14 DAY TRIAL // Emma Thompson has finally forgiven Helena Bonham Carter for falling in love and sleeping with Kenneth Branagh, with whom Emma was married at the time. In her first interview on the topic, she calls the romantic triangle that broke her heart and sent her spiraling into depression “all blood under the bridge.”
In what is perhaps the most ladylike interview on such a topic possible, Thompson recalls the demise of her 6-year marriage to Branagh in 1995 because he had fallen for and slept with Helena while shooting together for his version of “Frankenstein.”
However, she points out, as cited by the Daily Mail, she no longer resents Helena. In fact, on second thought, she actually can’t blame Branagh for cheating on her because he loved them both.
“You can’t hold on to anything like that. It’s pointless. I haven’t got the energy for it. Helena and I made our peace years and years ago,” Thompson says, explaining that she channeled all that frustration and anger to play a wronged woman in the rom-com “Love Actually.”
“I’ve had so much bloody practice at crying in a bedroom, then having to go out and be cheerful, gathering up the pieces of my heart and putting them in a drawer,” she explains.
Still, the best part of the interview comes when Thompson tries to explain why Branagh cheated on her, with Helena out of all women. “Being slightly mad and a bit fashion-challenged. Perhaps that’s why Ken loved us both. She’s a wonderful woman, Helena,” she says with a smile.
She does have a point on both counts because both she and Helena often make headlines for their wacky outfits but, at the same time, for their show-stopping, epic performances, be it on the theater stage or in movies.
Of course, all parties involved in the romantic scandal have long moved on: Thompson is now married to Greg Wise, while Carter is married to Tim Burton.