Richard Curtis admits regret about his past movies
British director Richard Curtis has revealed he regrets the treatment of women in his past films and the lack of diversity in his films.
The Bridget Jones’s Diary screenwriter who also directed Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Love Actually, has said jokes about women’s weight “aren’t any longer funny”. Curtis also discussed his decision not to cast a single Black character in Notting Hill, despite the film being set in a diverse area of London.
The director made the comments at the Cheltenham Literature Festival during a discussion with his daughter Scarlett Curtis. She posed to her father the “growing criticism around the ways your films treated women and people of colour”.
In response, Curtis admitted: “Yes, I wish I’d been ahead of the curve. Because I came from a very universe, school and bunch of university friends, I think that I’ve hung on, on the diversity issue, to the feeling that I wouldn’t know how to write those parts.” He added: “I think I was just sort of stupid and wrong about that.’
He also highlighted the use of discriminatory language towards women in his films, noting: “I remember how shocked I was five years ago when Scarlett said to me, ‘You can never use the word ‘fat’ again.'”
Curtis added: “Wow, you were right. In my generation calling someone chubby [was funny] — in Love Actually there were jokes about that.” He also stated: “Those jokes aren’t any longer funny.”
Last year, Curtis addressed criticisms regarding Love Actually while in conversation with Diane Sawyer ahead of the film’s 20th anniversary. When asked if any parts of the film make him cringe today, he responded: “There are things that you would change, but thank God society is changing. My film is bound in some moments to feel out of date. The lack of diversity makes me feel uncomfortable and a bit stupid.”
Curtis continued: “There is such extraordinary love that goes on every minute in so many ways, all the way around the world, and makes me wish my film was better.”
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.