Jude Law Drops Harrowing Behind-The-Scenes Bombshells About ‘The Holiday’

Jude Law and Cameron Diaz in ‘The Holiday’ / Image credit: Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures

If you’re a diehard fan of the smooth-brain rom-com The Holiday and hope to retain the festive magic of the cult Christmas film, we suggest you stop reading, as Jude Law, one of its leads, has shared some dire truths about its production.

In a new interview on BBC Radio 2’s The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show, Law, who plays the charming Graham in the 2006 film, revealed some behind-the-scenes filming secrets, divulging how the proverbial sausage was made. When discussing how the film’s popularity has endured, the actor dropped a bombshell about the iconic English ‘Rosehill’ cottage inhabited by his on-screen sister, Iris (played by Kate Winslet).

“That cottage doesn’t exist,” he casually mentioned on air, eliciting gasps from those in the studio. To think we almost made it two decades without knowing this.

The actor then explained that director Nancy Meyers was “a bit of a perfectionist”, and when she couldn’t find the exact location she envisioned, she took matters into her own hands.

“She toured that whole area and didn’t quite find the chocolate box cottage she was looking for,” he told the host. “So she just [rented] a field and drew it and had someone build it.”

Rosehill Cottage on the set of ‘The Holiday’ / Image credit: Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures

If that weren’t enough, the 51-year-old also confessed that the scenes inside the cosy cottage weren’t filmed anywhere near its quaint Surrey setting.

“We were shooting in the winter here [in the UK], and every time I’d go in that door, we’d cut,” he recalled. “We shot the interiors in LA about three months later.”

The radio hosts then, for the sake of many, begged Law to stop tainting the movie’s “magic,”, to which he acknowledged he had “just burst the bubble.”

“Sorry!” he said. But it was too little, too late, and the damage was done.

Cameron Diaz, Jude Law and Kate Winslet during “The Holiday” – London Premiere – Outside Arrivals at Odeon Leicester Square in London, Great Britain. (Photo by C. Uncle/FilmMagic)

For the uninitiated, The Holiday follows two women, Iris Simpkins (Winslet), who resides in the English countryside, and Amanda Woods (played by Cameron Diaz), who calls the Hollywood Hills home. After experiencing respective heartbreaks, the fed-up women find each other on a house-swap website, where they agree to switch homes for two weeks over Christmas. As fate would have it, though, they both end up embroiled in local romances with characters portrayed by Law and Jack Black.

Now, we know that movies aren’t real—this is surely not news to anyone. Still, there is something about the delusion-fuelling optimism of a far-fetched Christmas romance plot—happy ending and all—that soothes the jaded soul.

Unlike Law, the film’s director is eager to preserve its charm, shutting down rumours of a sequel in 2022.

“I’ve been asked to make a sequel a couple of times, you know, and I think about it, and I just think it’s good the way it is,” Meyers said on TODAY. “I don’t know how I won’t disappoint.”

And as much as we would love to imagine where the respective couples landed, we appreciate Meyers’ logic. So please, Jude Law, keep the truth about the sausage to yourself.