Qa: 'love, Actually' Filmmaker Richard Curtis On Charity, The Oscars And The State Of Rom-coms

Richard Curtis may be widely known for his contributions to romantic comedies with "Four Weddings and a Funeral," "Notting Hill" and "Love, Actually." But writing and directing some of modern cinema's most quotable scenes only occupy a portion of his professional life.

Since a trip to Ethiopia in 1985 during the famine, Curtis has also devoted much of his time and energy to charitable causes: Co-founding Comic Relief , producing Red Nose Day for years and helping create organizations like Make Poverty History and more. Decades of work has helped raise more than 2 billion and supported over 170 million people.

On Sunday he's being celebrated for those efforts by the film academy with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award . Getting an Oscar is especially exciting for Curtis who remembers as a teen having to wait until the night after to watch the broadcast in the U.K.

"I've been excited by their existence for 50 years," he said. "This is particularly a special award, but it's not work for which one expects praise or needs praise. So it's very lovely."

Curtis spoke to The Associated Press about his second career, the state of romantic comedies and Hugh Grant's second act. Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.