There is no denying that Love Actually is one of the UK’s most loved Christmas films. With a stellar cast including the likes of Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Keira Knightley and Liam Neeson – it’s a comforting classic that everyone knows and loves.
One of the lead actors who became the face of one of the most iconic scenes is Emma Thompson. The British actress played the role of Karen, who learns that her marriage to Harry (Alan Rickman) is not all as it seems.
The Necklace Betrayal is one of the most heart-breaking scenes in British film, but it was actually inspired by Emma’s very own personal tragedy.
What makes the scene so memorable is Karen playing a CD by Joni Mitchell and crying in her bedroom, thinking what she is going to do next with her marriage. Indeed, Emma’s tearful portrayal was based on her heart being broken by her first husband.
After being together for eight years, Emma’s marriage to fellow actor Kenneth Branagh came to an end when she discovered his affair with Helena Bonham Carter.
:
Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh divorced after eight years together (Image: Getty)
Emma’s tearful scene was inspired by real-life events (Image: Universal Studios)
In a November 2022 interview with the New Yorker, Emma has spoken candidly about the split.
“I was utterly, utterly blind to the fact that he had relationships with other women on set,” she said. “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.”
In 2018, she said: “That scene where my character is standing by the bed crying is so well known because it’s something everyone’s been through.”
Kenneth’s affair with Helena Bonham Carter was the inspiration for Emma’s scene (Image: Getty)
Emma then met her now husband Greg Wise on the set of Sense and Sensibility in 1995. However, Emma has now since ‘made peace’ with Kenneth’s affair in an interview with the Sunday Times in 2013.
Both Emma and Kenneth starred in the second Harry Potter film, with Helena joining the cast as Bellatrix Lestrange for the final four films from 2007 until 2011.
In the Sunday Times interview, she referred to Branagh’s affair as “all blood under the bridge”. Emma and her husband Greg share a daughter, Gaia.