Emma Thompson‬, ‪Love Actually‬, ‪Kenneth Branagh‬, ‪Helena Bonham Carter‬, ‪Alan Rickman‬‬ Feb 28, 2018 - Now

Emma Thompson‬, ‪Love Actually‬, ‪Kenneth Branagh‬, ‪Helena Bonham Carter‬, ‪Alan Rickman‬‬ Feb 28, 2018 - Now

Emma Thompson reveals her real-life pain behind that heartbreaking ‘Love Actually’ scene

Emma Thompson is giving insight into her heartbreaking Love Actually performance, which still resonates with fans nearly 15 years later.

The actress opened up about filming an especially emotional scene in the iconic 2003 movie, saying she recalled the ending of her relationship with Kenneth Branagh in order to play a jilted wife.

In the romantic comedy, Thompson’s character finds out her husband is cheating on her when she discovers a piece of jewelry he bought for another woman.

“That scene where my character is standing by the bed crying is so well known because it’s something everyone’s been through," she explained.

“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,” she said. “Well, it wasn’t exactly that, but we’ve all been through it.”

Speaking at a fundraiser for the Tricycle Theatre in North West London Sunday, the 58-year-old actress said she drew from personal experience to nail the scene, The Huffington Post and The Telegraph report. 

She also revealed she could personally connect with the scene due to her experience with ex-husband Kenneth Branagh, who cheated on Thompson with actress Helena Bonham Carter, according an interview Thompson gave to the Sunday Times in 2013.

Thompson and Branagh married in 1989 after meeting on the set of Fortunes Of War. Once dubbed the Golden Couple by the British press, they split after eight years together when he began an affair with Helena Bonham Carter.

The actress said the experience taught her how to put on a brave face for the public.

“I’ve had so much bloody practice at crying in a bedroom,” she told The Telegraph. “Then having to go out and be cheerful, gathering up the pieces of my heart and putting them in a drawer.”