Helena Bonham Carter Forgiven By Emma Thompson For Affair With Kenneth Branagh

Helena Bonham Carter has been forgiven by Emma Thompson, even though the actress had an affair back in 1994 with her then husband, Kenneth Branagh, which ended their marriage.

Branagh married Thompson in 1989, but the relationship ended six years later after he began an affair with Helena Bonham Carter on the set of 1994’s Frankenstein. Branagh, who also directed the film, played Bonham Carter’s love interest in the adaptation of Mary Shelley’s infamous novel.

The affair ended Branagh and Thompson’s six year-marriage, and it lead to Bonham Carter having a five-year relationship with the actor.

The 54-year-old actress recently opened up about the incident, noting that it was “all blood under the bridge,” before admitting, “you can’t hold on to anything like that.”

She then explained that she forgave the actress years ago, remarking, “It’s pointless. I haven’t got the energy for it. Helena and I made our peace years and years ago.”

Thompson previously admitted that the break-up of her marriage sparked a serious bout of depression that is now happily well behind her.

However, she confirmed that she utilised these feelings in Love Actually, which saw her portray a wife who finds out that her husband is cheating on her.

Thompson went on to remark, “I’ve had so much bloody practice at crying in a bedroom, then having to go out and be cheerful, gathering up the pieces of my heart and putting them in a drawer.”

She pointed out that she shares several similarities with Bonham Carter, who is seven years younger than her, which Branagh might have found attractive. “Being slightly mad and a bit fashion-challenged,” teased the actress, “Perhaps that’s why Ken loved us both.” And despite the issues between them, Thompson was full of praise for the Fight Club star, commenting, “She’s a wonderful woman, Helena.”

Previously, Bonham Carter had remarked upon her role in the demise of Branagh and Thompson’s marriage, stating that it had been misunderstood. She stated, “It gets frustrating because I know the story and the truth of it. It is very hurtful and, frankly, some of the things I have been called are quite libellous.”

Thompson has since remarried, to Greg Wise, an actor and producer who she met on the set of 1995’s Sense and Sensibility. The pair have two children, a daughter, Gaia, who is 13, and a son, Tindyebwa Agaba, 26, who was adopted by the couple when he was only 16.

Bonham Carter and Thompson have even starred together in two films. They exchanged scenes together in 1992’s Howard’s End, before performing alongside each other in the Harry Potter film series from 2007.