Why Diane Sawyer's Interview With Love Actually's Thomas Brodie-Sangster Was Cut Short By Police

Love Actually star Thomas Brodie-Sangster's interview with Diane Sawyer marking the 20th anniversary of the beloved film was abruptly ended by London police. Find out why below.

By Amy Lamare Nov 30, 2022 7:29 PMTags
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 Love actually wasn't all around in this moment

For Diane Sawyer's The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later special, several cast members—including Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson—reminisced about the beloved holiday film. However, her interview with star Thomas Brodie-Sangster hit a bit of a snag, due to an interruption by U.K. police.

Sawyer and Brodie-Sangster were sitting on the same park bench in London where the Queen's Gambit actor filmed a memorable scene opposite Liam Neeson—when a producer on the project stepped in to tell the pair that the officers said that they "don't have the proper permit and they're going to arrest" the group if they didn't leave.

However, the famed journalist took the interview's "abrupt" ending in stride. "Oh they are?" Sawyer giggled in response. She playfully added, "Now we run."

The ABC special features interviews with the cast of the iconic Christmas movie 20 years after its release. Brodie-Sangster, now 32, was just 12 years old when he landed the role of Sam, a young boy who just lost his mother and is in love with an American classmate named Joanna (Olivia Olson).

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During the interview, Brodie-Sangster revealed the relationship that he and  Neeson developed on set. 

"Liam was amazing. He treated me like his son," the Game of Thrones alum explained. "He was absolutely loving to me. He just created this environment where I was very comfortable."

Anthony G. Moore/Globe Photos via ZUMA Wire, David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images

"At the time I thought, you know, I was pretty much a grownup and I'd been doing this a few years now and I knew what I was doing," he added. "I was very serious about it. But looking back, I'd forgotten how small and new I was."

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