Emma Thompson reveals breakdown of marriage to Kenneth Branagh inspired heartbreaking Love Actually scene

The actor reportedly had an affair with Helena Bonham Carter in the 1990s
Heartache: Emma Thompson reveals Love Actually was inspired by own life
Jennifer Ruby28 February 2018
The Weekender

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Emma Thompson has revealed that her heartbreaking scene in Love Actually was inspired by the breakdown of her own marriage to Kenneth Branagh.

The Oscar-winning actress said that she drew from the heartache caused by her ex-husband’s reported affair with Helena Bonham Carter, which ended their eight year marriage.

The emotional scene in Richard Curtis 2003 film sees her character Karen sobbing while listening to Joni Mitchell after discovering her husband has been unfaithful.

“That scene where my character is standing by the bed crying is so well known because it’s something everyone’s been through,” Thompson told an audience during a fundraising event for #MeToo in London on Tuesday.

Heartache: Emma Thompson was left heartbroken by Kenneth Branagh 
Rex

“I had my heart very badly broken by Ken. So I knew what it was like to find the necklace that wasn’t meant for me.”

She added: “Well it wasn’t exactly that, but we’ve all been through it.”

Love Actually (2003) - In pictures

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Thompson and Branagh met while starring opposite each other in BBC drama Fortunes of War back in 1987 and married two years later.

The Hamlet actor reportedly started an affair with Bonham Carter when he starred opposite her in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in 1994 and they stayed together until 1999.

Thompson met actor Greg Wise while filming Sense and Sensibility in 1995 and the couple wed in 2003.

Speaking about meeting Wise, Thompson once told Radio 4: “Work saved me and Greg saved me. He picked up the pieces and put them together again.”

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