Shocking Love Actually age gap between Keira Knightley and Thomas Brodie-Sangster still leaves people stunned

Over two decades ago, Love Actually landed on our screens, and it quickly became a festive favourite for many, making its way onto everyone's annual must-watch list for December.

The Christmas film is sure to bring a tear to your eye while getting into the festive spirit, and it also features numerous Hollywood actors, including Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, and Liam Neeson.

Amongst the star-studded cast are Pirates of the Caribbean star, Keira Knightley, who plays Juliet, a newlywed woman who is seemingly unaware that her husband's best friend is in love with her, while Thomas Brodie-Sangster takes on the role of Sam, a primary school student who is besotted with one of his classmates.

Knightley and Brodie-Sangster worked together during the filming of the 2003 blockbuster, but surprisingly, their characters never crossed paths in the movie, as Juliet and Sam were at wildly different stages of life.

Keira Knightley played Juliet in Love Actually (Universal)

Love Actually sees a big-name batch of Brits attempting to navigate the highs and lows of modern love - all the while preparing for the incoming Christmas season.

Each character is tied loosely to another through a niche connection, which links every single scene together. In fact, part of the fun when watching this Richard Curtis hit is attempting to follow the path of relationships from one to another.

Let's take Kiera Knightley and Thomas Brodie-Sangster's characters, for example.

The Pride and Prejudice actress plays happy-go-lucky bride Juliet, who marries the love of her life, Peter (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor), much to the dismay of his best friend Mark (Andrew Lincoln), who doesn't appear to like her very much; however, we all know he secretly loves her.

Brodie-Sangster, meanwhile, played pre-teen Sam, whose mother has recently passed away, and who turns to his stepfather, Daniel (Liam Neeson), for advice about a girl he likes in his class at school.

As we say, however, despite the pair never actually appearing in any scenes together, Juliet can be linked to Sam through her husband's BFF Mark, who owns an art gallery rented out by Alan Rickman's seedy business boss Harry, who is married to fan-favourite Thompson's mum-of-two Karen, who lives near Daniel and serves as a shoulder to pass on when his wife dies, who is Sam's step-dad.

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Anyway, even more shocking than the connection in the film is the staggering age gap between Kiera Knightley and Thomas Brodie-Sangster in real life.

And by staggering, we mean tiny.

That's because actress Knightley was just 18 years old at the time the cameras started rolling, while Brodie-Sangster, however, was 13 when he played Sam.

This means the two actors were just a few years apart when they starred in Love Actually, which somehow just doesn't seem possible?!

Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Liam Neeson as Sam and Daniel in Love Actually (Universal)

It's been over 20 years since Love Actually's release, but fans are still not over this revelation - and we don't think they will be anytime soon.

Taking to social media, one penned: "I watched Love Actually last night and it’s just blown my mind that there’s only 5 years age difference between Keira Knightley (gets married) and Thomas Brodie-Sangster (little kid in school play)."

Another added: "TIL [today I learned] there's only a 5 year age gap between Keira Knightley and Thomas Brodie-Sangster. You know these two people in #LoveActually."

A third went on: "Just learned that Keira Knightley was only 18 when they filmed Love Actually. This is the most shocking revelation since finding out Thomas Brodie-Sangster was 15 in Nanny McPhee."

And a fourth, who also shared side-by-side images, said: "There was a FIVE-YEAR age gap between these two when Filming Love Actually. What. The. Heck."