Hugh Grant, who starred in Love Actually, claims he was hesitant to perform his now-famous dance performance. In 2003, the beloved holiday movie Love Actually made its debut, starring Grant, Liam Neeson, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, and others.
The romantic comedy film, which was directed by Richard Curtis, explores nine interrelated love tales of various kinds—some of them romantic, family, or platonic. Grant plays David, a newly elected British Prime Minister, in the movie, and his character begins to feel attracted to Natalie, one of his staff members (Martine McCutcheon).
As David gets used to his new position, he wins a significant personal and professional triumph by opposing the US President (Billy Bob Thornton) during a stirring speech to his supporters and the President’s troops. Later that night, as “Jump” by The Pointer Sisters is played on the radio in his honor, David joins in the dancing in a funny and endearing scene that has since come to be associated with the movie.
Grant’s resistance to filming the Prime Minister’s dance scene was revealed by Curtis and Grant during their interview on The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later with ABC News (via Deadline). See Grant’s comments regarding the dance sequence after the break:
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… And to this day, there’s many people, and I agree with them, who think it’s the most excruciating scene ever committed to celluloid. But then some people like it.