Dame Emma Thompson recalls how she truly related to *that* Love Actually scene-Lucy Norris-Entertainment – Metro

Dame Emma Thompson admitted she channelled real life heartbreak she suffered at the hands of ex-husband Sir Kenneth Branagh while acting out her famous Love Actually scene. 

The Matilda actress revealed she still had strong emotions towards the movie moment that showed her character’s discovery of her husband’s infidelity. 

Gearing up to celebrate its 20th anniversary, in the 2003 film Dame Emma took on the role of wife to the late Alan Rickman’s character who realises he is cheating after finding jewellery bought for another woman in her room. 

The 63-year-old mentioned she can vividly remember the way she felt at that time following her own revelation in her eight-year marriage to Sir Kenneth. 

Dubbed the golden couple of British cinema or in this era – #couplegoals – Dame Emma shared her devastation when she uncovered the affair her husband at the time was reportedly having with fellow actress Helena Bonham Carter. 

Dame Emma credited her convincing performance in the Christmas classic to her heart being ‘very badly broken’ by Sir Kenneth during a chat with Stellar Magazine. 

Dame Emma played a sobbing wife who discovered her husband’s infidelity (Picture: Universal Pictures)

She revealed she had more in common with her character than people knew (Picture: Shutterstock)

She continued: ‘Yes, you remember the feelings you had at the time.

‘That scene where my character is standing by the bed crying is so well known because it’s something everyone’s been through.

‘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.

‘Well it wasn’t exactly that, but we’ve all been through it.’  

The actress’s most recent role was Miss Trunchbull in the musical adaptation of Matilda (Picture: DAN SMITH)

Dame Emma was married to her first husband Sir Kenneth for eight years (Picture: Shutterstock)

The star’s husband reportedly had an affair with Helena Bonham Carter (Picture: Shutterstock)

Adopted by audiences as a modern day festive classic, the film also starred Hugh Grant, Colin Firth and Keira Knightley.

Later on in the magazine interview, the Hollywood star was questioned over her most ‘terrifying’ role which she revealed was Miss Trunchbull in the most recent adaptation of Matilda. 

However it wasn’t the cruel nature of the character that scared her but the special effects that came with filming for the musical version of the Roald Dahl story. 

‘I’ll remember being 80 feet [24 metres] up on that structure and looking down, and all the kids were down there,’ she reminisces. 

‘They were going, “You’ll be all right”. My legs were shaking and we were all singing live. For me, it was such an exciting thing to do, but also terrifying.

‘So that’s what’s going to stay with me from Matilda The Musical.’ 

Metro.co.uk contacted Dame Emma’s reps for comment.

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