It’s that time of the year again. Embracing the Christmas spirit through numerous holiday classics across film history and wondering what’s up with Rowan Atkinson’s character from Love Actually (2003). Many may have figured out the answer already. For others, though, his intricate, rib-tickling gift-wrapping techniques and an impromptu act of kindness at the airport raise some narrative-based questions.
Read more: Rowan Atkinson Reveals Why He Retired From Mr. Bean!
The rom-com, directed and written by Richard Curtis, stars a primarily British ensemble with the likes of Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Keira Knightley, etc., gracing the screen. It tells ten separate tales of characters, some revealed to be interconnected with the story’s progression. Among these individuals, we come across the story of Alan Rickman’s Harry and Emma Thompson’s Karen.
Atkinson makes one of his cameo appearances in their portion of the narrative. But what was the purpose behind his incorporation?
We may have an explanation, though, and it has something to do with an earlier draft plan that characterized him as an angel!
Rowan Atkinson’s Love Actually Character Was Meant To Be An Angel
In the Curtis-directed film, one of the stories audiences witness revolves around late actor Alan Rickman-portrayed Harry, a managing director of a design agency, and Emma Thompson-depicted Karen, who’s married to the former and is a stay-at-home mother. The predicament in their union? Harry’s secretary, Mia (Heike Makatsch), starts flirting with him at the office. Rickman’s character eventually gives in to the temptation.
This was not without a minute obstruction, though. As Harry decides to buy Mia a gold necklace for Christmas behind his wife’s back (who’s shopping at the same store), he comes across jewelry salesman Rufus, played by the uber-iconic Rowan Atkinson. Rufus asks Harry if he’d like the pendant gift-wrapped.
One nonchalant yes later, a meticulous, intricate, and elongated gift-wrapping ritual is carried out by Atkinson’s character. A panicky Harry could be seen practically begging for the shop assistant to hurry up. The scene ultimately culminates with Karen walking into the frame as Harry exclaims exasperatedly, “Leave it! Leave it.”
Despite being a humorously construed scene, its relevance and symbolism become much more apparent when we consider the trivia provided by Emma Freud, the film’s script editor and Richard Curtis’ partner. Sharing on X, formerly Twitter, she stated:
“Originally, Rowan’s character over-wrapped the gift on purpose to stop Alan Rickman being able to buy the necklace. Because he was an angel.”
Although the blatancy of this element may have been stripped away from the draft-to-final product, we now know the significance behind Rufus’ inordinate packaging skills!
The Significance Of The Rowan Atkinson Love Actually (2003) Cameo
The original draft penning Rowan Atkinson’s Rufus as a Christmas angel who deliberately delays the process to prevent Harry from committing to the affair by buying the pendant doesn’t subtract from Love Actually‘s revised narrative. In fact, it adds significance to his character’s inclusion. In performing an elaborate gift-wrapping ritual, Rufus is (in this case, unknowingly) attempting to save Harry from falling deeper into his temptations and ruining his marriage with Karen.
Its symbolism refers to many ways even strangers cause a change or obstruct a chain reaction setting off in our lives. Sometimes, it becomes an accidental act of kindness. Likewise, it may also lead to something significantly detrimental. Rufus’ incorporation in Love Actually relates to the former sentiment.
In slowing Harry from purchasing the gift, Rufus and his actions could’ve led to Emma Thompson’s character catching her husband in the act of buying the gift. Unfortunately, a different resolution to the scene occurs, and Harry purchases the necklace later, anyway. Rowan Atkinson’s angel-in-disguise character can only do so much inadvertently to save a marriage!
This isn’t, however, Rufus’ only act of goodwill. Later on in another sequence, specifically in the story focused on Liam Neeson‘s Daniel and his step-son, Sam (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Atkinson’s character serves as a distraction for the airport security, allowing Sam to sneak past and speak with his crush, Joanna (Olivia Olson) before she returns to the US.
Rufus being a Christmas angel may have been a scrapped detail, but it didn’t stop him from retaining his angel-like qualities in the movie.
Love Actually (2003) is available for streaming on Netflix.
