Emma Thompson has confirmed that she will not be returning for the belated sequel to Love Actually, owing to the death of Alan Rickman, a close friend who played her husband in the original film.
Following his death, Thompson, with whom he collaborated many times, wrote of her immense sadness, having “just kissed him goodbye”.
Asked what she thought her character in the film would be doing now, Thompson replied: “I would be working on some kind of ward.”
In 2015, the film’s script editor, Emma Freud, confirmed to fans that although Thompson and Rickman’s characters would have stayed together, they wouldn’t have been as happy.