Rom-com actress Emma Thompson opens up about love: 'Romantic love is a myth'

Rom-com queen Emma Thompson isn’t sugarcoating the truth about love.

Thompson, who famously starred in the 2003 romantic comedy "Love Actually" alongside Hugh Grant and Martine McCutcheon, opened up about her view on romance in an interview with the Radio Times Podcast published Tuesday.

The Oscar-winning actress stars in the Shekhar Kapur romantic comedy "What’s Love Got to Do with It?" and said the film has reminded her of the unattainability of romantic love.

"It’s philosophically helpful and uplifting to remember that romantic love is a myth and quite dangerous," Thompson said. "We really do have to take it with a massive pinch of salt: to think sensibly about love and the way it can grow is essential."

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Thompson is married to British actor and producer Greg Wise, who she wed in 2003. She was previously married to actor Kenneth Branagh from 1989-1995.

"Long-term relationships are hugely difficult and complicated," Thompson added. "If anyone thinks that happy ever after has a place in our lives, forget it."

Thompson also spoke about the relatability of her 2022 movie "What’s Love Got to Do with It?" character, Cath, explaining that she symbolizes the struggles of aging.

"She’s so inappropriate! She’s got absolute cloth ears," Thompson said. "She’s the sort of person who’ll say, 'The nice thing about a burka is it’s just wonderfully forgiving, isn’t it!' And you just groan.

"But I find myself saying something and my daughter will say, 'Mum, you actually can’t say that.' Cath represents all of us as we get older, because we’re always saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing."

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Emma Thompson talks romantic love, calls it 'a myth'