The perfect Cotswolds Christmas cottage is one of the shining highlights of festive classic, The Holiday. Or it was until Jude Law stepped in.
Brace yourselves for this one as it’s going to hurt. We’re going to reveal a stunning truth about Christmas that may sting for a long time. We’re afraid that you’ve been lied to: the cottage in The Holiday doesn’t exist.
We’re truly sorry to break that to you, but don’t blame us – it’s all Jude Law’s fault. Chatting on BBC Radio on Sunday, the actor made the stunning revelation that the perfect little cottage that forms the backdrop to Law and Cameron Diaz’s 2006 romance was not, in fact, real.
Law seemed to delight in shocking the programme’s hosts. “That cottage doesn’t exist,” Law told them. “Oooh, yeah,” he added, seeming to revel in their expressions of dismay and pain. Nancy Meyers, the film’s director, has long been renowned for her beautiful production design (and her Instagram is pretty famous for mirroring the gloriously-designed backdrops and set design in her films, only in reallife). The Cotswolds-based cottage in The Holiday is perhaps her most treasured creation, linking as it does to the idea of a perfectly picturesque Christmas.
“So the director, she’s a bit of a perfectionist,” explains Law, adding, “she toured that whole area and didn’t quite find the chocolate box cottage she’s looking for. So she just hired a field and drew it and had someone build it.”
This update from Law is something of a revised version of the existing story, however. Production designers on the film have previously talked about the exterior being based on a real cottage, but this was rebuilt ‘brick by brick’ on a Hollywood soundstage. Law’s story suggests that that isn’t the case if Meyers drew the design by hand. We suppose both stories could be kind of true with inspiration stemming from both, but what we’re struggling to understand is how the actor could be so cavalier with our feelings this close to Christmas.
“Just burst the bubble. Sorry!” Law added, presumably with an evil cackle.
Law can next be seen working with a group of child actors on Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, a Disney+ show coming early next month. Hopefully he didn’t spend the entire production telling his young co-stars the truth about Santa.
