The surprising real life age difference between Keira Knightley and Thomas Brodie-Sangster in ‘Love Actually’

Two decades since its release, Richard Curtis' 2003 Christmas-themed, feelgood romantic comedy Love Actually has become a classic of the festive period.

In one of the six intertwining storylines, Keira Knightley plays Juliet, a young bride with a secret admirer. Juliet ties the knot with Peter (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) totally unaware that, Mark (Andrew Lincoln), the best man, is secretly in love with her.

Keira Knightly creeped out by cold calling admirer

Recalling the scene when Mark turns up announced at her front door then silently professes his love for her by holding up a series of cue cards, Knightley told the LA Times. “The slightly stalkerish aspect of it. I do remember that. I remember Richard [Curtis] saying, ‘No, you’re looking at [Andrew] like he’s creepy,’ and I was like, ‘But it is quite creepy.’ And then having to redo it to fix my face to make him seem not creepy.”

Knightley admitted that she was “only on set for about five days” and doesn’t remember much about her participation. But while she had already come to the public’s attention for her lead role in Bend it like Beckham, Love Actually catapulted her into a new level, turning her into a household name.

Love Actually has been back in the news this month with several articles and interviews with cast members and director Richard Curtis.

Richard Curtis reflects on Love Actually cast members age differences

Curtis spoke about the surprising age gap between Keira Knightley and her co-stars. Knightley was barely 18 years old when filming began. She was eight years younger than her onscreen husband, Peter [Chiwetel Ejiofor] and 12 years younger than Mark [Andrew Lincoln]. In fact Keira had only just left school and was five years older than Thomas Brodie-Sangster who played schoolboy Sam.

Curtis told LadBible that he didn’t think that Keira’s young age “didn’t seem too peculiar at the time” but admitted that he might do things differently if he were to make the same film today. “I’m really interested in whether or not I would think ‘don’t do that’ now. And that actually now we probably wouldn’t have gotten someone as young as Keira was in,” he explained before adding “but on the other hand, I’m thrilled we cast Keira because I thought she was perfect. And I don’t think she reads in the film as being a teenager, I think she reads as being about 23. But it’s interesting that they were far apart”.

As for Knightley, she says she has no regrets and looks back on her early career philosophically. “It’s very brutal to have your privacy taken away in your teenage years, early 20s, and to be put under that scrutiny at a point when you are still growing. Having said that, I wouldn’t have the financial stability or the career that I do now without that period. I had a five-year period between the age of 17 and 21-ish, and I’m never going to have that kind of success again. It totally set me up for life. Did it come at a cost? Yes, it did. It came at a big cost. Knowing the cost, could I, in all good conscience, say to my kid, you should do that? No. But am I grateful for it? Yes. But then that’s life, isn’t it?"