her to agree that we could have all the prettiest pictures of her from her whole life. ls that... I see, in the photographs. - Yeah. Get out. Get out. - Yeah. No, I meant get out. So there we go, that's actually Rebecca as a baby and there's this wonderful... Oh, God, she's lovely.

This next one is the one I like most. Look at that. - Yeah. Thomas, there you are! What do you think? Pretty good, huh? - Good sad look. Yeah, I know. It's good, isn't it? - Well done. Did you do that trick of staring at a light for a very long time and not blinking? -/t makes your eyes water. - No, I haven't tried that. You see, Hugh's acting is all tricks. That's the tragedy. That's actually none of the real stuff. I do that sometimes to make me smile or sneeze. - Sneeze? Looking at the sun is... Yeah, that's got a million uses. But it also makes you blind. - ls that why you wear such thick glasses? Yes, quite.

Look. There she is. So Laura Linney. The casting of Laura Linney. Now, we saw lots of English girls and I kept saying, "No, no, I want someone more like Laura Linney." And finally Mary Selway just said, "For fuck's sake, get Laura Linney, then." We sent it to her and she came over and did it. lf you haven't seen You Can Count on Me, then whoever's watching this, you should go out and take it out immediately. Have you seen You Can Count on Me, Hugh? Yes, I have. - It's pretty fantastic. -/t is marvelous. -/ loved it. This is Junior Simpson who used to... I went to see him doing a gig and he had this joke where he said the award for special effects in the movies this year has gone to Notting Hill for removing all the black people from Notting Hill. And I looked very cross and cast him in the next film just to try and put things right. And there's Alan Rickman. Suddenly, out of nowhere. Great glasses. I think he's had a rinse. What do you think? Just a light one. - He came to my house the other day... Lowlights. My children were excited to see him because of Harry Potter and I said to him, "I read them to them at night but I don't do your voice very well. "And I'm sorry, because I don't really put my back into it." And he said, "Don't worry, neither do I." ...what, two hours?

The music, by the way, is by Craig Armstrong, fantastic Scottish composer, used to be in Massive Attack, used to be in Texas. Moved on. And we had lots of discussions about... We chose him 'cause he does this beautiful, melancholy music, but then of course I kept on wanting perky little tunes like this. And it was a struggle for Craig to be optimistic, but I think I have maybe changed his life by showing him a happy way. I've done that a bit with you, Hugh, haven't I? Yes, you have. You have. You've opened my eyes.

Just to share with you the filmmaking process, this was the trickiest scene to grade because the light was far too bright, coming in off the window. We were in all sorts of trouble. Mickey Coulter, director of photography, very mediocre. Shut up. Mickey did Notting Hill and Four Weddings and Sense and Sensibility, so Hugh's career basically depends on him. And he is a great genius. - Yeah.

Okay, brace yourself, Bill. - Oh, my God, it's me. Yeah. You're actually on the radio. - That's very good. The first time you hear it, somebody says, "Can you please turn that down?" ...the once great Billy Mack.

Brian Bovell. A wonderful man. I've heard this century... And, coincidentally, I believe Billy will be a guest on my friend Mike's show... And that is Sarah, who works in my Office. So it is. - Pretty well everyone I know is in this film. Here we go. God help us. You look, Tom, and tell me how I'm doing, 'cause I can't bear It. You poor old sod, look at the state of you.

When I was young and successful, I was greedy and foolish, and now I'm left with no one. We shot this at Heart Radio in London. It was the smallest room in the world. It was the size you see. There was no room. Only small members of the crew could come in and shoot it. Ask me anything you like, and I'll tell you the truth. Best shag you ever had? Britney Spears. - Wow. No, only kidding! Was this cleared with Britney Spears, this joke? Do you have to go to her people and say, "Is this joke okay?" Do you know, I don't know the situation. I think you're about to find out that it's not all right, the day before the American release. But it's done with fantastic affection. I don't think anyone could be more fond of Britney Spears than I am. Well, except me, perhaps. How do you feel about Christina Aguilera? I think she's a fantastic talent, as well. Me, too. - Yep. ...

Thomas, which would you choose between those two? -/ don't know. - Shakira. I'm a bit of a Chrissie Hynde man myself.

of the moment when we try to squeeze an extra syllable into the fourth line. I

Come on and let it snow." All the people in the world I most admire are people who are honest, like this. I could never be. But it's the sort of John McEnroe type of John Lennon person who alarmingly manages to tell the truth in public situations. in public situations. I've never been able to pull it off. Yes, yes. I fear this is going to be a difficult one to play. Alex. This is when people start to be chilled by the authority of your performance, Hugh. It's when I'm chilled by the fact that you cut out the first half of the scene. Yeah. There used to be a bit where they discuss which record was gonna be number one at Christmas. Hugh said, "I've got a very, very important thing to discuss." But we cut it because it looked like the prime minister was just a joke. But we wanted to make you more serious. - A joke? This is an exact replica of the cabinet, I think. Yes, with some of the real cabinet members in there. See if you can spot them. See if you can spot the actual minister for transport.

Right. Yeah, come in. There was a very bizarre thing that Tony Blair made a party political broadcast, I think it was before we went to war in Iraq, and he actually had these same lights behind him, the ones that we'd picked by chance. Get out. That's unbelievable. - They're actually there. At least you've got the right tie on in this scene, but... Too much hair product. Look. - There we go. How many takes of that did we do? Very difficult to act. You've always written these little things where people talk to themselves, and they're unactable. ...our new prime minister then? I like him. Thomas, can you just cover your eyes during this section? Is it odd to be ina film you're not actually allowed legally to see? Never been in one like that. - Yeah. I'm sorry about that. ... If you could just lower the nipples and cheat them a bit to the left? You see, this is meant to look like Venice, you see. It's like this really serious movie. ls ita sort of Euro Pudding movie? - No, no. It's like... Or Sliver, you know, which had Alec Baldwin and it just did have a lot of sex scenes in it.

Sorry. - God, sorry. Are you all right? - Yeah, fine.

What percentage of the film has music on it, Richard? Huge amount. - What do you think? About 70, I think, 60%. - Wow. Do you think that's the sign of a good filmmaker... Very, very poor. Desperate filmmaker. - ...or an inexperienced filmmaker? But the truth is, in my own life, 70% of it is accompanied by music. Wisconsin. I didn't realize that Wisconsin doesn't necessarily have the greatest reputation in America. Apparently it's the cheese state... - Perfect for this film, then. ... Which I didn't realize, so when he says, "I'm off to Wisconsin, where there are beautiful girls," apparently, in America, people think, "He's going to get a shock. It's the cheese state." Prince William without the weird family.

Ja, darling! Right, the Christmas party, not my favorite night of the year I can't tell you how fantastic the bottom half of Heike was that day. And I just hate myself for not having done a wide shot.

This is... Alan's bit here just sounds like poetry to me. I've just written some old nonsense and everything is so rhythmical.

you'll be bringing, have you?

Really? Right. Does that happen to you a Iot, Bill? Girls just coming on? No. It's not a problem.

What's that, a clarinet? It's a clarinet or an oboe. Something like that. Stays in his room all the time. I see you've used the Notting Hill set. Waste not, want not. Look, this is a directorial idea. Look. What do you think? Wow. - This is so lame and studenty.

Look at that camera movement. I was actually holding the camera myself. Stretching my legs, going in towards there. And that was a scene... You're behind that door. - Fantastic. His mom always used to talk to him, you know, and...

I love Liam in this scene. This next shot is... Sweet. ...always going to be a totally shit time. Just be patient.

I just don't know. Now this bit's very traumatic for you, Thomas, because this is the point where we cut 11 minutes of your part. We've all had that done, Thomas. - Don't worry, Tommy. "Butchered" is the word. - We one day tried this cut where we went from him really worrying about you to the two of you talking about your problems and it worked so well and so told the story, coming straight to here. So thank God we're on the DVD, where they can watch, basically, the rest of your part in the deleted scenes. - Yeah. That's a beautiful shot. ... something else? Maybe school? Would it be hurtful to you two older guys if I said that I think Thomas is a better actor than both of you? Well, yes. Do you remember us doing this? - Yeah, I liked doing this. Was it cold or hot? -/t was cold. It was really cold and you had to drink that... Was that a fruit juice, just getting colder, with ice circulating around your veins? How did you find Liam? - I liked him a lot. He was very nice. I'm in love. We had toothpicks hidden in our pockets. Actually, it took hours of editing time to remove the toothpicks out of scenes that you two remorselessly introduced into them. No. Well, okay, well... But if you go elsewhere on the DVD, you'll now see what follows is another whole chunk of the movie that was taken out. ... thought it would be something worse. When we watched the movie, when we were first testing it this was sort of the point at which the audience started to start to believe that the film was going to be okay. What, not till now? No, your scenes had gone by completely. No, your scenes had gone by completely. Yeah, you just sort of felt they'd been emotionally... This was about the point it took to really, emotionally... I find myself getting restless in these scenes.

This music is the Glasgow Love Theme, we call it. It was the first thing that Craig wrote.

And now, we're just about to have one of the best-looking men in the world come into shot. Also, I can't tell you how much nicer Rodrigo's personality is than yours. Yeah. - He's a gentle, compassionate human being, and he's also the biggest star in Brazil, where you've made so little impact. Yeah, absolutely.

Oh, no. Do we think he'd gone? He'd gone from the film? You were never going to have to see him again? Colin in early sunlight, early morning sunlight. This terrible... The terrible sadness here is this house and all its surrounds don't exist anymore. They got burnt down. - With Colin in them? No, in all the heat wave in France. This went... But we shot this... This was the first thing we shot in the movie. God, he looks good. - So happy. Now, who's this old guy? Natalie. - Sir. Thanks. Very good music bridge, if I may say so. - Thank you. Well done, Craig. I'm starting to feel uncomfortable about us working in such close proximity every day and me knowing so little about you. It seems... It seems elitist and wrong.

That's one of my favorite lines. "Elitist and wrong." My sister lives in Wandsworth. Yeah. So which exactly is the... Very noisy chair. Torment. ...near the Queen's Head. This scene was almost untouched from the very first moment of editing to the very... Was it? - ...last, yeah. I think you two were very good in this scene. I thought you directed it very well. Look at the direction. Wait a minute. Close-up. Not quite close-up. Closer. You always go to the bigger star closer. - Yeah. Classy. He said I was getting fat. - I beg your pardon? He said no one's gonna fancy a girl with thighs the size of big tree trunks. Doesn't Martine look pretty? Look at that. ...in the end. No.

You know, I think that was a rather good bit of acting by you, that awkwardness and discomfort. I don't normally do awkwardness. You pulled it out of the bag on this occasion. There are quite a few arrows in my quiver. I once met a guy who worked for the SAS or something like that, and after dinner he fell asleep and nobody dared wake him because we thought that he might strangle us, and we went and got his wife, who woke him because she knew the method. 'Cause we... You could have had your throat slit. There was a... Oh, look. You're very good in this, Thomas.

Yeah. -

Very good. Well,

Look at that tired old arse. - Here he comes.

Now, for our foreign viewers, Ant and Dec here are the two hugest television stars in the United Kingdom. They are so overwhelmingly popular. They're definitely the most famous people in the film, aren't they? Yeah, absolutely. - Might not realize that if you live abroad. And in England, that line, "Ant or Dec," that's the funniest line in the whole film, and in Los Angeles, it goes by without... With ne'er so much as a crisp packet. And we're very pro-Blue because they let us do this. Yeah. Which shows they must be very confident that what Bill's about to write isn't true. They've now got a new Christmas single with Stevie Wonder. Do they? Oh, my God, which one? - Stevie Wonder's on it. I don't know what the song is. So, you know, God help us. That's my favorite costume. I love that suit. Now, Bill, you're good here. Watch.

Don't buy drugs.

And I do believe... Ant or Dec reacts too quickly. I would change that take. It's too late. - He does. It was a little too quickly. - There we go.

Yushio Mahoto. Look. There used to be so many more of these photos, but we cut two of the scenes with all the photos in them. They were so brilliant, some of them, these sort of slightly obscene Christmas puns. That was meant to be the Four Tops. - That was the Four Tops. Can I patch you through? She wants to ask you a favor. That's brilliant. Thanks and be nice. I'm always nice. - You know what I mean, Marky, be friendly. I'm always... - Mark? This plot with Andrew and Keira and Chiwe is in some ways the kind of model for what the film was meant to be. I always said that I wanted it to have, you know, 10 good beginnings, 10 good middles and 10 good ends. And in fact, they've really only got three scenes. They've got the wedding, which is the beginning, and then they've got the scene where she goes around to his house and looks at the video, which is the middle, and they've got the scene with the cards, which is the end, and that was sort of the idea, that you'd fillet out all the unnecessary Stuff in films. And this is the one remaining little extra scenelet. I think it could go. Hugh, you appear to have misunderstood what we're doing here, Hugh, you appear to have misunderstood what we're doing here, which is that the film's finished and that's why we're commenting on it. Well, you say that. It's not out yet. Do you think this will be one example where the director's cut is actually shorter? We should have Hugh's cut. I always think that the director's cut in films actually should be called the director's half-cut, which is one day when he's drunk, he says, "That was a very good scene. "I wish to see that back in again." Now, this next shot was suggested by Mickey Coulter. He said that I'd wasted what was actually on offer. ...doing dark deeds. And I think he was right. - What do you mean? That high shot. - I think we know what you mean. I'd only done a little shot of Heike's face. - Can we see that again? And he said that's... - He wanted to lower the camera. Move the gib around. He wanted it up above the head. I was just going to have it all just done on a reaction shot. Here we go. - Beautiful. I so love this tune. I like the performance as well, although I think Colin's cardie is controversial. It's his own, isn't it?

Am I sad or not sad? - I think you're not surprised.

Colin was responsible for remembering that he had a Stutter in this role. Oh, God. - And often we'd do a whole scene and then he'd say, "Oh, Ch-Christ. I've got a stutter. "We'd better go back and do it again." -/ love this girl in this film. - Yeah, she is so wonderful. We got a bunch of audition tapes from Portugal, about 50 people and it looked as though it had been done in a sort of meat-packing house or a slaughterhouse, so depressing. And there were about 50 of them and she just had this particular quality of... You mean depressingly lit? - Yeah. They were good actors and actresses. - Lots of good actors and actresses, but depressingly lit. - Yeah. But she had this fantastic quality of this absolute simplicity which you see here and then the moment that she smiled, this radiant personality. 'Cause we had to be careful that she didnt, in this first scene, you didn't instantly go, "For heaven's sake. We're definitely going to have a love story here." You had to not think it at first.

Trouble is, once you've done car scenes, you always know that they're sitting on a trailer. Yeah, I know. - You always think, "Why is the car so high?" I know. And there's a slightly odd squeak and things. We've tried to cover it, but... Clever guys, although I think the original version was by Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons. I think this bit of conversation's a bit obscure for people, apart from you and me. I slightly worry about it. Where do you stand on the Tremeloes? Where do I stand... I could never quite relax around the Tremeloes, but they were... On the other hand, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, I think, are... More serious, yeah. - ...a fantastic band. And now Billy Bob Thornton. - Yeah, take a look. Extraordinary human being.

Mr. President, welcome.

Come on through. I'm sorry your wife couldn't make it, by the way. Billy took the part based on the letter that we sent him. He thought we sounded like a nice bunch of guys. Well... - And he fancied a trip to England. So... And I love him for that. Yeah, well, the difference is you're still sickeningly handsome, Did you feel... - But he does have particular demands. He's a wonderful actor with particular demands. Like the one that he can't be around antique furniture. This scene must have been torture to him. There. - And there on the wall, incredibly, is a picture of Benjamin Disraeli and his biggest phobia of all in life is Benjamin Disraeli, so he's actually being very brave. - It's true. Very sensitive about this. - I know. And I said to him, "You're frightened of Benjamin Disraeli?" He said, "Don't be ridiculous. Who would be frightened of Benjamin Disraeli? "But, on the other hand, his facial hair, terrifying." ls it particularly Benjamin Disraeli? - Yes. Yes, it is. Before he came here to make this film and saw Ben... Absolutely. - He walks around... And in this scene here, just when he's about to do an important close-up, I slipped that picture of Benjamin Disraeli in front of him. And that's why he's looking so distressed. Well, it worked. Wow. Golly. Now he hates you. Yeah. Now he's gonna punish you. There's no point in tiptoeing around today. Glamour. Look at that tie. It's actually made of sheer gold. The costumes were done by Joanna Johnston, and I won't talk about her for 40 minutes, but she was fantastic and did this great thing of always trying to push me a bit further than I wanted to be pushed, particularly with your clothes, Bill. - Well, quite. Yeah. Bit further than I wanted to. -[t made it so much more interesting. She always wanted that third button undone. She also followed the golden rule, which is to spend much more on my suits than Colin Firth. Which is very good. - Yeah.

Look out.

It's great Scotch. This bit here... I often think that some of the things I've done in the direction have been ignored and undervalued. But we're just about to come to what I think of as my Sergio Leone moment. You see? Look, look. And then... Close-up. What about that? - Pretty good. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Very good.

This is not quite so influenced by Sergio's work.

Very satisfactory indeed. Wow, that's a good shot.

And,

I love that word "relationship." That woman is definitely in the cabinet, that we keep cutting to. I

a relationship based on the President taking exactly what he wants and casually ignoring all those things... Do you know, when I watch this, I feel such deep respect for you as a human being, Hugh. We had a difficult day, this day, because of this moment here, wasn't it? There was an extra thing in the list. Well, you rewrote it at the last moment. - Adding the words... Adding the words, "Catherine Zeta-Jones's breasts." That's right, and Hugh couldn't deliver them. And he kept on breaking and saying, "No

would say this." And I kept on saying, "Don't be absurd." And it turned out he was right. I

This is our Dam Busters moment. Yeah. Fantastic.

Another great tie. Joe. Joe.

All right. Yes, I'm very busy and important. How can I help you? Don't laugh. That line was improvised. That's the first time you guys have laughed. -/ didn't write that line. - No, it's not the first time we've laughed. It's Hugh's line. - You're just oversensitive. You used to know that Em was Hugh's sister earlier in the film and you used to know that Alan and Emma were married earlier in the film. This is better though. - Clever, much cleverer. The idea was that you should be thinking about the Heike-Alan story, "A fun story, funny, let's see what happens." And then you suddenly realize the flip side of it's not so good. I've always wanted a shot like that where one side of your face is dark and the other side is moody. I can't begin to tell you how critical Emma was of these two dolls. And she said, "I can't lift these up "because they're clearly just Ken dressed up." And I'd told the prop department, "Just dress up Ken." And it's a brilliant idea.

It was one of those lucky moments where an actor didn't absolutely stick to their guns and finally she just did it. Now, Hugh, this was... This was a... This is the scene I look forward to more than any. We had some fights over this. Hugh wouldn't rehearse, wanted not to do it. I thought it was funny on paper but un-actable. I don't know. Take a look. Wow. Did you think about doing it in time, or did you think, "No, why?" - I say I did do it in time and you edited it wrong. - We moved the music. Yes. Oh, it's brilliant. - l'm in time there. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah! Oh, no. - This is in time. This is brilliant! Well done. That bit's not, I grant you. And the disaster here was that you mimed, "I'll take you down." So we've had to totally cut a minute and a half out of the song in order to get there. It was a disaster on the day. Oh, God. - Was there supposed to be more? Well, no, we just let the song run, but we then had no choice how long the song had to be. - It's brilliant. This is almost my favorite scene just in terms of how pretty it is.

I'm very lucky I've got one of those constitutions where I never put on weight. Hello. This scene, which isn't in the extras in the DVD, originally, when he answered the phone, he spoke to Heike, who was his ex-girlfriend. But we cut that whole thing and then we gave him the different girlfriend at the beginning. Really? - Yeah. It just shows you that movies are just... Why is Heike no longer his ex-girlfriend? - ...things in shots and patches. I think because it actually made this next scene, when he gets a crush on Lucia, made it like he was damaged rather than actually falling in love. It made it seem more compensatory. There was such a huge wind machine behind them. The sound here was So... All these lines had to be dubbed. Stop! Stop.

Do you know that we had a 45-minute meeting deciding on the color of her underwear? You're not serious. - Yeah, and Joanna had to bring in 20 different types of underwear. - Who was present at this meeting? That fantastic tattoo, by the way... - Did you know about that? The tattoo is the front cover of her second or first album, 'cause she makes... Really? - Yeah. That's... A pretty lame form of advertising. If she sells a couple of albums, I'm happy with that. Now this was a disaster 'cause the lake was about four feet deep when we recced and was about 18 inches deep when we shot. So they're kneeling now, pretending to swim but actually crawling along the bottom, poor things. And Colin got stung by a sort of animal and his elbow swelled up to the size of three avocados the next day. Oh, God, what the hell is that? There's this joke that ever since Pride and Prejudice, every time I do a film with Colin, he always falls into water 'cause the girls like him in a wet shirt.

I

You sure she's speaking Portuguese? It sounds like Russian. It's definitely... - I think she may have taken you for a ride. Do you think she's a Russian actress?

Her name, Aurelia Barros, is in fact a friend of ours who took care of one of our kids and has known Em for 12 years. And Em is concerned that she will sue me for the implication that the reason she left our employ was because I got fresh with her. That's not gonna happen, is it? I'm not gonna live the rest of my life with lawsuits. She's fabulous, this girl. She is my favorite so far. ls she? - Yes.

She's having to do all the work in this scene. Yeah, quite. Colin is so gorgeous in this scene. That's such a lie. Look at this smoldering look coming up. Sure.

It's my favorite time of day,

Oh, my God.

You could learn a lot from that look, Hugh. I assume you've just cut it in from one of his other movies.

He walks so beautifully, Colin. Did you see that? Those shoulders are sort of up. Yeah. - Tense. Movie walk.

This is a good bit, I grant you. A happy accident. Happy accident or directed? I think happy accident. Thomas, if you have to grow up to be one of those actors, Hugh or Colin, whose career do you think you'd prefer to pursue? -/ don't know. - Just say Hugh, Thomas. Just say it. Just say it. "He's bad," and we can all move on.

Banoffee pie? No, thanks.

Right, well... I remember Keira... I remember doing this, and at lunchtime talking to Keira about what she was going on to do next, and she said she was going on to do Pirates of the Caribbean. And I remember telling her it would be the most terrible flop. She should simply stay on to do extra scenes with us, 'cause those pirate films never worked. I'll have a poke around tonight then... Mark, can I say something? Yeah. I

This next scene is inspired by

pretty well the best scene in the movies, the end of Cinema Paradiso. Do you remember the end of Cinema Paradiso? No. - Do you remember that? l've seen the film. - He goes back and the guy's edited together all the kisses that were cut out of... The films... - All the way through the films, they had to censor out the kisses. And he goes back and there's a reel of all the kisses that have been cut out of all the films that were shown in the Cinema Paradiso. It's just heartbreaking. This is a very good cutaway, Hugh. If ever you direct a film, this is the kind of shot you should use. Watch. It's very good for transitions. Have a look. There. - That's elegant. At least very quick. That's so elegant. Fluid, I think we'd call that. One of the tragic things about everything I've ever worked on is the best bits of the film are always the bits that haven't been done by me. And I love this tape here. And it was shot by a guy called Jonathan who was around all the time while we were filming. And I told him on the day we were doing the wedding just to grab beauty shots of Keira. It's not hard, though, is it? - No. And he did it, but these are all so lovely and oblique and... I look quite pretty.

I also love the documentary footage at the front which was shot by a guy called Mike Eley.

Yeah, I know Mike.

By George, she's got it. - Very good, very good.

This is Craig's love theme again. He plays the piano very beautifully himself. All these weird sort of delays and little hesitations. We call that rubato. - ls that right? And what about this shot here?

The one of her waving at the end.

Yeah. - Just the last second, she looks straight at the camera for a split second.

Sorry. She got me then.

Keira. Keira, Keira, Keira. We'll cut that bit. 'Cause it would tear Bill's marriage apart. Well... He doesn't care. But

In your head as the writer, who do you think she really prefers? Her husband or this bloke, now? No, she's got no time at all. I mean, she likes this guy as a friend. But when she runs out later and kisses him. - That's just being nice. That's my favorite bit of acting. - Well, that's interesting. That wasn't my reading. I thought, "Dirty bitch, she wants them both." Keira looks like to me like a girl who's done that, who's just found a way of being kind to men like Bill who, you know, want more to do with her than that. - But she kisses him on the lips. I never kiss anyone anywhere else except the lips. God. I think Andrew cannot believe this was the take we used. This was like a joke take. I couldn't believe he was gonna go for it the third time. No! Yep, he's done it. Good heavens. - More times than... He Zips... This is the fantastic Dido. She sent us her new aloum and there was one so beautiful, sort of hidden track on it that we wanted to put in the movie. But it's weird how a movie will demand its own songs and you cant just put stuff you adore on it. There was a song by Ron Sexsmith, Gold in Them Hills, I just spent days trying to fit into the film. Just couldn't. Wow. - That's great. He's doing a very good job of walking. Bill, do you find walking very difficult on camera? -/ do. Yeah. - Particularly if you haven't got a prop? Something to do with your hands? - Yeah. Well, that's why he did that thing of scraping along the wall. Yeah, I could see all the tricks. Hands in pockets. She had a little problem there, walking across the room. Colin's a very good walker. Yeah. She was so good. She didn't make a single mistake. Sweet girl. - Attractive, too.

But you know Natalie who works here? The chubby girl? That's one of your best moments. That's very, very high-pitched work. Can you do that again, just to show people it wasn't a fluke? "Would we call her chubby?" - No, it goes... Like that. That's very good. I remember at the read-through that made me laugh. ... redistribute her? It's done. Although there does... Wait a second, now. Here we go.

That's not your wobbly camera move? - That's my tribute to Paul Greengrass who made Bloody Sunday. You know, that camera style? No, I don't know. - Wobbly. Wobbly. Thomas, here you come. You came to work and it was too late to shoot, so you had to wear your jimjams that day. - What? What? - No, I'm only joking. I'm only joking. No. No, in the film. I

Let's have it.

Yes, she's American.

And she's going back to America. That's the end of my life as I know it.

Come on. Now, this bit's very good. I had so much trouble with this shot. We had to go right underneath. And that shot... ls that CGI? - No, it wasn't an effects shot. We actually... There we go. Okay, did you have to pay for that shot? Or did they just let you use it? - I don't know what the situation is. -/t was brilliant that they did that. - lt seems you haven't checked anything. 'Cause we tried... I leave that to other people. So disappointing, that moment when you don't see what happens. What do you think happens to those two? God knows. I'm very grateful, may I say now, for being allowed to use that bit of film. l've got a toothpick in my mouth. - Yeah, there we go. This toothpick business. Oh, my God. And Liam's leg's crushing you to make sure you dont move. The toothpick thing is because Liam is obsessed with toothpicks. He's never seen without one. - Since he gave up smoking. Is that what It is? When did you learn to act, Thomas? How come you're so good? 'Cause there's some very poor acting in this next scene, but tell us... When was the first time you acted in anything? Yeah. It was a little BBC film called Station Jim, but... Was that your first? - Yeah. We saw you in that... - Did you? ...and Em said, "That guy's brilliant. He should be in your film." And I said, "No, he's too small and he's got a Yorkshire accent." And then... - You did it in a Yorkshire accent? Yeah. - And then we saw about 60 other children, and then Em said, "What about that guy who was too small "with the Yorkshire accent?" And you came in and you were just unbelievable. That was your first thing? - Yeah. Do the people at school now hate you or admire you for being a film star? They don't really mind, actually. - They don't? No one is saying that you've got too big for your boots? No. - Despite the fact that you have a trailer in the playground? No. - Do you employ some of your friends now? As PAs and things like that? - Personal assistants. Now, this scene here is one of my favorite scenes because of the weirdness of the setting. We just tried to find... - Where is it? It's just on a motorway in Marseilles. So instead of trying to find a sentimental place with high buildings and cobblestones, we just found this weird lay-by. It almost starts to feel like a French film for a second here. It does. Particularly the rinse that Colin has gone for.

What has he gone for? Chestnut? - That moment of the music is so lovely when people aren't talking over it. But I love that. And that same note is repeated at the very end of the movie. That is actually an interesting place. At least there's something to watch. There's this weird cathedral, can you see, on the left there. A football thing, a cathedral and so on. - Yeah. Were they playing football or did you... No, no, no, they were. I think we probably made sure they were there, but when we recced it, they were playing football as well. Okay, now, Bill, get ready. - Oh, God.

No, I think you'll be all right.

Oh, my God, look at the bald spot. There they go. - There's Meredith. Yeah, she was fantastic. - Do you remember Meredith?

And Tuull. - That's Clare, who works in my Office. That's Tuull. Tommy looks disgusted. - Thomas looking suitably scornful. What are you doing there, Bill? Now I understand. Yes, exactly. Daniel! I

Well, girls love musicians, don't they? Even the really weird ones get girlfriends. - That's right.

There were a couple of other lines there, but we had to cut them for legal reasons. Why don't you tell us now? Because we would be in the same legal trouble. But there were a couple of other artistes mentioned. Why are the ones that were mentioned okay? I think they're high-spirited and humorous. Give us some clues about the other ones. - No, shush.

London looks nice, doesn't it? - Beautiful. Do you know Laura bet me $100 that that scene would be cut from the movie, so that's the reason it's in there. I'm $100 better off. You are. And I bet Clare, your assistant who was a Santa Claus, £200 that the dancing scene would be cut. It's all about money, movie-making, isn't it?

There we go. There's the Four Tops again. The original scene that we did here had those guys the other way round So you could see their penises. - I remember from the script. The head of Universal said she found it distracting in the preview and couldn't concentrate on the scene.

Yeah, sure, sure. What about those little devil horns?

Who's the man with the glasses? I think he was an extra, but he gives the third best performance in the film. Or do you mean this bloke? He's Alan Rickman. No, those horns, they are... Sorry?

What are you laughing at? - The man in the glasses. He gives a fantastic performance. There's some very good acting here, now, Hugh. Look. I love this room. Beautiful room. That is probably what it's like in Downing Street, that slightly chintzy look. What's gonna happen on the telly, do you think, Bill? Oh, my God. Oh, yeah. How"s it looking so far? - Very bad indeed. Blue are outselling me five-to-one, but I'm hoping for a late surge. And, if I reach number one, That's an extraordinary costume. Do you ever wear that at home? - Yeah, weddings, funerals. There's a tie. Do you want a preview? You old flirt.

That'll never make number one. That'll never make number one. That was his own line, wasn't it? - Yeah, I think he might have improvised that. Thomas, where do you stand on Justin Timberlake? Well, he's got a good voice, I think. But his dancing you don't rate? - No, I think his dancing's quite good as well. I think he can move. He's all right. - ls he a bit old-fashioned for you? No, he's not old-fashioned. This was the scene where the guys were the other way round. So you had to re-shoot the whole scene? - No, we'd actually done it tame because we had to do a sort of Disney version. It's the Disney version? - Yeah. There was a lot of that. Did you have to do Disney versions, Tom? Yeah, so when Liam sits on the couch he had to say, "You're banjaxed, then." A famous Irish expression. Oh, my God. This is a good scene to show why we cast Laura Linney. Everything she does here is so beautiful. Who's this? Norah Jones? - Yeah. You had a Norah Jones song in... - Two Weeks Notice. She was actually there playing? - Yes, she was. Although she was up and coming, she wasn't massive at that point when we shot it. So we didn't make enough of her. - Very impressive.

As people who've seen the film know, something in the end not very nice is about to happen here. What I couldn't believe, the first time I saw the film, was the extent to which, just because these guys are so lovely in this scene, everyone wished them so well and it was much sadder than we intended, almost. Does that shot convince you? Yeah, this is all marvelous. It's interesting, in your films, when people actually shut up for once, how much better the film is.

Speechless! - l've shut up and I'm better. Actually, it's all going so much better now I'm not saying anything.

Oh, my God. So did he really wear glasses or is he trying to look cleverer? Like you in Four Weddings? I was just trying to look more like you. Just... Would you excuse me for one second?

That's so good. Okay, that's done. Why don't you come upstairs in about 10 seconds? This set was based on Helen Fielding's flat, who wrote Bridget Jones. We went round to see her. This lovely idea of a bedroom just sort of perched above the living place. Very good. Very good. Laura invented all this business.

-/ would've lost the little teddy bear. - Would you? It's making me hate her. - Where is the teddy? Oh, yeah.

She loves it. What is this song? This is Eva Cassidy's version of Christine McVie's... Fleetwood Mac's Songbird. This was found by our sound editor, Mike Price. He put it on one day.

Just tug it. - Okay.

This is the point when you're glad you cast someone from Brazil, rather than someone from England.

How did his trousers come off? You're allowed to do that in films now. These days, you're allowed to jump on in time. You're beautiful.

We were hiding in the bathroom, looking through a little monitor.

Right. So that's the bit where we were So... The audience were so unhappy. People were? - When that happened. Well, I'm not surprised. - High hopes. We had a really strange thing with this, which is that, when we tested the film... I'm a great believer in testing. I come from normal comedy tradition and when you did a sitcom you performed it live, and bits the audience didn't laugh at you cut out. It's the same on stage, you just change things around. But the audience so wanted this to turn out well and kept saying on the cards, "Can't you please write an extra scene "where everything goes okay?" And, "It's not clear what happens." They were saying, "It's not clear what happens" because they wanted something different to happen. So we in fact wrote another scene where it became perfectly clear that it didn't turn out okay. It was one of those "be careful what you wish for 'cause you might get it" ones. But I think it's down to Rodrigo, who's so touching that you instantly want it to go well for the pair of them. It's a case where the acting's better than the writing.

Although I remember thinking, when he took his shirt off, "That's so spooky that he should have exactly the same physique as Hugh." It is bizarre. Although he's wearing a little more oil, for some reason.

No. Then maybe Thomas, are you sure you should be watching this stuff? I suppose you have to, at some point. You probably had lessons at school where they showed you this stuff about six or seven years ago.

Yeah, a little bit. Yeah. Do they do naked sex education at seven? -

okay. It's still history and geography.

No, I'm not busy. I... Of course if you want me to come over I will. Okay.

Except I felt fat. - Don't be ridiculous. It's true. By the way, I think I should say at this stage that Em was wearing a fat suit all the way through this film. She's extremely lean. It was brilliant with Alan and Emma because they really are almost like a married couple. I think she's probably spent more time with Alan on film sets than she has with her husband. - Name those films. Winter Guest, they did together. - Oh, yeah. Sense and Sensibility, obviously, they were together. Do you mean the one you were in? Did you ever see that? It was a good film. You should see that. There are one or two slightly unconvincing performances, but generally it was... Crikey.

That's a very good body. Am I allowed to say that?

Please let me say that. Yeah. Every night. - Good. This guy is such a wonderful actor, this guy Michael. Had you seen him act before? No, but I just remember in the read-through being terribly affected. He was actually in The Tall Guy for a few seconds, and I just remembered him and when we had to do this really difficult part...

It's just always odd when a person has to come in for a couple of days and muster all their intensity and basically do the job for you. Thank you.

He's brilliant. This is more examples of the fact the moment people stop talking, it improves.

I was interested to hear you say in the press junket that you write with music going on. Yeah. Do you? -/ do. It's just because it puts me in an artificially good mood, which I suppose is the reason why I listen to pop music anyway. And then, when I'm trying to do serious Stuff, an artificially deep mood. It's just unbelievable what music does to a film. How important it is. - I remember seeing Local Hero, one of my favorite films, without its music, and it was not cogent. Then somebody there put the music on and the whole film turned into this extraordinary... Equally, if you did... Even a film like this, which is very dialog heavy, God knows, weighed down with dialog. - Much of it written by me. If you took it out and just played it with music, I think people would still understand the stories. Yeah. No, I think that's right. In fact, the person who was grading the movie had never heard any of the dialog, and he lived with the film for four weeks just trying to guess. When he saw it, he was very shocked. He didn't know he was the brother, for instance, in that last scene. -/ frequently do that on airplanes, when the film's playing and you think you're reading your book or your script. The thing I always watch on airplanes is horror movies, because the ambience around you is so intense that you can't be sucked in. That's how I managed at last to see that film The Ring. It wasn't quite as frightening as it would have been otherwise. Right, well, listen, you keep yourself occupied for 10 minutes while I go and do the boring stuff for our mothers. Just a tiny, tiny flash of the Sheriff of Nottingham here.

And then, there we go.

And then back into character. So you're in Harrods here? Selfridges. - Selfridges. It has to be said, this was one of the most complex nights of filming because we obviously couldn't go into Selfridges until it was closed, which was about 9:00 at night. And we had till 5:00 in the morning. And these poor guys had to do this scene over and over again. And the scene was a three-and-a-half-minute scene, but Rowan had to actually do the wrapping, which took him seven and a half minutes. Alan is a great actor, and thought it was his responsibility to continue to act throughout the seven and a half minutes of Rowan doing it. Frustration, anger. Rowan, who is also a great actor in his own way, just sort of chatted. He would look up and say, "I'm terribly sorry, Alan, this bit's very difficult." And, "This bloody bag, honestly! I wish they could've got a better bag." And Alan was really going for it properly, playing his part, being called Alan by Rowan. By 5:00, they were two battered giants, I can tell you.

But he just had to do it every time. This is one of those moments where, no matter how long you edit a film for, there are always some things you forget to do, like why didn't we replace this take where some of the things don't go in the bag? Never got around to it. - Sloppy, I think the word Is. This is based on an incident that happened in New York to me, where I went out and bought a Christmas present, took me three minutes to choose it... For someone who wasn't Emma. - No, it was not that, but the way they wrap presents in New York is just startling. Box after box. It had a Japanese name, the store. That's a Japanese thing, the wrapping. - Honestly. And you just get crosser and crosser, even if you're not on the point of betraying your wife. We're going to pop it in the Christmas box. But I

But you said you wanted it gift-wrapped. - I did but... This is the final flourish. - Can I just pay?

iS a sprig of holly. - No, no, no, no.

Leave it. Leave it. Just leave it. Loitering around the jewelry section, I see. - No. I was just looking around.

Actually, I do love this one.

In the original script, was he not revealed to have... Been an angel! That's absolutely right. - Yeah. No, Rowan was meant to be an angel, which is why at the end, when he turns up, Thomas, when you're in the airport, that's what he's trying to do. He's trying to sort out people's lives. But in the end, the film turned out so sort of multiplicitous that the idea of introducing an extra layer of supernatural beings was... So he is in fact a shop assistant? He's in fact a shop assistant who's going on holiday later on in the film. So he's not an angel? - We're all trying to talk to Thomas now. Thomas, don't look down. - Look at me. Don't look down, 'cause there's other stuff going on. Thomas, I used to be a shop assistant. I used to work in Harrods. I worked in Table Stationery, my specialty was paper doilies. Do people still buy them? - I was in love with a girl in Women's Belts. Harrods was a hotbed of desire. Okay, you can stop that now. The awful thing in that scene, in that one scene I forgot, there was always meant to be people coming in with light monitors and things like that and I just forgot to do it in the last scene. Explain to me again why you're so late. For heaven's sake, woman... Now look at the lovely look that Emma does here. This shows why she's such a great actress. I had just said to her this was just a normal old scene, and I said to her, "Will you just try and do "something funny or interesting during this next bit?" And she did that little... So sweet. Instead of just walking out, that whole thing about receiving an exciting gift and just being a child again for a second. I love these people.

I would like half-pint of... They all came in and did ADR on this, they replaced their dialog with exactly the same. No, it was great. Still saying... - You're kidding. Really?

God, he looks good.

That's Alan's handwriting. It's a very accurate film, this. Social realism at its most severe.

This was the last day's shooting we did. It was shot in some racecourse. Sandown or something like that, which we tried to make look like an airport. Sandown or something like that, which we tried to make look like an airport. Watch out! Here comes Colin Frissell.

So here we go, this was Sandown. - That's Sandown just outside London? Yeah. Yeah, sprayed. - For Milwaukee? Sandown? - Yeah, I think so. Have they got an airport? No, they haven't got... That's dress design, that's Jim Clay. I thought we did the races. I think there's always too much snow in your films anyway, Richard. -/ like a bit of snow. - Snow on the poster this time. Now, this was one of the best days of the shoot, 'cause these American girls came in and they just tore the script apart. Really? - Yeah, all the English actors are so respectful, but they just said, "There's not enough funny stuff in here. "Can we try and pep it up a bit with some good lines?"

Hi, I'm Stacey. Jeannie? Bloody hell. This is what it's like, apparently, in Wisconsin. Do you think that I'll get a percentage of the tourism in Wisconsin? I think they'll name a city after you. I can't believe these girls.

And here we go. Elisha. Just a day off from 24. Thrilled not to be being tortured for once. Well, step aside, ladies. God in heaven! - Bill, you have to choose. Yeah, go on. You have to choose one of those three to live with for the rest of your life. There's no... The lady on the left. What, now? The one who just walked in? - Yeah, without question. No, you see... - l've been admiring her on 24. She's just... - She's so fantastic. She was So thrilled to have another costume, because in 24 she had to wear the same costume for 24 episodes. I'm very thrilled that she's got another costume. Thomas, what about you? - Me? These three girls. Come on, come clean. -/ don't know. - This is important stuff. One of these will be the lead in your next film. You'll be asked which of them do you want. Hugh, you haven't spoken yet. - Because I keep changing my mind. The one in the middle... - I have to Say, I like what the one in the middle is doing with her eyes. She made up all her lines. Her name's January Jones. What was she in? Our film, primarily. She was recently in American Wedding and was fantastic in that as well.

And we can't even afford pajamas. That was her line. Which means

I think that's my favorite shot in the film. Bill? Where do you stand? I'm with you on that. Suddenly your performance starts to look less good, doesn't it? Who remembers me? Those earrings, that earring, rather, was rather moving. Don't worry, you're totally gonna like her 'cause she is the sexy one. Really? Wow. - Yeah. Praise the Lord! - And he's a Christian. Cheers. - Cheers. This was actually shot at the back lot at Shepperton. And after this night, Kris Marshall returned his fee. He said having been undressed by three girls for 21 takes, he was perfectly happy to have done the whole job for free.

I have. - Let Mommy go first. I'll get it. I'll get it. Is this the scene where Emma suggested it should be more Christmassy? You then spent the rest of the day... The only directorial note you gave was, "Do it again but do it more Christmassy." It's so true. She said there wasn't enough of a family atmosphere, and then every time I said, "Can we have more family atmosphere," everyone on the set just said, "He didn't even realize that. "That's pathetic. He's only doing it 'cause Emma told him." This is... This is a version of Both Sides Now that Joni Mitchell recorded I think 30 years after she originally wrote it. It's a CD. Joni Mitchell. I can't remember what came first, but I think when I heard the song I thought it was so powerful that it was the thing that made me write this plot, really. My brilliant wife. - Yes. Actually, do you mind if I just absent myself for a second? All that ice cream. God, she's good. Darling, could you just make sure the kids are ready to go? I'll be back in a minute. - All right, all right, let's take it easy. So Classy.

Oh, God. The thing is, when Joni Mitchell wrote the song originally, it was sort of precocious, talking about what life and love and all those things add up fo, when she was 25 or something. But just revisiting it to the voice that's smoked 10,000 cigarettes, looking back on the whole of life, I think it's a great song. I sing Joni Mitchell rather beautifully, myself. Do you? - In About a Boy, don't I sing her? Oh, yeah, that's absolutely right. -[t's probably what gave you the idea. I love this shot, I admire this very much. That was artistic. Wow.

I think you've changed the cut since I saw this. 'Cause it all used to play in the wide shot. No, it does jerk around. - Did it always? This is one of those things that makes me think you actors are very good. No, it's just the way that you actually have to do it. You've got... We were 40 people around you in a room, and guys with microphones and everything like that, and then suddenly, you've actually got to do something for real. Bill, can you cry? -/ can if you give me... A day? - A day in the corner thinking bad thoughts. Thomas? - Me? Can you cry to order? Cry now. I'm not sure. - Stop. For God's sake. Here, there's a hanky. But she does it so... She's completely brilliant. It's not just that she cries, it's the way she cries. Yeah, but she is on the verge of a nervous breakdown as a human being. That's true. You can't bear it, can you? There we go. That stuff. Well, there we go.

Right, then. Come on. In the car. In the car. - Come on. I clearly didn't direct her at all this day, obviously. She just did it all herself. - That's a good shot. Bit more Christmassy. - That's a great shot.

And it moves. people only get together right at the very end.

By the way, I feel bad. I never ask you how your love life is going. No. Do you remember what a rush we were in at the end, Thomas? Do you remember we ran out of time and we had to do... This is why there's only one shot. Nothing to do with me having an idea or anything, it was to do with the fact we had to do this, and then we had to do all those scenes outside your room in the corridor and everything like that, and we had about an hour and a half left before Liam flew to America. and the big question is who is number one on the Radio One chart show tonight? Is it Blue or the unexpected... Lovely, very good. This was all shot from the top of the National Gallery. Terrifying. Are these our Christmas lights? Or were they up anyway? - No, they were up anyway. You are the champion! There's a quiet suit, Bill. - Yes, quite. We're live across the nation, and you're number one. How will you be celebrating? - I don't Know. Either I could behave like a real rock and roll loser

That's Catrina, who works for us, our Australian... New Zealand, lovely girl. And her husband, Andrew. Number one, from Billy Mack, it's Christmas Is All Around. It's basically a family album. You've just offended our entire Australian and New Zealand audience for this DVD by not really caring about the difference, or knowing which your assistant was. So that's quite a lot of money lost.

There's Laura Rees, who I absolutely adore, the girl in the red top. She was the girl who, a few weeks ago, fell off the balcony when playing Juliet because she was So into the part... - Where? ...and crashed off stage, in Nottingham, or something like that, and had to be taken to hospital with broken limbs. Oh, God. - That's what I call commitment. Abso-bloody-lutely. Now, look at these two lovely actors. - Sweethearts.

Again, you see, you take out the dialog and suddenly it sings. It's fabulous, yeah.

She did all the kissing. All I want for Christmas is you. Right. Thank you. Good. Good night.

Who is this singing? It's Otis Redding's version, so great. Almost my favorite music, here. - Stop it, he's good! Look, my favorite performance here. Just watch, nobody else would have realized that. That's the brother who had sex with his girlfriend, in the background of the counter shot. Have a look. Isn't that a great bit of acting? Guilty brother there. Guilty brother. Still gotta celebrate Christmas with them. I

I

- I

He's good at that, you can't deny that. - He's very good. He can hail a taxi. He can walk. - He makes that scarf from 1979 really work.

This is, in fact, the scene which we reshot, the one which confirmed that it wouldn't work for Laura and Rodrigo. The one which the test audiences begged us not to do. Look at Laura's acting here. I think it would be stupid for anybody to talk now. Just look at her little face.

So, their relationship fell apart on the basis of... Then I hate him for that. It's just that he's a nervous bloke, and he had a feeling that she was too fragile and a bit damaged and it was gonna be complex and complicated, and just didn't feel comfy with each other anymore. That's not the reason you hate him. You hate him because of what he looked like when he took his shirt off. That's the reason you hate him, and you're trying to post-rationalize it. Hang on, those were not my hands holding that. Very good acting by those hands. - Well spotted. -/ think they were girl's hands. - Look at this. This was one of the ones... I was saying, Thomas, what a rush we were in. This was one of the ones. Literally, Liam had one stab at this.

Right. He did well, actually. -/ tell you, I like films made like that. Four Weddings was made entirely like that. On the hoof, in desperation. On the hoof. Oh, yeah.

There's Monty Python's book there, dropped in. She's not a very good cook. She may be a nice girl. We had long discussions, Joanna and I, about what Keira should be wearing. about what Keira should be wearing. I said no one would be wearing something as attractive as this just casually at home, and she said, "] promise you, it's the right decision." I think she was right. Look how much trouble Mickey Coulter has taken lighting her face in this scene. And look how much trouble he took lighting my face. Or, indeed, Andrew's, but we were all so enjoying Keira's shot that we did 17 takes of Keira, and then Andrew had a couple of stabs at it.

Kate Moss.

This was a scene showing my working methods. I was trying to work out what I wanted this final scene to be, and I went to the girls in the office and said to them, "If a guy was going to do a really romantic gesture, "what do you think would work?" And I went back into my office and came out with a suggestion and suggested it to them and they went, "Horrible." And then another one and they went, "Horrible." Then finally, I came out with this one. - What were the two they hated? One of them was covering the road with roses, I think, so she stepped outside, and they just said it would be pathetic. - That is horrible. I think another one had to do with a helicopter. They were pathetic. This was the one they...

Andrew is so sort of guileless in this scene. So unaffected and true.

That's All Saints Road. Yeah, it's the All Saints Road, and that's The Ripe Tomato. My friend Rupert lives right there. - Does he?

Wasn't there one that said "fatso"? There was. We cut that one out, too many gags. I love what she does there, I think that's so beautifully done. Enough. Enough now. Very difficult, talking to yourself. People always do it in my films. And I think Shakespeare's plays, those are the two. Yes. Preposterous. You're supposed to be at Elton John's. Bill, this is the first time you've seen this. There's some proper acting just about to happen. Are you ready for it? Not strictly speaking. I'll have a go.

It was about Christmas. The dressing of this room is fantastic. Look at all these posters. I love the fact that Jaws is up there. They're all posters of you, and then there's Jaws. I own that one on the wall now. Fragile Man. And I realized that, as dire chance and fateful... The Bleeding Fingers Tour. Moments of Madness. It's very difficult to talk over this, as Bill has never actually seen this. l'm sorry, Bill. - Please, talk, talk as much as you please. Quiet. There's The Bleeding Fingers. But you have to remember our audience have actually seen it. But Bill hasn't. Quiet. you. Good God.

Yeah. Ten minutes at Elton John's, you're aS gay as a Maypole.

I left Elton's where there were a hefty number of half-naked chicks with their mouths open

Well, Bill... It was a weird day, this, wasn't it, Bill? We were in some strange flat in Maida Vale or something like that. This wasn't a set, this really did feel like where a manager would end up. It was a very witty set, like a shrine.

This was inspired by my realizing, when I was 30, that I'd spent more than half my life in hotel rooms with Rowan Atkinson. Much more than any other girlfriend. We'd toured around. Did he ever make this speech to you? On the contrary. He would make speeches saying things like, "I'm sorry, "but we've had to cut your percentage of the box office takes down from 10 to five "because the touring has cost us more than we thought."

That is one of the most feeble of all the ADR, the ones for the TV version. I think It's, "Let's have a drink and watch some telly." -/t was absolutely... - The Disney version, yeah. Very good acting here, Hugh. That's a very serious face. Isn't it? Isn't it? That's the one you can use when you're playing George Bush. It was a very odd moment and I feel like a prize idiot. Particularly because, if you can't say it at Christmas when can you, eh, I'm actually yours. With love... Dawning realization. I remember having to talk you through this bit. "Put down the card." "Thinking things." - "Look serious. Pick up the card." "Slightly furrowed brow. Pick it up again." They were nice hands. "Reach for the phone." "Urgent voice." - This is how directing works, isn't it? You just talk them through.

Do you think when the audience hears that music come up, they're dreading I'm going to start dancing again? A frisson of terror goes through.

Very good, sir. lsn't that bridge beautiful? - That"s beautiful. Where is that? That's Albert Bridge. - Albert Bridge. So pretty. Hang on, we just went the wrong way over it. Not if you're looking at it from this side, as it were. You could be coming from... You haven't crossed the line, you've crossed the... It looked like we were going north over the river, though. No, you were going south, weren't you? The performance by your bodyguard is fantastic all the way through this. Look at him.

Hey, aren't...

Yes. It was cold when we were doing this, wasn't it? Do you remember? It was a really nasty drizzle. Didn't we have to go back and do all this again? I seem to remember being in that street twice. - No. I think we just did the wide shot of the street. We didn't get that done, but we did all this stuff. No, she doesn"t. - Oh, dear. Okay. But the funny thing about this scene... - The person I'm actually talking to here, 'cause these children had to be sent home early 'cause they were little and had to go to bed, so here I'm talking to your Emma, kneeling by the camera, doing a very bad imitation of a child. She only just had to kneel. She's not very... No, that's right.

That's very good. They did disco dancing.

Brilliant. You're not who I think you are, are you? Yes, I'm afraid I am, and I'm sorry about all the cock-ups. Do you think people notice that she's wearing the necklace? I know I never did until just now. There we go, thank you, that's just what these DVDs are for, that sort of observation. Do you know, the first time we edited the film, I cut all that bit out, with the doors, which shows I'm an arse. - lt's very good acting. which shows I'm an arse. - lt's very good acting. I love this. Hello. Is Natalie in? Where the fuck is my fucking coat? Again, that's good on the telly, "Where in the world is my blooming coat?" ...and my Uncle Tony and my Auntie Glynne.

And this is the... Martine looks pretty pretty in this, doesn't she? Yes, she does. - I love those shoulders. Is it wrong to say to people, "Watch her hair"? Why, is it going to change sides? It's behind her shoulder. Wait a second. There it's in front. No, it's back. Sloppy. Now it's behind. I think that is wrong. Right, yes. Of course. Right.

Natalie. Well, listen, I

No, it's nothing, really. - Keith will be very disappointed. Keith is my favorite actor in the film. - He's very good. He becomes the octopus, doesn't he? Thomas, you're good, but just watch this guy. The funny thing Is, I don't recognize him as a normal person. -/ can only see him with eight legs. - Which its Keith? Just watch him. He's in the next scene, he does... It shows the extent to which Martine and Hugh overact, if you watch his work in the next scene. Lovely, yes. - Lovely. Thank you. Hold tight, everybody.

There we go. And I tell you, it was... I mean, what time was it? It was 3:00 in the morning or something when we got round to doing this. I seem to remember you were still in a very sweet mood, Hugh. I think he's looking like that because Hugh's hit him so many times. You're welcome.

I mean, I came into the room and he slinked towards me and there was a fire Slunk, surely. ...and nothing happened... Maybe. I'm not actually English, so I often make little grammatical mistakes. I

And I think you're the man I really... - We're here. ...love. - Oh, wow. That really was just round the corner. I like the way his neck doesn't move.

I don't think that was acting when he hit you, I think he actually did knee you, didn't he? I think I'm the kind of actor who uses accidents, you know. I think maybe once he did, and I was able to adapt that and use it. I'm very flexible. I've worked in America. You could say your whole career was a sort of accident.

But I will be very sorry

You're about to be very funny here, Thomas. Am I? - Yeah. Look out.

Here we go. Where did you two meet? What are they doing there? - Well, they're... There we go. Here we go. No! 'Cause your hair's perfect, of course. - Took you hours. Look at that walking. Look at that man walk. - Wow. That's an audition for James Bond if ever I've seen one.

That was sick-making. - No, no, no. Brilliant. See, and he can do funny, too. - Yeah. That was the first shot of the film.

He was already on peak form. Okay. Terry, I won't be long.

Look, this has to be a very secret visit, okay? Don't worry. This was my school. I know my way around. Come on.

She can giggle. and you're not even... David. This was an awkward afternoon, wasn't it? This was shot in a real school, this wasn't a set or anything like that, so the corridor was so thin. The camera at this moment is about four inches away from Hugh's head. I don't like it that close. It never occurred to me you'd actually turn up. I thought it was about time I did. I just didn't want anyone to see, Thomas, had you ever actually seen any of the actors in this film before we made the film? People like Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson? You ever seen any of their films? - What are you talking about? Your work isn't very popular with the young. He's seen everything I've ever done. - He's not allowed in. What? - He hasn't done any ads, you see, has he? That's the thing. But Martine, presumably you saw her in EastEnders? I haven't, actually. I don't watch EastEnders. So, Bill, for instance, there, you don't have any idea who he is? He's this nice bloke who keeps turning up to junkets. No, seriously.

Look, see you after, yeah? - Yeah, probably. Yeah.

Come on. - Right.

There we go. It's costume heaven here. - Brilliant. There's a very, very good performance, I think, by Spider-Man coming up. Oh, yeah, Spider-Man. Not a bad performance by the whale. But here, this is acting for you. God, is that actually Tobey Maguire?

So, Thomas, tell us about your drumming. Drumming? - Could you do it at all before you got cast? No, not really. My dad taught me, though. Did he? - Yeah, he's a drummer. Rigorously? I mean, did you have lessons day by day? Yeah. Yeah. 'Cause it's bloody convincing when you do do it. It was great, actually, I really enjoyed it. Have you got your own kit? Yeah, my dad's got it. This girl here, we auditioned about 200 girls to play Olivia's part. This girl here, we auditioned about 200 girls to play Olivia's part. She's got an amazing voice. We tried to add breaths into her singing here, so that people would actually believe it was her singing, 'cause... How old was she? Ten? Eleven? - Ten. Eleven. Something like that. It's amazing.

All I want for Christmas Is you Yes! There we go! - Look at him show off. We're rocking now. Brilliant. That took me ages. I kept coming in late all the time. Was that the most complicated bit? Yeah, I think so. I had to come in right on the cue.

Do you notice the way the drum cuts out? - Yes. Very clever. How about that for accuracy of postproduction? That was Duncan Kenworthy's idea, may I say. I was against it. You can't drum and point at the same time.

Teachers are good. It was actually on the day where it actually clicked and I could do it. Before I was okay, and I kept missing bits, but on the day, when everyone was there, was the day I actually got it. Glad it wasn't the other way round. This is my friend Mandy, this fabulous girl, the teacher on the right. We were actually developing a little love story between her and Adam, the teacher on the left. But we didn't fulfill it as fully... There we go. They're watching the show. 'Cause I

God, it was a long day, wasn't it, doing this song. -/ loved it. I thought it was great. - Yeah, we had fun in the school. Except I'd got a sore throat by the end of it. 'Cause there were mats of rubber on the drums to make them quieter, and they stank. I was gonna Say, you should have had sore hands. That's very good, Tom, when she goes, "And you," the look on your face. Yeah, right, abso-bloody-lutely. This poor kid on the left was playing the saxophone, he's just there, and he was right next to one of the cymbals. Ended up deaf all day. Hugh, very good surprise acting. Right.

Little bow. This is the bit I have this terrible fantasy about, when you die, that this might be the bit of film they show. That. It'll be the end of the obituary. And then they'll show that, that little wave, and then they'll say, "He's dead now." And how much we loved him, and we never gave him enough praise. I think it'll be either that shot or my mug shot.

Now, this scene here, which is hard to talk over, because Em's and Alan's acting is so remarkable, Alan made me write this scene. He said the story wasn't ended properly. Really? So this is after production? - No, when we first talked about it. He just said, "] think you'll find that no one knows what's happened." So we wrote this and it's sort of my favorite scene. ...sex and a necklace

lam so in the wrong. So what? - "In the wrong." A classic fool.

You've made the life I lead foolish, too. Darling. Darlings! You were wonderful.

Orange.

Sammy! Is it scary, acting opposite Em in Sense and Sensibility? Did you ever think, "She's as good as me?"

- Tell her that you love her. "She's learning fast, she's improved." Here you are again, Thomas. - Yes. Very serious face you're pulling here. I never told your mom enough. I

Okay, Dad. That's what I love about you, you take your time, don't you? I'm sure most actors would have just rushed that, but you thought, "Let him wait, I'll have the thought, then I'll do it." Oh, my God. That's okay.

She was so sweet that day, Claudia. Stepdad, actually. Daniel. - I'm Carol. Carol. Okay, I'm back. Let's go. - Yeah. Well... I

Carol. I'll make sure we do. - Yeah? I like this shot with the two future brother-in-laws there. That's my friend Patrick Delaney. "Which team do you support?"

Slow mo. - Beautiful use of.

This is shot in Marseilles, in all these fantastic old streets. That door, which looks so designed, as though it had been distressed by lots of painters, as though it had been distressed by lots of painters, all this is a completely real street and real door. And this was the real bloke who lived behind it. Exactly. We didn't pay him a penny. We just gave him some food. He just happened to say the right stuff. He is, as it were, Portugal's Trevor Nunn. Really? - And I only found out afterwards. And it was dreadful, so I spent the whole... One, we put him in vests. Here's Imogen.

We put him in a vest, and I kept saying to him, "Come on, act!" "Do it better and louder," stuff like that. "Get a grip!" Then the next morning, he came down to breakfast, he gave me a 400-page coffee book about his career in the theater. I felt so ashamed. It's very good, this bit.

She's a wonderful actress, this girl. Her name's Carla. Wait. Wait. And this set was what we spent half our budget on. This isn't Heathrow airport, it's Shepperton. lt was very good, actually. - The set? I know. Except I notice when I go to Heathrow, it's a bit clean. Very hot, as well. -[t doesn't really look as nice as that. Very hot. I love this guy's performance. No. Did you direct him? No. No, he just spontaneously... - He was great. Here we go. This was the return of the angel. And we actually did a scene after this where Rowan disappeared as he walked across, but it all went. Thank you. Hold those. Okay. - Yes! No, I must have left them where I was having... Thomas, this is where all your gymnastics disappeared. Yeah. - All that gymnastics you did. Originally, he was... - I was amazing. I did a back-flip over all these people. Did you? - Wasn't really you, was it? No, I know, but... Has it gone, then? It's gone because we never could establish it properly at the front of the movie, and therefore felt very odd. -/ do a little thing. Look at that! That's pretty impressive. This was Heathrow. - That was Heathrow, yeah, late at night. At 2:00 in the morning. - Pretty exciting. It's a stirring theme, this, don't you think? This could be in a war film. That looks good. - It's great. And I liked it first time around in Shakespeare In Love as well. Shut up! That's a great shot, Tom. What about that? We had to work through the night at Heathrow, didn't we? This was all real Heathrow here. Just running. Did you sleep all the next day? Yeah. Quite easily, actually. And then this is Shepperton. This next shot, rather annoyingly, was directed by Duncan Kenworthy, 'cause I was somewhere else. Very weak. -[t's a parody of The Graduate. Do you remember, when he shouts through that glass thing? Homage. - Homage, that's right, sorry. That's good. That's very good. - Cool. Yeah, very good. Brilliant. There's me. - Bill, watch out. Oh, no. I'd forgotten about this. - Watch out. Here it comes. I may have to turn away. No, look. It's important. That"s your bottom. - It's not actually me, it's Christina Aguilera. Oh, my God. You missed it. - Thank God. No, no, no. You're a very, very attractive man. - Tom, don't look, Tom. You'll have dreams about it that'll keep you awake. Joanna. sam?

I thought you didn't know my name. - Course I do.

Look at your little face. I'm told these are very handsome shots of Liam. The girls seem to go a bit weak during these bits. They're all handsome shots of Liam.

First of a thousand screen kisses. Wait till the boys see that one, Thomas. Wait till the girls see that one.

And then we thought, it's the end of the film, we'd better put the star at the end.

That's a heck of a mustache. Do you know, that's not a prop mustache? That's fantastic. We paid him 100 quid for the night's work. And the mustache 250 quid. I love this. She looks so fantastic in this scene. This is a restaurant in Marseilles. - Poor Colin. Poor Colin, did you say? Acted off the screen? Just sort of outshone. You can see him trying his little heart out here. Come on, Col. He learned Portuguese and everything. It wasn't my idea, this. You've even had to cut away from him to these people. This Romeo and Juliet thing was the luck of the find of the place, that we found a place with two levels. I hadn't written this.

A lot of people enjoyed this bit. I think it's really romantic.

Who does she look like? I think she's gorgeous. She reminds me of someone.

She does so well not to give anything away in all these shots. Especially with Colin. - What exactly is she going to say?

Thank you. I also think Mick Coulter's done a very good job, 'cause the worst thing you can do to a girl is to shoot her from below. - ls that right? But she looks gorgeous, doesn't she? Maybe he deliberately did it 'cause he knew he had to shoot down on Colin to make him look thinner.

She does look gorgeous. Even I get a bit moist-eyed at this shot as she comes down the stairs.

Colin's so relieved it's over. And she got within a quarter of an inch of the camera here. As you can imagine, we were... Sweetheart.

There's that lovely note again, by Craig. It's exactly the same series of notes as the first time she kisses him there by the motorway. Oh, my God.

Yes! There you are. - Yeah, baby. Yeah, baby. Never knowingly underdressed. Check out the shades. Do you know, Bill, I have that coat now? - Do you? Really? - Yeah. This is Juliet. This is Peter. Mark, hi, didn't see you there. - Yeah, just thought I'd tag along.

I think maybe now I have made the wrong choice... Lovely polo neck Colin's wearing. Scrawny neck, cover it up. Again, Emma's acting here is of the highest. Thanks, Dad.

Come on. Home.

There she is. Hi. - Hello. Come on, Thomas, tell us, did you really fall in love? Are you emailing? - No. I had such high hopes. I

That's what I call shades. - Yeah, man, serious. You have to be under 30. Hello, Harriet. I hope you don't mind, I sort of brought my sister to stay. We loved Shannon. And we loved Denise.

Abdul could not believe that day. It was his first film. I think it was his first day, and we Said, "This is what you've got to do now." I love that shot of you as well.

God, you weigh a lot. - Shut your face.

Then this last section, again, we go back to that. This was all edited by my girlfriend Emma and is, again, my favorite bit.

Which airport are we in here? - It's Heathrow. ls it? - Yeah.

Don't think you've seen this, either.

Very good. - That's good.

Love is all around, isn't it, Hugh? Don't say no. That's nice. That's really good. - Not bad at all. Very good. Well done, Richard. - Well done. Well done? Has anyone ever said that before at the end of a DVD, "Well done"? For heaven's sakes. We've never seen it before. What's this song? It's called The Trouble With Love. By? - By Kelly Clarkson.

cant it, Bill? Abso-bloody-lutely. I think that should be the end.