In the beloved holiday romantic comedy Love, Actually, Andrew Lincoln’s character finished his character arc by standing outside of his best friend’s house, playing music, and professing his love to his best friend’s new wife via giant pieces of posterboard. It’s a scene that plays pretty well within the context of the movie, but kind of falls apart if you give it any kind of analysis — which fans on social media delight in doing, every year. According to Chiwetel Ejiofor, who actually played Peter (the best friend in question), the fact that Mark (Andrew Lincoln) is a terrible best friend is not a statement that is controversial.
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“I mean, I think undoubtedly,” Ejiofor told ComicBook. “I may be biased, I may not be the jury, but I’ve said it to his face. But yeah, definitely, I think if there was a conversation between the two of them afterwards, it could become heated.”
Ejiofor is out with press in support of Rob Peace, a movie he co-wrote and directed. He told us that the discourse around Love, Actually — and how much credit or blame Mark should get for his dramatic, romantic gesture — seems to be a seasonal trend at this point.
“It ebbs and flows, actually,” Ejiofor said. “There’s a sort of Love, Actually season that comes around once a year that starts just before Christmas and probably ends around Valentine’s Day and I’ve noticed over the 20 years or so since the film came out, that sometimes people find it romantic — the gesture, the cards, all of that stuff, and other times, people just think, ‘What is he doing? He should have been arrested.’”
Directed, adapted by, and starring Academy Award® nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 YEARS A SLAVE), Rob Peace follows the true story of a brilliant young man (Jay Will) torn between his father’s shadowed past and his own promising future. Raised by his devoted mother (Academy Award® nominee Mary J. Blige, MUDBOUND), Rob risks everything he has worked for to free his imprisoned father (Ejiofor). Also starring Camila Cabello and based on the New York Times bestseller by Jeff Hobbs.
Rob Peace comes to theaters on August 16th.
