Even Richard Curtis reckons Love Actually's 'stalker' scene is a bit dodgy

Richard Curtis believes the infamous 'stalker' scene in Love Actually was a bit of a miscue on his part.

The 2003 Christmas movie features a number of interweaving storylines concerning busy Londoners over the festive period.

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One storyline involves Andrew Lincoln's character being in love with his best friend's wife, played by Keira Knightley. He eventually turns up at her door and reveals his true feelings via a selection of placards, one of which reads 'To Me, You Are Perfect.'

What was viewed as a charming little scene at the time has been viewed with a modern lens as being creepy. And, Curtis reckons it is.

“He actually turns up, to his best friend’s house, to say to his best friend’s wife, on the off chance that she answers the door, ‘I love you'" he recalled in an interview with The Independent.

“I think it’s a bit weird. I mean, I remember being taken by surprise about seven years ago, I was going to be interviewed by somebody and they said, ‘Of course, we’re mainly interested in the stalker scene,’ and I said, ‘What scene is that?’ And then I was, like, educated in it.

“All I can say is that a lot of intelligent people were involved in the film at the time, and we didn’t think it was a stalker scene,” he added. “But if it’s interesting or funny for different reasons now, you know, God bless our progressive world.”

Andrew Lincoln on Love Actually scene

In 2016, Entertainment Weekly conducted a poll asking readers whether they thought Lincoln's character was a down-on-his-luck lovestruck sap or a creepy stalker.

66% voted for the former.

"In one of the most romantic movies of all time, I got to play the only guy who doesn't get the girl," he told EW in 2017

"The story is set up like a prism looking at all the different qualities of love. Mine was unrequited. So I got to be this weird stalker guy.

"My big scene in the doorway felt so easy. I just had to hold cards and be in love with Keira Knightley. And that was my own handwriting on the cards, thank you for noticing. But I kept saying to Richard ‘Are you sure I'm not going to come off as a creepy stalker?'"