Keira Knightley Has Only SeenLove ActuallyOnce, Opts forDie Hardat the Holidays Instead

Mar. 15, 2025

Keira Knightley in ‘Love Actually’ in 2003.Photo:Album/Alamy

Album/Alamy

Keira Knightleyshared her holiday viewing habits, and some fans may find them controversial.

But while scores of fans cue up the film every year, Knightley revealed that it’s not one of her own Christmas traditions.

“No,” Knightley admitted when Fallon asked if she ever watchesLove Actuallyduring the holiday season. “I saw it on the premiere when I was 18, and I’ve never seen it since.”

Keira Knightley in 2003’s ‘Love Actually’.

In the beloved rom-com, Knightley played Juliet, a recently married woman whose new husband Peter (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is unaware that his best friend Mark (Andrew Lincoln) is secretly in love with her. A scene in which Mark wishes Juliet a happy Christmas and tells her he’s moving on — all on giant cue cards — is one of the film’s most memorable.

It’s also one that’s come in for some criticism over the years, with some fans now calling it “creepy.”

Knightley alsoweighed in on that criticism recently. In an interview with theL.A. Times, published Dec. 5, the actress,who was 17 when she made the film, recalled being aware of the “creep factor” while shooting the scene with Lincoln and directorRichard Curtis.

Keira Knightley in ‘Black Doves’.Ludovic Robert/Netflix

Ludovic Robert/Netflix

“The slightly stalkerish aspect of it – I do remember that,” she said. “My memory is of Richard, who is now a very dear friend, of me doing the scene, and him going, ‘No, you’re looking at [Andrew] like he’s creepy,’ and I’m like [in a dramatic whisper], ‘But itisquite creepy.’ ”

Knightley also recalled having to reshoot the scene “to fix my face to make [Lincoln] seem not creepy.”

But that’s not why thePride & Prejudicestar avoids the film.

“This is nothing aboutLove Actually,” she told Fallon onThe Tonight Show. “I don’t really watch anything I do. But I know thatLove Actuallyobviously has become this massive thing. And for lots of people, it’s part of their Christmas. But no, I’ve not seen it since then.”

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Instead, Knightely said her holiday film of choice isDie Hard— a somewhat controversial choice, as there is anongoing debateover whether the Christmas Eve-set 1988 action flick starring Bruce Willisactually counts as a holiday movie.

It remains to be seen whether a similar debate will spring up around Knightley’s own Christmas-set spy series,Black Doves, for which she was justnominated for a Golden Globe Award.

source: people.com