Pouring on the Charm

It can't be true that all British actors are more charming and witty than American ones, but it often seems that way, especially in movies by Richard Curtis, the writer of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones's Diary. Having given them so many great lines, Curtis was able to assemble quite a constellation of stars for his directorial debut, Love Actually, which opens next week. In a web of interconnected love stories, Hugh Grant plays the Prime Minister, Emma Thompson his sister, Liam Neeson a widower with a stepson, and Colin Firth a writer who moves to France after his girlfriend cheats on him. Curtis and four of his stars sat down with TIME's Josh Tyrangiel in London to discuss love, Governor Schwarzenegger and Grant's inimitable dance moves.

EMMA THOMPSON: I think Hugh is quite hung over.

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[Grant, with a box of Advil, groans.]

RICHARD CURTIS: So this is one of those things where you'll put our initials, like E.T., and then it's all boiled down ...

EMMA: ... into the stupidest thing you ever said ever, which you then wear round your neck.

RICHARD: Talk about stupid things around your neck, what is that? [Thompson is wearing a fur collar.]

EMMA: [Laughing] F___ off, all of you. You should be appreciative I've made an effort for your bloody film.

RICHARD: You look absolutely gorgeous. Now I don't want that bit in — the "your bloody film" bit.

COLIN FIRTH: Do we have to cut it anytime anyone says "your bloody film," or just Emma?

RICHARD: Cut that bit too.

LIAM NEESON: So why was my computer scene cut out of the film?

RICHARD: You see, we've got to give them something for the DVD now.

LIAM: But was it hilariously unfunny?

RICHARD: It's absolutely lovely. The truth of the matter is that the bonding between you and your stepson, which that scene was meant to achieve, was there from the start.

EMMA: What about the scene with my son in the corridor, about the farts? It's gone.

RICHARD: Oh, shut up, the whole lot of you.

TIME: The story lines that actually made it into the movie are about love between a husband and wife, husband's best friend and wife, brother and sister, mentally impaired brother and sister, language-impaired boss and employee, boy and girl, and a widowed stepfather and son. It all takes place at Christmas, with loving families and adorable children. Did you ever think, O.K., enough is enough?

HUGH GRANT: I thought it was very brave. As you say, it runs the risk of being unfashionable to be that positive and warm about life and people. And Richard doesn't seem to care at all. He goes full out for it. His saving grace all his life has been that he takes you to the edge, where you're about to say enough already, and then there's a good joke that undercuts the whole thing. It's a great feat of trapeze.

COLIN: You cannot afford to miss, picking up on that metaphor. You miss by an inch, and you've got something that's catastrophic. There's a thin line between being deeply moved and the desire to vomit.

RICHARD: Can the vomit bit not be in?

EMMA: No, I think we need vomit.

TIME: Liam, people tend to overlook your comedic work in Schindler's List. Is that why you wanted to be in this movie?

LIAM: That and knowing it was Richard and all these extraordinary actors. I thought, My God, I could only wish.

RICHARD: I had just rewatched Husbands and Wives, and there's a fantastic scene where Liam's come back from a date and he's trying to work out whether to kiss Judy Davis. He's so calm, and that magical calm that Liam can do was crucial. I like to feel that in this film people are allowed to do things that are very natural to them.

TIME: Like Hugh Grant being Prime Minister?

RICHARD: I met the Prime Minister after Notting Hill, and he said he enjoyed it, but why were all the characters in my movies such losers? So I thought, I'll pay him back.

TIME: Hugh, did you enjoy playing out the fantasy of global power?

HUGH: Well, I do quite like to be the focus of attention, so as far as the Prime Minister gets out of his car and waves, I liked that. But if the question is, Did I enjoy doing the part?, the answer is of course no. Acting is unmitigated torture for me from beginning to end.

LIAM: Is it, Hugh? I remember reading something about this. Why?

HUGH: Because I don't like the pressure. I don't mind rehearsing. You do something in rehearsal and someone says, "Hey, that's pretty good. Quite funny." And then from that moment on you're just dreading trying to repeat it.

LIAM: You repeat it very, very well.

RICHARD: Yeah, in film after film after film. [Much laughter.] I've got a terrible thing to admit. Whenever I look at the end of the movie, when Hugh's in front of that audience and they're all clapping and he does that little wave and disappears, I keep thinking, I hope that when he dies, that's the bit they show at the end of the news.

HUGH: It'd be either that or the mug shot.