Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson has joked about Donald Trump "stalking" her after the now-US president called her to ask her on a date the very same day her divorce was finalised. The 66-year-old British actress said she could have "changed the course of American history," had she accepted his offer.
Speaking at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland on August 8, where she received the Leopard Club Award for her career achievements, Ms Thompson recounted the surprising call she got from Trump while filming the 1998 dramedy 'Primary Colors'.
Ms Thompson said she was in her trailer when the phone rang, and answering, she heard him say, "Hello, this is Donald Trump."
"I thought it was a joke and asked, 'How can I help you? Maybe he needed directions from someone,'" Ms Thompson told The Telegraph. Donald Trump then invited her, saying, "I'd love you to come and stay at one of my beautiful places. Maybe we could have dinner."
Her response was, "Well, that's very sweet. Thank you so much. I'll get back to you."
Ms Thompson said, "I realised that on that day, my divorce decree had come through. 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."
She added, "And he found the number in my trailer. I mean, that's stalking."
Joking about what might have happened if she had accepted, she said, "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 Thompson's divorce from actor Kenneth Branagh was finalised after their marriage from 1989 to 1995. She later married Greg Wise in 2003. Donald Trump had separated from his second wife, Marla Maples, around the same time and later married Melania Trump in 2005.
Earlier, actress Salma Hayek shared a story of Trump asking her out while she was in a relationship.
Ms Hayek described how Trump got her phone number after an encounter where he draped his coat over her shoulders at an event. Despite her boyfriend at the time being present there, Trump asked her out. "He's asking me out, and I said, 'What about my boyfriend? Are you crazy?'" she recalled. Trump allegedly replied, "He's not good enough for you. You should go out with me."
Salma Hayek is now married to French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault.
