Featured Image Credit: JANE BARLOW/Getty/Win McNamee/Getty
Topics: Emma Thompson, Donald Trump, Politics
Joe Yates
Topics: Emma Thompson, Donald Trump, Politics
Actor Emma Thompson believes she 'could’ve changed the course of American history’ had her call with President Donald Trump gone differently.
Back in 1998, the Love Actually star was in her trailer on the set of Primary Colors, the political drama and comedy following a man who joins the campaign of a candidate running for presidency, when her phone started ringing.
After answering it, she heard back: "Hello, this is Donald Trump."
Yes, the then-51-year-old businessman was on the other end of the phone - despite the pair having never met, and it came on the same day her and Kenneth Branagh's divorce was finalized.
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The 66-year-old actor's bombshell claim came as she was being honored for her impeccable career at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, on Friday (August 8).
She received the Leopard Club Award, an accolade that will join her two Oscar gongs, two Golden Globes, three Bafta Awards and one Primetime Emmy.
Anyway, she told the audience at the film festival about her conversation with Trump.
"I thought it was a joke and asked, ‘How can I help you?’ Maybe he needed directions from someone," she explained.
"Then he said: ‘I’d love you to come and stay at one of my beautiful places. Maybe we could have dinner'.”
Thompson replied: "Well, that’s very sweet. Thank you so much. I’ll get back to you."
The call came shortly after the now-president split up with his second wife Maria Marples, whom Trump was married to from 1993 until finializing the divorce in 1999, with the pair sharing daughter Tiffany.
“I realized that on that day, my divorce decree had come through," Thompson told listeners at the film festival. "And I bet he’s got people looking for suitable people he could take out on his arm. You know, a nice divorcée, that’s what he was looking for."
She went on to theorize that had she accepted his invitation, she may have steered the Republican in a different direction.
“I could have gone on a date with Donald Trump, and then I would have a story to tell. I could have changed the course of American history," Thompson added.
Before claiming that the businessman actually found her number in her trailer - 'I mean, that's stalking', she joked.