Hugh Grant Says He Dreaded Filming Love Actually's Now-Iconic Dance Scene: 'Excruciating'



Jen Juneau is simply a integer quality writer for PEOPLE. A '90s youngster and fearfulness movie gourmet, she commenced astatine the emblem successful 2016, aft a decennary of moving arsenic a method writer aft which moonlighting arsenic a writer starting successful 2013. Originally from New Orleans, Jen grew up each successful NOLA and Florida and yet attended the University of Central Florida successful Orlando (still her home base!), successful which she earned a bachelor's successful English/technical verbal exchange, with a insignificant successful mag journalism.

Hugh Grant's creation country successful Love Actually is 1 of the astir loved moments successful the 2003 British excursion accepted — but the histrion himself wasn't precisely pleased astir it going in.

PEOPLE has an exclusive clip from the imminent ABC News unsocial The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later, hosted by mode of Diane Sawyer, wherein Grant, sixty two, admits helium "hate(d)" the idea.

The country successful query sees Grant's idiosyncratic David, a.Ok.A the premier minister, getting down for the duration of his residence astatine 10 Downing Street to a backing tune of The Pointer Sisters' "Jump."

"I saw it wrong the publication and I thought, 'Well, I'll hatred doing that,' " helium remembers to Sawyer, 76, successful the special. "I didn't fancy doing the creation successful immoderate respect, fto unsocial rehearsing it."

"He kept saying no," provides author/director Richard Curtis, joking, "I deliberation helium hoped I'd get sick oregon thing and we mightiness say, 'Oh, well, what a disgrace, we'll request to suffer that dancing series.' "

Curtis, sixty six, tells Sawyer that Grant "become grumpy" astatine the time they filmed the scene, nevertheless "it became a contractual duty" that helium travel thru.

"A contractual guillotine, yes," Grant says, agreeing with the connection Sawyer throws out. "And I'm retired of rhythm, by means of the manner, chiefly astatine the opening aft I wiggle my ass."

Curtis was ecstatic whilst Grant committed to the scene, joking to Sawyer, "[I thought], 'That's agonizingly embarrassing. He's conscionable perfect.' "

Grant credits himself with the thought of getting the premier minister's caput catching him wrong the act, which rapidly puts an discontinue to his impromptu boogie.

"And to astatine the moment, determination is galore humans — and I hold with them — who accidental it is the maximum excruciating country ever dedicated to celluloid," helium jokes. "But past a fewer humans emotion it."

Curtis calls Grant — whom helium has labored with connected galore films, including Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Notting Hill (1999) and Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) — his "luckiest damage," explaining, "I don't adjacent recognize if I'd person a movie vocation without Hugh, truthful I'm precise grateful helium came alongside."

Despite his preliminary reservations astir the scene, Grant recreated it for a large crushed backmost successful 2017 arsenic portion of a Love Actually mini-sequel — this clip acceptable to Drake's "Hotline Bling."

The 10-minute sequel — written and directed done Curtis — turned into a portion of Comic Relief's yearly Red Nose Day, a fashionable fundraiser for youngsters that continually attracts ample stars for its drama workouts.

Love Actually follows an ensemble formed of successful the main London-based characters, whose lives intertwine successful galore (ordinarily romantic) dating-associated approaches wrong the weeks main up to Christmas.

The upcoming one-hour unique marking the twentieth day of its making "will person a look astatine however the movie person go a beloved Christmas civilization and a planetary sensation, with caller penetration into astatine the backmost of-the-scenes secrets and iconic scenes," successful measurement with a release.

"The unsocial volition besides analyse however the COVID-19 pandemic refocused the ways we similar and articulation and the omnipresent acts of kindness interior our families and communities," the merchandise adds.

Returning alongside Grant and Curtis for the peculiar are Emma Thompson (Karen, Grant's onscreen sister), Laura Linney (Sarah), Bill Nighy (Billy Mack), Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Sam), Olivia Olson (Joanna) and greater. Also blanketed volition beryllium a connection from Martine McCutcheon, who performs Natalie, Grant's onscreen emotion interest.

Love Actually additionally starred the overdue Alan Rickman, Andrew Lincoln, Keira Knightley, Colin Firth, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rodrigo Santoro, Lúcia Moniz, Martin Freeman, Kris Marshall, Joanna Page, Heike Makatsch, Abdul Salis, Gregor Fisher and Liam Neeson.

The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later – A Diane Sawyer Special airs Tuesday astatine 8 p.M. ET connected ABC, and time connected Hulu.