Director of ‘Love Actually’ reveals big secret he kept from Martine McCutcheon before filming

Love Actually director Richard Curtis has revealed that he is facing a nervous Martine McCutcheon after she signed on for the film.

The previous EastEnders Star appeared Hugh Grant‘s lover Natalie in the festive 2003 romantic comedy.

And although she admitted that she suffered from imposter syndrome when appearing alongside numerous Hollywood stars, Richard initially hid the fact that he had written the role of Natalie specifically for her.

Richard made the revelation in a video promoting a Love Actually quiz in aid of Comic Relief, explaining that the scripts were written under Martine’s real name.

“When I wrote the film, I was absolutely determined that Martine would play the woman Hugh Grant fell in love with,” he said.

“It was only when we were about to do the reading, which was supposed to be something like her audition, that I suddenly realized that I had named the character Martine.

“So we literally did this kind of ‘change everything’ thing on the computer the day before. (We) suddenly changed everything to ‘Natalie’ and then hoped it would be OK because we didn’t want Martine to see that the role was meant for her and then behave badly and be sad for the rest of her life.

“But it was absolutely perfect when we read it through, as we expected,” he added.

Looking back on her entry into the cast, Martine also said: “I suffered from imposter syndrome for most of my life and thought I would get kicked out of every great place.

“I remember calling him and saying, ‘I don’t know if I can keep up with this first rehearsal today. I can do theater and television, but films with these big stars and Oscar winners and the all-time heartthrob, Hugh Grant – will I be able to keep up?’

“(Richard) said to me, ‘Oh, shut up, we wrote the role for you and Hugh can’t wait to meet you and wanted you to be there from the start.'”

This article originally appeared on HuffPost UK and has been updated.

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