Watch | Heartbreaking Love Actually storyline cut from the final film

As the weather grows colder in the lead up to Christmas, a holiday tradition of many here at Attitude HQ is to whip out a copy of Love Actually, the staple feel-good film starring the very best of British acting talent, from Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson to Thomas Brodie-Sangster.

It was revealed this week the film’s writer and director, Richard Curtis, had originally planned to include an additional storyline involving a same-sex relationship, which was ultimately omitted from the final cut, according to Buzzfeed via Entertainment Weekly.

Across just three scenes, the subplot had originally involved Anne Reid’s character as the tough headmistress of the school attended by Emma Thompson’s son, who was cut from the film altogether.

It was to be shown later that Reid was a lesbian, and caring for her terminally ill partner, played by Harry Potter star Frances de la Tour.

“The idea was meant to be that you just casually met this very sort of stern headmistress,” said Curtis.

“Later on in the film … we suddenly fell in with the headmistress and you realise however unlikely it seems, that any character you come across in life has their own complicated tale of love.”

Released in 2003, Love Actually is a romantic comedy featuring the loosely interconnected stories of an ensemble of characters and how they deal with love in the lead up to Christmas.

The deleted scene featured in bonus extras on the Love Actually DVD.

Watch the clip, with an introduction by Richard Curtis below: