LESS than a week after it was confirmed that a 10-minute Love Actually sequel, in aid of Comic Relief, is in the works, director Richard Curtis has revealed more details about the line-up.

Emma Thompson will not appear in the highly anticipated follow-up, which takes place 14 years after the film’s release, with Curtis telling the Press Association “She just can’t do it”. The stars who have been confirmed to make a return so far include Keira Knightley, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Andrew Lincoln, Olivia Olson, Martine McCutcheon and Rowan Atkinson.

Neeson was photographed filming on London’s Southbank last week with his onscreen stepson (Brodie-Sangster) in a scene reminiscent of the original film.

There had been speculation that the sequel would pay tribute to Alan Rickman – who played Thompson’s husband in one of the sadder and most compelling plot lines in the romantic comedy – following the actor’s death in January last year, but Curtis explained that it would be “very complicated, so not really”.

“We’re not doing everyone,” he continued. “We’re only doing about two thirds of people.”

When asked previously about the project the director said: “I would never have dreamt of writing a sequel to Love Actually, but I thought it might be fun to do 10 minutes to see what everyone is now up to. We hope to make something that’ll be fun – very much in the spirit of the original film and of Red Nose Day. It’ll certainly be a nostalgic moment getting back together.”

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