Richard Curtis says his films are ‘starting to look like historical documents’

Curtis, who wrote ‘Love Actually’ and ‘Notting Hill’, says society’s views have ‘evolved’

Richard Curtis has said his children think “20 per cent” of his jokes are “old fashioned” and admitted some of his earlier work now appears dated.

In an appearance on the Desperately Seeking Wisdom With Craig Oliver podcast, the Love Actually writer-director admitted his work was starting to look like a “historical document”.

Curtis, who co-founded Comic Relief with Lenny Henry and is responsible for films such as Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral, commented that his children also found some of his jokes to be “wrong”.

He added: “Scarlett, who’s my most activist daughter, goes about her activism in a very different way from me, and if anyone ever attacks me, she defends me as being someone who did what seemed right in the way they thought right at that time.”

Curtis, who is also known for his work on classic sitcoms such as Blackadder and Bean, also stated that the world was in a “gripping time” due to changing views on race, gender and sexuality.

Commenting on younger people’s attitudes towards activism, he said: “I’m really interested in how a generation that’s grown up to be passionate, angry and pedantic about these issues may well change things for the better.”

(Rex Features)

Curtis’s work has previously been criticised for its lack of diversity, particularly as most of it is set in London, one of the most multicultural cities in the world where over 200 languages are spoken.