Love Actually actress Emma Thompson has confirmed she will not be taking part in the sequel, which will air next month on BBC One as part of the Red Nose Day appeal. The 57-year-old, who starred alongside the late Alan Rickman as his betrayed onscreen wife, revealed it's "too soon" to revisit the movie - just one year after the death of her "dear friend". Speaking at the Beauty and the Beast premiere on Thursday, Emma explained: "Richard [Curtis, the writer] wrote to me and said 'darling we can't write anything for you because of Alan' and I said 'no of course, it would be sad, too sad'."
Emma Thompson has confirmed she will not be taking part in the sequel
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"It's too soon," she added. "It's absolutely right because it's supposed to be for Comic Relief but there isn't much comic relief in the loss of our dear friend really, only just over a year ago. We thought and thought but it just seemed wrong. But to revisit the wonderful fun characters of Bill Nighy and Hugh Grant and Liam [Neeson] and all of that, that's fantastic but obviously what would he [Richard Curtis] have done?" When quizzed about what might have happened to their characters Karen and Harry after the affair. Emma remarked: "Both of them would be in therapy by now and I would be working on some kind of ward. It was absolutely the right decision."
Emma Thompson starred as Karen in the 2003 hit Love Actually
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It was announced last week that the creators behind the popular rom-com will be making a ten-minute sequel for Comic Relief. Although fans won't get to see what happens to Emma's character, Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley, Rowan Atkinson and Colin Firth are all confirmed to reprise their famous roles. Love Actually was released in 2003 and has gone on to become one of the most watched romantic Christmas films of all time. The special feature will centre on what the characters are up to now in 2017, and will be shown on 24 March on BBC One as part of the Red Nose Day appeal.