Love Actually fans stunned after discovering who Emma Thompson’s famous sister is

The two-week countdown until Christmas has now begun, and it's clear many of us, along with frantically sorting last-minute presents and doing the festive food shop, are cosying up on the sofa to watch all the best holiday classics.

Now, up there with The Holiday and Home Alone, Love Actually is many people's favourite flick when it comes to the Crimbo genre.

The beloved rom-com first graced our screens and warmed our hearts back in 2003, with the plot following the tangled and complicated love lives of various couples during the festive period.

As we all know, there are several separate love stories in Love Actually, and most of them are pretty problematic.

Whether you're talking about Mark (Andrew Lincoln), who falls in love with his best mate's wife and makes a move on her while her hubby watches the telly, Juliet (Keira Knightley) who responds to such a pass by kissing him on the lips before running home to her husband, or the tear-jerking affair Harry (Alan Rickman) has while married to Karen (Emma Thompson) - it's clear things are far from fairytale for many characters in the film.

Nonetheless, we're still suckers for the film - despite its controversy.

Now, while many of us are able to recite entire scenes off by heart, it's clear fans of the movie are less in the know about Emma's famous sister, Sophie.

Emma Thompson has a famous celebrity sister many fans don't know about (Universal Pictures)

Sophie has a decade-spanning career in film, television and theatre and has won the 1999 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for the London revival of Into the Woods.

However, she's also extremely well-known for her soap acting role as Stella Crawford, the evil fiancée of Phil Mitchell in EastEnders from 2006 to 2007.

The villainous character was central in a number of pretty dark storylines including secretly abusing Phil's son, Ben.

Olivier award-winning actress Sophie Thompson starred as Stella in EastEnders (BBC)

Sophie's character met her end after taking her own life by jumping off a roof after Ben's ordeal was finally discovered.

Fans of the BBC programme were buzzing after realising the family connection between the two actresses, with one writing: "Didn't realise Sophie (Stella) was Emma's sister."

"I didn't know either until the other day..." quipped a second, while a third exclaimed, as per The Mirror: "No way!"

Sophie has also starred as Rosemary in Coronation Street, Mafalda Hopkirk in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One, and Lydia in Four Weddings and a Funeral.