Love and connection everywhere: How Heathrow Airport recreated Love Actually for our times

These real-life stills within this story show loved ones reuniting as part of Heathrow’s recreation of the opening scene of Love Actually

UK. The famously poignant opening scene of the smash hit 2003 Richard Curtis film Love Actually set at Heathrow Airport has been recreated by the airport company especially for Christmas.

Hugh Grant’s monologue has been reimagined for today’s times by Love Actually script supervisor Lisa Vick, with the new one-minute film narrated by Martine McCutcheon, who played Natalie in the movie.

The words reflect the ongoing challenges caused by the pandemic and the emotion of reuniting with friends and family at the airport as the world slowly opens back up.

Lisa Vick has modernised the monologue first voiced by Hugh Grant, whose words reminded people that love can be found everywhere.

The new words reflect the ongoing challenges caused by the pandemic and the emotion of reuniting with friends and family as the world slowly opens back up.

The scene has been reshot at Heathrow Terminal 3, the same location it was filmed in almost two decades ago. It features footage of real-life passengers emerging in Arrivals and reuniting with loved ones in time for Christmas, after months and even years of being apart.

Love Actually – The Original

Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion makes out that we live in a world of hatred and greed but I don’t see that. Seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it’s not particularly dignified, or newsworthy – but it’s always there – fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends.

Before  the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people onboard were messages of hate and revenge – they were all messages of love. lf you look for it, I’ve got a sneaking suspicion you’ll find that love actually is all around.

Love Actually – The Heathrow Remake

Anytime I find myself worrying about what the future holds in these uncertain times, I think about the arrivals hall at Heathrow. We’ve been living in a difficult and isolated world for a while now. But as the world cautiously opens up, I see love and connection everywhere.

It may not be perfectly framed nor headline news, but it’s all around. Where possible, we are coming back together to give the warm hugs that we’ve all been missing – parents, children, old friends and new additions to build memories and share adventures once again.

When the world went into lockdown, all I heard was stories of people desperate to stay connected in any way they knew how; people surviving through the worst by supporting one another. If you look for it, whatever life throws at us, you’ll find that love really is all around.

The festive film launches as Heathrow expects to face a busy Christmas despite demand being suppressed by the ongoing impact of COVID-19, particularly the Omicron variant. Research commissioned by Heathrow earlier this year found that two in three people (62 per cent) haven’t seen a loved one in over a year, with 40% of the UK having loved ones who live abroad.

Following the easing of travel restrictions, Heathrow has seen increases in people booking flights this winter as travellers set their sights on flying home for Christmas. Additional data from Heathrow reveals the weekend of 17/18/19 December are set to be the most popular days to travel during the Christmas period, with Dubai, New York and Dublin the most popular destinations.

Lisa Vick commented: “The opening scene in Love Actually is an iconic moment in the movie, setting the themes of love and relationships in a visual and emotive way. Words have great power and working with Heathrow to reimagine that monologue is a way of celebrating the world’s resilience in the face of the great challenges experienced over the last two years, and the love that people have for families and friends around the world.”

Martine McCutcheon said: “I’m very proud to have been part of a film that has stood the test of time, and is synonymous with Christmas for many around the world. The opening scene nearly two decades ago reminded us that no matter what, love is everywhere. Watching families and friends reunite after so long is incredibly touching, and I hope that people take comfort from the film and get to see the people they love most very soon.”

Heathrow Chief of Staff Nigel Milton added: “The world of travel has had significant challenges over the past two years, but we are all doing everything we can to help reunite families and friends around the world safely. 18 years on, the words in our recreation of that iconic scene at Heathrow may be different and the faces may have changed, but the love people have for the ones who are special to them is still the same. And what was true then is still true now, love actually is all around.”

Food & Beverage The Magazine eZine