Suffolk's very own Ed Sheeran has written and recorded a new original song for a new Christmas film from Richard Curtis, who also lives in the county.
Sheeran, who grew up in Framlingham, has penned the tune for That Christmas, an upcoming animated film based on Curtis' work.
The film is set to follow characters in a Suffolk seaside town, played by a star-studded cast of Brian Cox as Santa, Killing Eve actress Fiona Shaw, former Doctor Who Jodie Whittaker and Love Actually’s Bill Nighy.
Curtis, who has a home in Walberswick, is best known for his romantic comedies including Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and About Time.
In Curtis' 2019 blockbuster Yesterday, which is also set in Suffolk, Sheeran plays a cameo role.
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Speaking on Curtis approaching him with the film, Sheeran said: “He came to me two years ago to play me the rough of That Christmas. It was just sketches and voices, but it blew me away.
“So emotional, yet so heart-warmingly funny, like all Richard Curtis movies. I find since having kids, there’s a real lack of great animated children’s Christmas movies, so I thought this was such an amazing thing to make and put into the world.
“The scene that we wrote this song for is so heartbreaking, but so real for many people at Christmas, spending it without the ones they love, for so many reasons.
“I got to work with my older brother on this which is such a rarity and a gift to work so closely with my only sibling. It felt so good to create something my children would watch, with their uncle, based in the country they live in.
“I find it mad that there isn’t more animated Christmas films for kids, but this is going to become a holiday staple, at least in our household.
“Hope everyone loves it, and enjoys the song, we had such a great time creating it.”
After becoming a father and a husband, Sheeran has shunned living in a big city to raise his young family in the east Suffolk countryside.
Curtis said: “I’m so thrilled to have Ed’s beautiful song in our movie.
“It’s a film set in Suffolk… Ed lives in and loves Suffolk and completely understood the pitch and tone of what we were trying to do.
“We’ve been friends for many years and – especially now that he’s a husband and a father – it’s really lovely to have him play such a key part in this film about love, children and family.
“And, of course, even if he wasn’t a friend and didn’t love Suffolk, how marvellous to have a wonderful new song by one of the greatest British songwriters ever.”
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