‘Love Actually’ Lesbian Couple Subplot Cut From Film Unearthed

Love Actually, the 2003 instant Christmas classic, had a subplot featuring a lesbian couple that was cut from the final film.

‘Love Actually’ Deleted Scenes

Writer/director Richard Curtis recently revealed that Anne Reid was meant to play a headmistress who is caring for her ailing partner in Love Actually. Unfortunately, Reid’s storyline, the only one portraying a lesbian pairing in the film, was cut after they were forced to nix a scene involving Emma Thompson‘s character Karen’s young son Bernard.

“When we lost the bit with Em and her son we couldn’t do this,” Curtis explained. “The idea was meant to be that you just casually met this very stern headmistress… 15 minutes later on in the film we suddenly fell in with the headmistress.”

“You realize that, no matter how unlikely it seems, that any character you come across in life has their own complicated tale of love,” Curtis added.

In the longest scene from the cut plot, Reid’s headmistress returns home after a long day at work, which includes disciplining the young Bernard. The punishment, however, didn’t go quite as planned, as Karen pulled Bernard out of the room with the school authorities for a word with him only to ditch the meeting altogether.

Playing Reid’s love interest Geraldine was actress Frances de la Tour, who played Madame Olympe Maxime in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.