Diane Sawyer’s chat with Love Actually’s Thomas Brodie-Sangster in London was cut short by police

By Brian Gallagher For Dailymail.com 06:29 30 Nov 2022, updated 08:18 30 Nov 2022

ABC aired its Diane Sawyer special The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later on Tuesday, which featured an impromptu interruption by the police.

Sawyer, 76, traveled to filming locations of the 2003 rom-com Love Actually in Brooklyn and London, to chat with the cast and writer-director Richard Curtis.

During one of her stops in London, she chatted with Thomas Brodie-Sangster, 32, when their interview was cut short with an ‘abrupt’ visit by the police.

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Interruption: ABC aired its Diane Sawyer special The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later on Tuesday, which featured an impromptu interruption by the police Abrupt: During one of her stops in London, she chatted with Thomas Brodie-Sangster, 32, when their interview was cut short with an ‘abrupt’ visit by the police

Sawyer and Brodie-Sangster were sitting on the same London bench where he filmed an iconic scene with his on-screen stepfather Daniel (Liam Neeson).

During their chat, a crew member approaches and tells them they have to leave because they, ‘don’t have the proper permit and they’re going to arrest us.’

Brodie-Sangster called the interruption, ‘abrupt,’ while Sawyer responded with a joke.

Bench: Sawyer and Brodie-Sangster were sitting on the same London bench where he filmed an iconic scene with his on-screen stepfather Daniel (Liam Neeson)

‘Oh they are? Now we run,’ Sawyer said with a laugh.

Brodie-Sangster had appeared in a few TV episodes and TV movies before Love Actually, though his role of Sam marked his feature film debut.

He revealed during the interview that Neeson served as a father figure to him during the course of filming.

Thomas as Sam: Brodie-Sangster had appeared in a few TV episodes and TV movies before Love Actually, though his role of Sam marked his feature film debut

‘Liam was amazing. He treated me like his son. He was absolutely loving to me,’ Brodie-Sangster revealed. 

‘He just created this environment where I was very comfortable,’ he added of his co-star.

‘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 admitted. 

Grown-up: ‘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 admitted

‘I was very serious about it. But looking back, I’d forgotten how small and new I was,’ the actor said.

The special also features interviews with Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Bill Nighy, Laura Linney, Olivia Olson, Richard Curtis, and a message from Martine McCutcheon.

The special will, ‘look at how the film became a beloved Christmas tradition and a global sensation, with new insight into behind-the-scenes secrets and iconic scenes,’ while also examining, ‘how the COVID-19 pandemic refocused the ways we love and connect and the omnipresent acts of kindness inside our families and communities.’

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Small: ‘I was very serious about it. But looking back, I’d forgotten how small and new I was,’ the actor said Cast: The special also features interviews with Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Bill Nighy, Laura Linney, Olivia Olson, Richard Curtis, and a message from Martine McCutcheon