Love Actually, Notting Hill Director Regrets Lack of Diversity in His Films

Richard Curtis was recently asked to reflect on his previous films, and he didn’t hold back.

Speaking at The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival, the writer/director of Bridget Jones’s Diary, Notting Hill and Love Actually fielded questions covering some of his film’s more controversial or dated aspects.

“I wish I’d been ahead of the curve,” Curtis said of the lack of diversity in his films. “I think because I came from a very undiverse school and bunch of university friends, I think that I hung on to the feeling that I wouldn’t know how to write those parts. I think I was just stupid and wrong about that. I felt as though me, my casting director, my producers just didn’t look outwards.”

As reported by Deadline, Curtis was interviewed by his own daughter Scarlett. She asked about “growing criticism around the ways your films treated women and people of color,” as well as fat-shaming.

On the latter topic, Curtis said: “I remember how shocked I was five years ago when Scarlett said to me, ‘You can never use the word ‘fat’ again.’ Wow, you were right. In my generation calling someone chubby [was funny] — in Love Actually there were jokes about that. Those jokes aren’t any longer funny.”

The times they are a-changing, as Bob Dylan sung. Speaking of which, Timothée Chalamet revealed he's working with an Elvis prep ream for his Bob Dylan portrayal.