Emma Thompson’s daughter has launched a very public criticism of her mother’s ex-husband Kenneth Branagh, 30 years after he had an affair with Helena Bonham-Carter.
Gaia Wise, 24, shared a meme with her 11,800 followers on Instagram that featured photos of a young Emma, 65, and the Haunting of Venice star, 63, from her 1993 film Much Ado About Nothing captioned with the quote: “She’s everything, he’s just Ken.”
It’s the tagline from Margot Robbie’s Barbie movie, which broke box office records last year, and the quote is now used to describe amazing women, both real and fictional, paired with mediocre men.
The meme is a clear criticism of Kenneth’s treatment of his mother after having an affair with Helena Bonham-Carter, 58, while he was married to the Love Actually star from 1989 to 1995.
They met in 1987 while filming BBC period drama Fortunes of War and the Belfast director and Oscar-winning actress married after two years of dating.
Emma Thompson’s daughter has launched a very public criticism of her mother’s ex-husband Kenneth Branagh, 30 years after he had an affair with Helena Bonham-Carter (Emma and Gaia pictured)
Gaia Wise, 24, shared a meme with her 11,800 followers on Instagram that featured photos of a young Emma, 65, and the Haunting of Venice star, 63, from her 1993 film Much Ado About Nothing captioned with the quote: ‘She’s everything, he’s just Ken.’
It’s the tagline from Margot Robbie’s Barbie movie, which broke box office records last year, and the quote is now used to describe amazing women, both real and fictional, paired with mediocre men (Margot and Ryan Gosling in the film).
The meme is a clear criticism of Kenneth’s treatment of his mother after he had an affair with Helena Bonham-Carter, 58, while he was married to the Love Actually star from 1989 to 1995 (Emma and Kenneth pictured in 1994).
They worked together several times, but in 1993, Kenneth met Helena on the set of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and, reflecting in 2022, Emma told The New Yorker: “I was completely blind to the fact that he was having relationships with other women on the set.
“What I learned was how easy it is to be blinded by one’s own desire to deceive oneself.”
At the time, the couple blamed their split on their busy work schedules in a joint statement released in 1995, but it was later revealed that the Hamlet director had been cheating with Helena, whom he dated until 1999.
All three would later appear as characters in the Harry Potter franchise, but they never shared scenes together.
Emma played Sybill Trelawney in Prisoner of Azkaban, Order of the Phoenix and Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Kenneth appeared as Gilderoy Lockhart in Chamber of Secrets and Helena played Bellatrix Lestrange in the last four films.
In the last year of her marriage to Kenneth, Emma was working on Sense and Sensibility, where she met her future husband, Greg Wise, who at the time was pursuing his co-star, Kate Winslet.
The scars of Kenneth’s betrayal remained with Emma, who said in 2018: ‘That scene in Love Actually where my character is standing by the bed crying is so familiar because it’s something everyone has been through.
“Ken broke my heart. So I knew what it was like to find a necklace that wasn’t for me.”
They met in 1987 while filming BBC period drama Fortunes of War and the Belfast director and Oscar-winning actress married after two years of dating (pictured at the wedding).
They worked together several times, but in 1993, Kenneth met Helena on the set of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, whom he dated until 1999 (pictured in the film).
Eight years after her split from Kenneth, Emma married Greg Wise, 58, who is Gaia’s father and the couple have been together for 20 years (pictured together last year)
Gaia made her acting debut in the BBC series Silent Witness and has spoken openly about her near-fatal three-year struggle with anorexia which began when she was 16 and was so severe it hurt to sit in a chair (pictured last month).
Eight years after splitting from Kenneth, Emma married Greg, 58, who is Gaia’s father and the couple have been together for 20 years.
Emma said: ‘Before Greg made Sense and Sensibility, he went to see a friend who was a bit of a witch and she told him he’d meet his future co-star in the film.
‘He assumed it wasn’t me because I was married and much older than him, so he thought it might be Kate.’
The Crown star asked the Titanic actress, 48, out on a date at the Glastonbury Music Festival, but they didn’t connect.
Greg said: “She (Kate) pointed out to me that we were meant to be together and told me that Emma’s marriage was over. It was all meant to be, just as my friend Helen had predicted.”
Gaia will star in the new Lord of the Rings anime film and will voice Princess Hera, daughter of Helm Hammerhand, the King of Rohan, voiced by Brian Cox.
The 24-year-old made her acting debut in the BBC series Silent Witness and has been open about her near-fatal three-year struggle with anorexia which began when she was 16 and was so severe it hurt to sit in a chair.
