Emma Thompson, at a talk at the 78th annual Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, recalled the moment she received a call from President Donald Trump
15:37 ET, 09 Aug 2025Updated 15:37 ET, 09 Aug 2025
Emma Thompson shared a prior memory with Donald Trump
Emma Thompson revealed an incident that involved President Donald Trump calling her.
The actress appeared at the 78th annual Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, where she received the Leopard Club Award and attended the world premiere of her film, The Dead of Winter. Within the festival, there was a panel called “Conversation with Emma Thompson” on Saturday, August 9. During the Q&A panel, where Emma spoke about her career, she shared a tidbit about the businessman-turned-politician when she was shooting Mike Nichols’ 1998 film Primary Colors.
“I was in my trailer one day while we were making that movie, and the phone rang, and it was Donald Trump,” Emma recounted, per the Hollywood Reporter. “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.”
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The Sense and Sensibility star said that Trump replied by saying, “I’d love you to come and stay at one of my beautiful places. Maybe we could have dinner” to which she responded, “Well, that’s very sweet. Thank you so much. I’ll get back to you.”
Emma had a panel at the Locarno Film Festival(Image: Getty Images)
Emma continued the story, explaining how she figured out how Trump got her number and why he was calling her.
She elaborated, “And then I realized that on that day, my divorce, my divorce decree, you know, the final papers of my divorce had come through. And I thought 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!”
“But 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,” Emma exclaimed, concluding her recounting.
Before getting into Trump, Emma was first talking about how the Monica Lewinsky scandal happened while she was making Primary Colors.
She noted how it was “very strange” to making a film about something that was occurring in real life. She also expressed sympathy for Monica, saying “poor Monica.”
Emma said that Donald had calling, asking her on a date(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
“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,” Emma added.
Primary Colors is satirical drama based on Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign. It follows a fictionalized Southern governor played by John Travolta and his wife played by Emma, as he tries to win the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States.
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