The 'Much Ado About Nothing' actress felt 'half alive' after finding out then-husband had affair on movie set, explaining that she was 'utterly blind' by his infidelity.
- Nov 11, 2022
AceShowbiz - Dame Emma Thompson felt unworthy after Sir Kenneth Branagh was unfaithful. The 63-year-old actress admitted she was "utterly blind" to her former spouse's adultery, leading to her feeling "half alive" when the truth was revealed.
Discussing her marriage to the actor-and-director which ended in 1995 after six years when he had an affair with Helena Bonham Carter - whom he went on to date for five years, Emma told the New Yorker magazine, "I was utterly, utterly blind to the fact that he had relationships with other women on set."
"What I learned was how easy it is to be blinded by your own desire to deceive yourself. I was half alive. Any sense of being a lovable or worthy person had gone completely."
Emma recalled how she fell for Kenneth on the set of "Fortunes of War" but admitted her relationship with the "hard to pry open" star was volatile. She said, "He was incandescent with ambition and performance energy. Like two mating lobsters, we clashed claws."
The "Cruella" star admitted she was "embarrassed" by the public perception of their marriage. She said, "I was embarrassed largely by the press version of our marriage. We didn't present as glamorous in any way. I don't think we wanted to be some power couple, and we certainly didn't feel like it. We were lampooned and ridiculed, too - fair enough if you're famous and overpaid - but it's no fun."
After the end of her first marriage, the "Harry Potter" actress met Greg Wise, whom she hailed as the one who "picked up the pieces and put them back together" and after 27 years together, of which they have been married for 19, she admitted she has learned a lot.
She said, "I've learned more from my second marriage just by being married. As my mother says, 'the first twenty years are the hardest.' "
