Laura Linney’s Emotional Break-Up With Her Partner Directly Led To the Most-Amazing Kiss of Her Life At Work
Daniel Johnston
Updated on April 02, 2026
Richard Curtis’ 2003 Love Actually is an “ultimate romantic comedy.” The film got mixed reviews, but it was actually a box-office success. Even though the story was about Juliet, Peter, and Mark, fans were also rooting for the Sarah and Karl duo.
Laura Linney (Sarah) and Rodrigo Santoro’s (Karl) starrer flick became a Christmas favourite at that time. The actors played colleagues, but Sarah was the one who was in love with absolutely gorgeous Karl. But there’s an on-screen brief romantic moment between them in the film, which the actress still remembers to this day.
Laura Linney Had the Best Kiss of Her Life With Her Love Actually Co-Star
The actress Laura Linney confessed that her kiss with Rodrigo Santoro in Love Actually was the best on-screen kiss she’s ever had in her Hollywood journey.
At that time, she was going through heartbreak following her heartbreak with David Adkins (with whom she married in 1995). The kiss proved to be the best cure for heartbreak.
She recalled the experience during her appearance on the British talk show, The Graham Norton Show. The 54-year-old opened up about her character’s hot scenes with co-star Santoro.
The actress plays a graphic design company employee who has doomed crush Santoro’s character, Karl, for years. When she was asked, “Who’s that with,” the actress replied, “Rodrigo Santoro.” She also said:
“It was so much bigger than I thought it would ever be. I got the best kiss in that movie. Hands down! Hands down I got the best kiss. Sorry!”
It came after Sarah and Karl were finally able to connect at their company’s Christmas party. That’s when Karl takes her home, where they share a s*xy kiss.
Laura Linney Revealed Rodrigo Santoro Was Also Heartbroken At That Time
Laura Linney also revealed that she and her Love Actually co-star, Rodrigo Santoro, were both heartbroken while making the rom-com. She continued:
“We were both very broken-hearted, when we made that movie. The day we were gonna go shoot the scene, we both short of slumped in the van. He was like ‘Laura my heart is broken,’ I was like ‘so is mine.’ And I turned to him and I was like, well all day long we get to make each other feel better. And I think that there is a sweetness to the scene because of that. We were both very sad.”
Santoro is in a long-term relationship with Brazilian actress Mel Fronckowiak, while Linney is married to Marc Schauer. The Truman Show actress’ co-star Liam Neeson walked her down the aisle at her wedding in 2009.
