Emma Thompson’s daughter, Gaia Wise, recently posted a hilarious joke on her Instagram Stories that made fun of both her mother and her ex-stepfather, Kenneth Branagh. In July 2023, the tweet was also published on X (formerly Twitter), and it featured stills from the 1993 movie Much Ado About Nothing, which starred Branagh and Thompson in their well-known performances.
The caption of the amusing comparison between the two said, “She is everything. He’s simply Ken,” making a witty allusion to the title of the Barbie movie from 2023. The pictures featured Branagh as Benedick and Thompson as Beatrice, showcasing their noteworthy on-screen collaboration.
Thompson and Branagh initially met while filming the 1987 miniseries Fortunes of War. They married in 1989 and divorced in 1995. Despite their split, they have maintained mutual admiration for each other’s work, as indicated by Gaia Wise’s joking allusion to their joint filmography.
Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, dubbed the “British Golden Couple,” had a successful profession and a publicized personal relationship. Branagh directed numerous films featuring Thompson during their marriage, including Peter’s Friends, Dead Again, Henry V, and Much Ado About Nothing. Their work was well recognized, demonstrating their close professional and personal relationship.
The couple’s marriage was called off following rumors that Branagh had an affair with Helena Bonham Carter. They announced their split to the public in October 1995. Branagh and Thompson explained that their increasingly hectic work schedules, which often kept them apart, were the cause of their growing distance. They asserted that a major factor in their relationship’s breakdown was their commitments at work.
In a 2022 interview, Thompson talked about how she felt upon hearing of Branagh’s extramarital affairs. When she realized she had been totally unaware of these connections while they were together, she acknowledged it was a traumatic experience. Thompson thought about how people could use self-deception to keep themselves unaware of unpleasant situations.
Despite the rocky end to their marriage, Thompson later stated that she had moved over her bad feelings toward Branagh and Bonham Carter. Thompson told The Sunday Times in 2013 that she no longer had any bitterness.
She highlighted that there was no point in holding onto old issues and accepted that both Branagh and Bonham Carter had gone on with their lives. Thompson also stated that she and Bonham Carter had struck an agreement and that she regarded Bonham Carter as an amazing individual.
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