1Emma Thompson
By the time Love Actually came around in 2003, Thompson was already a national treasure. The Oscar-winning actress has gone on to play Harry Potter's Sybill Trelawney, the titular role in the Nanny McPhee series, and Mrs Potts in Beauty and the Beast.
2Bill Nighy
Nighy bagged a Best Supporting Actor BAFTA for his role of ageing rock star Billy Mack. His CV continues to sparkle with gems and hits such as Harry Potter, Doctor Who and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. He's currently filming Heidi: Queen of the Mountain, based on the popular children's books.
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3Gregor Fisher
Playing Billy Mack's longtime manager Joe, Scottish comedy legend Fisher had made his name as Rab C Nesbitt, a role he returned to post-Love Actually. Gregor continues to act, and can be seen in this year's BBC Agatha Christie adaptation The ABC Murders.
4Chiwetel Ejiofor
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5Keira Knightley
In the same year, Knightley launched her global career playing Elizabeth Swann in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. She's been twice Oscar-nominated since (Pride & Prejudice and The Imitation Game) and cranks out the hits regularly.
6Andrew Lincoln
The Teachers and This Life star continued to be regularly seen on TV after Love Actually but he is now, of course, more well known for playing Rick Grimes in US zombie show, The Walking Dead, a role he will return to in a series of feature-length specials.
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7Laura Linney
Currently winning fans as Wendy Byrde in Netflix show Ozark, American actress Linney has dipped in and out of television and film with the likes of Showtime's show The Big C and indie hit The Squid and the Whale.
8Rodrigo Santoro
The actor behind Karl, who Linney's Sarah was besotted with, went on to star in US show Lost (as the ill-fated Paulo), play Fidel Castro's brother in Steven Soderbergh's Che (parts one and two), and provided the voice of ornithologist Tulio in the Rio movies. You might also remember him as the camp-as-Christmas god-king Xerxes in 300 (yep, that was him), and as Westworld's cowboy robot Hector.
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9Colin Firth
Firth's string of box office hits since playing the role of writer Jamie is quite the CV. Mamma Mia!, two Bridget Jones sequels and two Kingsman films are capped off with his Oscar win for Best Actor in The King's Speech. This year he treated us to Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and Mary Poppins Returns.
10Lúcia Moniz
Playing Firth's character's love interest, Portuguese housekeeper Aurélia, Moniz isn't exactly a familiar face in English-speaking productions. In her home country, Portugal, she's a familiar face in TV and film, and has released a number of albums. Like many of the cast, Aurélia reprised her role for Red Nose Day Actually.
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11Sienna Guillory
Cheater! Poor Colin Firth. Guillory, who played Jamie's unnamed, unfaithful girlfriend in Love Actually, also appeared as Jill Valentine in the Resident Evil films. More recently, she has impressed in shows including Luther, Fortitude and Stan Lee's Lucky Man, as well as an appearance in High-Rise.
12Hugh Grant
Grant continued to skim along with rom-coms for some time before reminding us how good he could be in 2012's criminally unseen Cloud Atlas and in last year's bundle of joy, Paddington 2. This year he played Jeremy Thorpe in A Very English Scandal.
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13Martine McCutcheon
Getty ImagesAfter playing the PM's squeeze in Love Actually, the EastEnders star failed to capitalise on her success, unless you count those Activia adverts. Martine has recently returned to her singing career, and made the UK Top 20 in August 2017 with her latest album Lost and Found. Her TV credits since Love Actually include guest appearances in Spooks and Midsomer Murders, as well as a series on the Loose Women panel.
14Billy Bob Thornton
The naughty US Pres dived into a streak of fairly unremarkable films (with the exception of Bad Santa, of course). But Thornton has recently clocked up Golden Globe wins for television shows Fargo and Goliath.
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15Liam Neeson
It's difficult to imagine an age when Taken didn't exist. Neeson's Hollywood career excelled in the noughties with roles in the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy, The Chronicles of Narnia series, and the Clash of the Titans films.
16Claudia Schiffer
The former model's acting career came to a halt with Love Actually. For twenty years, Schiffer has been supporting charity Unicef.
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17Thomas Brodie-Sangster
Normally where-are-they-nows don't go well for child stars. Thankfully, Brodie-Sangster has bucked that trend. Parts in Nanny McPhee, Game of Thrones and The Maze Runner followed. For many, however, he's most loved for being the voice of Ferb Fletcher in animated show Phineas and Ferb.
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19Martin Freeman
Life post-The Office wasn't amazing for Freeman. It would take seven years before he found fame again, though he did so spectacularly; playing sidekick Watson in Sherlock. He bagged a BAFTA for his work, went on to star in The Hobbit trilogy, won praise for the Fargo television show and is now a part of the MCU as Everett K Ross.
20Joanna Page
Page went on to bigger fame as one half of the hit BBC comedy Gavin & Stacey. A solid television career has followed, including a role in the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special as Queen Elizabeth I.

Cameron McEwan is a freelance writer specialising in movies and TV.
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