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Love Actually is filled with memorable moments, but one of its most talked-about scenes was actually a nightmare for Hugh Grant to film. The famous dance scene—where Grant’s character, Prime Minister David, grooves through 10 Downing Street—might be iconic now, but he dreaded every second of it.
In a reunion special, Grant admitted, “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.” Director Richard Curtis joked there was a “contractual guillotine” if Grant refused, and Grant went along with it, albeit reluctantly. “I’m out of rhythm by the way, especially at the beginning when I wriggle my arse,” he quipped.
Despite his discomfort, Grant claimed one of the scene’s funniest moments as his own idea—when a staffer catches him mid-dance. “Genius,” he said, laughing.
Even years later, Grant remains torn on the scene’s legacy. “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.”