One of the child stars who starred in Love Actually has labelled the film “cheesy and sexist”, 17 years after appearing in the Christmas classic.

Lulu Popplewell played Emma Thompson’s daughter Daisy in the 2003 movie, who most film fans will remember for her star turn as a lobster in the school nativity play.

Asked about Richard Curtis’s Yuletide favourite, which follows eight London couples as they deal with different complications to their relationships. Poppy admitted she thought the film was “shit”.

“I don’t regret it at all,’ she told the Almost Famous podcast. “Look, softly be it spoken I think it’s a shit film.

“I think it’s aged badly. All the women in it are sort of passive objects. I think that there was an article describing them as passive objects to be acquired.

“On re-watching it’s not great. You also have to remember that [Richard Curtis] was writing in the context of the time.

“I mean, I don’t know how he excuses more recent work. But it was in 2003 or whenever it was out.

“But it is also not for me because I don’t like cheese. I’m glad people like it.” 

Lulu also reminisced about meeting superstar Hugh Grant, who played the prime minister, for the first time.

“I remember meeting Hugh Grant as well, ’cause Richard introduced me to him,” Poppy recalled.

“And he said, ‘Oh god do I have to speak to her? I hate children’. Non-ironically. Which I thought was really funny.”

And Lulu revealed she wasn’t allowed to watch the film when it came out because she was too young.

She continued: “I wasn’t even allowed to watch it when it came out because it was a 15 – there’s nipples and everything.”

These days the 29-year-old is a writer and stand-up comedian. She previously voiced Lyra in the BBC Radio 4 version of His Dark Materials.