Curtis originally conceived of two different films, which he then merged into Love Actually, making it a large and fragmented ensemble film. Inspired by films with multiple, loosely connected storylines, such as Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction and Robert Altman’s Nashville, Curtis wanted to make a sprawling and multifarious movie with many different moving parts.
In a retrospective interview about the film, Curtis stated that much of his inspiration for the subject matter and plot points of the film were inspired by personal experience. He says, "As a young man, love took up most of my time...When I was four I fell in love with a girl called Jill and then at seven, with a girl called Tracy. I was always very, very liable to fall in love. In my twenties and thirties, I got my heart broken really badly...The three things that matter most to me in life and give me most of my joy and all of my sorrow are friends, family, and love, which is why I write about them. Superheroes or serial killers or armies, it's not my business to write about that."
Filming took place mostly in London in 2003. While the film did not fare particularly well with critics, Curtis was nominated for a Golden Globe for his screenplay, and it has gone on to become one of the most iconic Christmas films in history.
