You won't believe what she looks like now!
We have Love Actually to thank for so many things this holiday season: The abundance of ensemble cast movies with entangled plotlines like Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve that we love to hate, the choice of a holiday movie that doesn’t include animation or elves, and the gift of Sam and Joanna’s young love.
If you need a refresher course in one of Love Actually’s many plotlines, Sam (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) plays the stepson of Daniel (Liam Neeson), whose wife has recently passed away, making Sam lose faith in love until he meets Joanna (Olivia Olson) at school. He falls terribly in love with his American classmate, and learns to play the drums in the hopes of winning her heart at their Christmas concert.
With Sam on the drums, Joanna totally slays her rendition of “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” giving Mariah Carey a run for her money with that insane falsetto. If you need a refresher course, watch the video below and keep in mind that she’s just 11 years old.
Joanna wins over our heart year after year when we rewatch the holiday classic—that airport kiss!—but we haven’t heard much from Olson since Love Actually hit theaters in 2003. It turns out, the actress is all grown up and, as expected, totally gorgeous.
She's still in the biz and just turned her focus to voice acting, which is why we haven’t seen much of her on the big screen. The 25-year-old was a regular on the animated series Phineas and Ferb from 2008 to 2015, alongside none other than her Love Actually love interest Brodie-Sangster. If that doesn’t make you believe in fate, we don’t know what will.
Nowadays, she’s voicing Marceline the Vampire Queen in Adventure Time, and living her best life on Instagram. She’s totally gorgeous with those same almond eyes and sly smile that Sam fell in love with, plus she’s also talented. Olson showed off her pipes in this video, and she can still knock your socks off with her vocals.
Forget Sam—we can’t help but fall in love with this gorg star.