By Sierra Credico
Love Actually is one of my favorite Christmas films, and it also happens to be one of the most divisive films I have ever come across. I’ve read several lists ranking the characters of the film, and no two lists are ever the same. Here’s my take on the best and worst characters in the movie.
Mia
Mia is such trash. If you can move past the fact that she obnoxiously flirts with her married boss (which I can’t), she still wears devil horns to a Christmas party! She! Sucks!
Harry
He’s bland, annoying, and cheats on his super cool wife. Also, when he exposes Sarah for her crush on Karl??? Unprofessional and rude.
Colin
His whole storyline is pointless and he’s a bumbling idiot. Next!
Billy Mack
He’s a washed-out loser who constantly puts down his manager for no apparent reason. His song is a bop, though.
Peter
He exists only to prevent Mark and Juliet from being together, but he seems like a pretty nice guy, albeit totally boring.
Joe
Joe deserves a lot more recognition and credit for putting up with Billy Mack’s jackassery, but, honestly, he should’ve dropped that man years ago. Joe deserves better.
Jamie
He’s a really nice guy and I give him a lot of credit for learning Portuguese all in the name of love, but there’s something super weird about marrying a girl you can’t even understand.
Aurelia
Same as Jamie, but I like Aurelia better because the girl’s got sass!
John and Judy
They don’t exist without each other, so I decided to lump them into one. Their crushes on each other are cute and sweet and I want to know what happened to them!!!
David
He’s kind of unprofessional, considering he removed Natalie from her position solely because he had feelings for her and he ignored every single one of his advisors when they told him to stand up to the President only to turn around and publicly roast the President because he hit on Natalie, but come on. His dance moves? Iconic!
Joanna
She doesn’t appear at all until just about the end of the movie, but her rendition of ‘All I Want For Christmas is You’ is so good. Also, she rocks that purple hat.
Juliet
Her and Mark belong together and I’m kind of upset that she stayed married to her boring husband even after my man, Mark, wrote out all of those sweet cards!
Natalie
I love Natalie for her bad language, her spunk, and her cute little card to the Prime Minister. She’s so cute!
Daniel
Daniel is an excellent stepfather and takes Sam’s concerns to heart like any good parent should. My only problem with him is the fact that he moved on from his wife within like two weeks of her death. I don’t care if she’s literally Claudia Schiffer, you need time to grieve, man!
Karl
Is this choice controversial? Yes. I know what you’re thinking: how is Karl in the Top 5 when he has like 7 lines in the entire movie? And to that I say, Karl is hot and Karl obviously likes Sarah a lot and Karl doesn’t need that many lines to show what a great catch he is! Karl’s nice, unproblematic, and handsome. He doesn’t push Sarah or make her feel guilty for leaving him, and he’s still professional and kind when he sees her at work. I! Love! Karl!
Mark
Aw, Mark! He’s an absolute sweetheart! He gets a bad rep for being ‘creepy’, but I think he’s sweet. He obviously loves Juliet, but he distances himself from her to protect his friendship with Peter. What a selfless king! Also, his notecard scene is arguably the most recognizable scene in the entire movie, so he deserves a top spot on this list for that alone.
Sam
Sam is so adorable and his love for Joanna is absolutely sweet. His character is so loveable- he’s entirely too mature for his age and yet so naive about love and relationships at the same time. He learns to play the drums to get Joanna’s attention! How sweet! Even better, though, is his relationship with his stepfather, Daniel. The two have such a genuine and understanding bond, and it’s an absolute pleasure to watch.
Karen
Karen is such a great mother, a supportive friend to Daniel, a loving sister to David, and an understanding and loving wife to her scumbag-husband. She’s funny, kind, and strong. Her scene, where she learns about her husband’s affair and cries to Joni Mitchell, is the absolute saddest scene in the film. She should’ve left her gross husband! She deserves so much better!
Sarah
This is also a controversial pick, but hear me out. Sarah is there for everyone and she’s always trying to help other people before herself. She approaches Mark, a total stranger, to see if he needs anyone to talk to about his love troubles. She supports Karen when her husband is dancing with another woman. She ditches her true love, Karl, to be with her sick brother when he needs her. Sarah is the unsung hero of Love Actually and deserves way more credit than she’s given. I will forever be devastated that her and Karl didn’t get their happy ending.