Emma Thompson says romantic love is a 'dangerous myth'

Acting legend Dame Emma Thompson has said that she thinks romantic love is 'actually quite dangerous' and is something of a 'myth'.

Speaking on the latest episode of The Radio Times Podcast, Thompson was talking about her role in romcom What's Love Got To Do With It? when she said she thought romantic love could be dangerous.

In the movie she plays Cath, the mother of documentary maker Zoe (Lily James) who is making a film about the arranged marriage of her childhood friend Kazim (Shazad Latif).

The film delves into the themes of love, romance and long term relationships and Thompson has opened up on her own views on the matter, indicating that she's a bit wary of the idea of a 'happy ever after' as portrayed in movies as it doesn't always line up with the reality of people's lives.

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Thompson spoke about the 'difficult and complicated' reality of actual long-term relationships in the real world, and noted that the film was about debunking the idea that people could get a 'happy ever after'.

She said: "It’s philosophically helpful and uplifting to remember that romantic love is a myth and actually quite dangerous.

"We really do have to take it with a massive pinch of salt. To think sensibly about love and the way it can grow is essential if we’re going to live long lives.

"Long-term relationships are hugely difficult and complicated. If anyone thinks that happy ever after has a place in our lives, forget it, and that’s what this film is about really."

Thompson does know plenty about the pain of a real life heartbreak following the end of her marriage to actor and director Kenneth Branagh after he had an affair with Helena Bonham Carter.

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She had previously revealed that she used her painful experience for a scene in Love Actually where she discovers that the fancy necklace she knows her husband (Alan Rickman) bought wasn't for her.

The moment comes when she's opening a 'special' Christmas present which she's sure is going to be the necklace, but instead it's something else and she realises the necklace is for another woman, so she goes off into another room where her family can't see her to cry about it privately.

It's one of the most memorable scenes in the movie and Thompson revealed that she 'knew what it was like to find the necklace that wasn't meant for me', saying she had her 'heart very badly broken' and put it into the performance.

She thought that scene continued to be 'so well known' because it was something that 'everyone's been through' in some way, shape or form.

Thompson has been married to fellow actor Greg Wise since 2003, with the couple having been together since 1995.