Emma Thompson’s career has been dotted with moments of heroism, but a new revelation prompts speculation about the role she might have played in the life choices of Donald Trump. According to the two-time Academy Award winner, the real estate magnate tracked her down in the late 1990s, offering her a place to stay and proposing a dinner date. The big night didn’t happen…but what if it had?
Thompson dropped this bombshell at Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival Saturday, during a free-to-attend “in conversation” event with documentarian and Nocturno Cinema founder Manlio Gomarasca. When asked about her role in the film adaptation of Joe Klein’s novel Primary Colors, Thompson did not hold back.
“It feels like a long time ago now, doesn’t it? Oh, if only we could just have a nice sex scandal and not all this stuff,” The Hollywood Reporter quotes her as beginning, noting “the joke that was widely understood as a reference to U.S. President Donald Trump.”
“I was in my trailer one day while we were making that movie, and the phone rang, and it was Donald Trump,” Thompson continued. “I didn’t know the number of the phone. No one had rung me on it before, and I said, ‘Hello.’ ‘Hi, this is Donald Trump here,’ and I thought it was a joke. And then I said, ‘How can I help you?,’ thinking maybe he needed directions.”
According to Variety, Thompson’s gentleman caller responded “I’d love you to come and stay at one of my beautiful places. Maybe we could have dinner.”
Thompson, surprised, politely responded “Well, that’s very sweet. Thank you so much. I’ll get back to you,” she says.
Initially, she was confused about why she received the casino owner’s call. Then, she says, “I realized that on that day, my divorce decree had come through,” Deadline reports. “And I bet he’s got people looking for suitable people he could take out on his arm. You know, a nice divorcee, that’s what he was looking for. And he found the number in my trailer. I mean, that’s stalking.”
