Movies Rodrigo Santoro says Love Actually character Karl still carries a torch for Laura Linney's Sarah "He didn't give up," insists Santoro of the failure of Karl and Sarah's relationship. By Maureen Lee Lenker Maureen Lee Lenker Maureen Lee Lenker is a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly with over seven years of experience in the entertainment industry. An award-winning journalist, she's written for Turner Classic Movies, Ms. Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, and more. She's worked at EW for six years covering film, TV, theater, music, and books. The author of EW's quarterly romance review column, "Hot Stuff," Maureen holds Master's degrees from both the University of Southern California and the University of Oxford. Her debut novel, It Happened One Fight, is now available. Follow her for all things related to classic Hollywood, musicals, the romance genre, and Bruce Springsteen. EW's editorial guidelines Published on February 14, 2023 05:33PM EST "Let's go get the s-- kicked out of us by love." This might be Liam Neeson's line in Love Actually, but it probably applies most to Sarah (Laura Linney) and Karl (Rodrigo Santoro) and their ill-fated office romance. Sarah has been in love with enigmatic graphic designer Karl for "two years, seven months, three days and an hour and thirty minutes," but she's too shy to approach him until Karl finally makes a move at the office Christmas party and they dance to a Norah Jones song. Karl takes Sarah home, and she invites him inside, but they're interrupted by the persistent ring of Sarah's mobile and the needs of her mentally unwell brother. Karl ultimately decides he'd better go, and later, the two exchange wistful glances across the office, but they never try to rekindle that spark. EW would like to know why the heck Karl gave up on Sarah so easily. Universal Pictures When grilled on the subject at the SCAD Atlanta TV festival, Santoro blushes and buries his face in his hands. But he defends his character, insisting that Karl didn't just walk away. "It was complicated. She was just not there. She couldn't figure it out, and her brother had some mental illness and she was dealing with that, so it was hard for her. He didn't give up." Besides, he adds, if we want to take it up with anyone, it's writer-director Richard Curtis to whom we should direct our complaints. Santoro holds the belief that somewhere out there in the world, Karl is still carrying a torch for Sarah. "If there was a Love Actually 2, Karl is still there thinking about Sarah," he says. Though Sarah might feel differently, considering that a brief sequel created for charity, Red Nose Day Actually, revealed Linney's character to be married to none other than Patrick Dempsey. But Rodrigo, who is now starring in Paramount+'s Wolf Pack opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar, can take solace in his new costar. "He still found his other Sarah," he jokes. Related content: Hugh Grant asked Emma Thompson if Love Actually is their 'most psychotic' film after first watch Love Actually director says he feels 'a bit stupid' about movie's lack of diversity A definitive ranking of all the love stories in Love Actually