Chiwetel Ejiofor: My Character Would 'Never' Forgive Best Mate in 'Love Actually'

It's Valentine 's Day, and love, actually, is all around us. But for Chiwetel Ejiofor, there is no love lost between one of his first big screen characters and the character of Mark from the hit romantic dramedy, Love Actually, whom he says he can "never" forgive.

In one of the film's most iconic moments, Mark (Andrew Lincoln) shows up to Juliet (Keira Knightley) and Peter's (Ejiofor) home unexpectedly. When Juliet opens the door, he famously tells her to tell her husband that carolers are at the door. She does as he tells her and he proceeds to profess his love for her silently on cue cards. Juliet's husband Peter is never the wiser that his best friend, and best man, loves his wife.

Twelve years after the film's debut, Cosmopolitan U.K. finally asked Ejiofor if his character, Peter, could ever forgive Mark. "Never," Ejiofor said. 

And how would Ejiofor handle that situation in real life? "That would not be a good moment," he said. "If I had opened the door, it would've been really awkward."

Apparently, Lincoln agrees that his character, Mark, is a little strange. He told The Wrap recently, "He is a stalker. That was my question to [writer and director] Richard Curtis: 'Do you not think we're sort of borderline stalker territory here?' And he said, 'No, no. Not with you playing it, darling. You'll be alright.'"

Ejiofor, who was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Solomon Northrup in 12 Years a Slave, will next be seen in the crime thriller Triple 9. He is filming Marvel's Dr. Strange alongside fellow Brit Benedict Cumberbatch. He also starred in The Martian, which is up for Best Picture at this year's Academy Awards.