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Richard Curtis Carlos Alvarez/Getty Photographs
Love Truly director Richard Curtis is expressing his regrets in regards to the movie’s a number of body-shaming jokes.
“I bear in mind how shocked I used to be, like, 5 years in the past when [my daughter] Scarlett stated to me, ‘You possibly can by no means use the phrase ‘fats’ once more,’” Curtis, 66, lately recalled whereas being interviewed by his daughter, 28, on the U.Okay.’s Instances and Sunday Instances Cheltenham Literature Competition. “And wow, you have been proper.”
Curtis famous that whereas he by no means meant to be “malicious” in his intent, he was admittedly “behind the curve,” explaining that these jokes are not any “longer humorous.”
“I feel I used to be unobservant and never as intelligent as I ought to have been,” he added.
Within the 2003 vacation movie, which follows 9 intertwined tales that study the complexities of affection, Natalie (Martine McCutcheon) is the romantic curiosity of Hugh Grant’s Prime Minister David. All through the film, Natalie is continually shamed for her physique kind, being known as “plumpy” by her father and informed she has “enormous thighs” by a fellow coworker. Throughout considered one of Love Truly’s most pivotal — and romantic — scenes, she’s even informed she weighs “lots” by David after leaping into his arms on the airport.
Love Truly isn’t the one movie of Curtis’ with controversial selections. When requested why his 1999 rom-com Notting Hill — starring Julia Roberts and Grant, 63 – forged so many white males, the director admitted he was “form of unsuitable and silly about that.”
“I want I’d been forward of the curve,” he continued. “As a result of I got here from a really undiverse college and bunch of college associates, I feel that I’ve held on, on the variety subject, to the sensation that I wouldn’t know the best way to write these elements.”
Love Truly additionally featured a “lack of variety” Curtis has commented on, sharing his regrets throughout a November 2022 interview with ABC Information. “There are stuff you’d change however, thank God, society is altering, so my movie is certain, in some moments, to really feel outdated,” he informed Diane Sawyer on the time.
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Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon. Cowl Photographs
With reference to Bridget Jones’ Diary, which premiered in 2001, Curtis has confronted scrutiny over the give attention to star Renée Zelleweger’s weight. The actress reportedly gained 30 kilos for the function, along with her character being always involved along with her physique picture.
Following the movie’s launch, Zellweger, 54, mirrored on the general public’s obsession along with her physique measurement.
“The query that I’ve been requested probably the most, are you able to guess? ‘How did you lose that weight?’ Zellweger revealed in a lately resurfaced interview clip. “However the factor is, it saddens me a lot as a result of it appears to suggest that a technique of being is suitable and the opposite manner is invaluable and I don’t wish to reply the questions, as a result of it comes with a certain quantity of [applause].”
The Oscar winner added that she was informed whereas filming the film that her character was voted “probably the most horny character” on display screen in England. “I believed ‘Wow, that proper there utterly nullifies the notion that you simply’re imagined to be a measurement zero so as to be thought-about engaging, don’t you assume?’” she quipped.
Wanting again on the function in 2016, Zellweger informed British Vogue that she stays mystified over why folks cared a lot about Bridget Jones’ determine: “She’s a superbly regular weight and I’ve by no means understood why it issues a lot,” she stated.