Hugh Grant can't wrap his head around the fact that so many of us enjoy his dance sequence in Love Actually. As part of an upcoming ABC News special, which looks back on the beloved Christmas rom-com's influence over the last 20 years, the actor reflected on his role as David, the Prime Minister, in the movie – and recalled how reluctant he was to boogie around the set.
"I saw it in the script and I thought, 'Well, I'll hate doing that'. I didn't fancy doing the dance at all, let alone rehearsing it," Grant told Diane Sawyer in The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later. "To this day, there's many people, and I agree with them, who think it's the most excruciating scene ever committed to celluloid. Then some people like it. But I will give myself this credit... it was my idea to have that lady catch me. Genius."
The scene in question sees David bop his way around 10 Downing Street, as The Pointer Sisters' 'Jump' plays on the radio, before he awkwardly comes face-to-face with one of his secretaries. During the interview, Grant went on to say that he's mortified whenever he's forced to watch it back because he's out of rhythm, particularly "at the beginning when I wiggle my arse."
"He kept saying 'no'," writer-director Richard Curtis remembered from production way back in 2002. "I think he was hoping I'd get ill or something and we'd say, 'Oh, well, what a shame, we'll have to lose that dancing sequence.
"He was grumpy, he was grumpy, but he knew it was a contractual obligation," he laughed, before joking that it must have been "agonizingly embarrassing" to perform. "He's just perfect."
The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later airs on ABC on November 29. For more festive fun, check out our list of the best Christmas movies of all time.
