Emma Thompson and ex-husband Kenneth Branagh. Image Source: The Sun  

Emma Thompson talks about Kenneth Branagh’s affair.

Actress Emma Thompson recently spoke with the New Yorker about the time when she discovered that her ex-husband Kenneth Branagh was having an affair with Helena Bonham Carter after the two of them worked on 1994’s Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. She detailed how she dealt with the cheating.

Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh got married in 1989 after they met on the sets of "Fortunes of War." Emma mentioned that Kenneth had won her over by singing during their downtime and admitted that she had cried a lot because he sounded like her father singing on "The Magic Roundabout," adding that he was incandescent with ambition and performance energy.

The couple was soon labeled as the "Golden Couple" by the British press, and Emma Thompson said that she was embarrassed by the nickname they were given, adding that they did not present themselves as glamorous in any way, and she does not think they wanted to be some power couple and certainly did not feel like one. The actress said that they were lampooned and ridiculed too, mentioning that it's fair enough if someone is famous and overpaid, but it isn’t any fun.

Helena Bonham Carter and Kenneth Branagh. Image Source: CNN

During the interview, the actress revealed that she was completely bound to the fact that her then-husband had relationships with other women on set, adding that she learned how easy it is to be blinded by one's desire to deceive oneself adding that the affair cut her so deep and the doubt weighed her down so much that she was had alive. Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh announced their separation eight years after being married and were divorced in 1995, after which the actor was in a relationship with Helena Bonham Carter. When Emma announced their separation, she cited their work schedules as the reason to separate, but it was later disclosed that it was because Kenneth Branagh had cheated on Emma Thompson with Helena Bonham Carter.

Emma said that after the two of them split, she was only half alive, and any sense of being a lovable and worthy person had gone completely. In 2018, during an interview with the Sunday Times, Emma Thompson said that even though she was heartbroken because her husband cheated on her, she has no hard feelings for them, adding that all blood is under the bridge and someone cannot hold onto anything like that.

Previously in 2018, Emma spoke to People Magazine and drew parallels between her Love Actually character and her real life, declaring that she had her heart broken by Kenneth and knew what it was like to find the pendant that wasn't meant for her, adding that everyone has been through it. Emma Thompson's character discovers her husband has been cheating on her when she uncovers a jewelry item he bought for another woman in the chick flick.

Emma Thompson with Greg Wise. Image Source: WomanAndHome

Emma added that it’s pointless and she does not have the energy for it, mentioning that the actress and Helena made their peace years and years ago and Helena is a wonderful woman. The actress moved on to marry her now husband, Greg Wise, and they have been together for 27 years; they were married for 19 of those, and she mentioned that Greg Wise picked up the pieces of her broken heart and put them back together, and now whatever she knows, it’s because of her second marriage. She spoke to the BBC Radio 4 Show in 2010, revealing that her split from Kenneth Branagh had followed her being depressed, and it was a rough time for her. She stated that she should have sought professional help but she didn't, adding that working on "Sense and Sensibility" saved her, which is also where she met Greg Wise.

Gaia and Tindyebwa Wise are the couple's two children. Tindyebwa, a Rwandan orphan and former child soldier, became a member of their family when he was only 16 years old in 2003.