At the 78th Locarno Film Festival, Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson dropped a Hollywood-meets-politics surprise — Donald Trump once asked her out.

It was the late ’90s. Thompson, fresh from her divorce from Kenneth Branagh, was on set filming Primary Colors. Sitting in her trailer, the phone rang. “Hello, this is Donald Trump,” the voice announced.

Her first thought? A prank. But no, it really was Trump — and he was inviting her to dinner. Thompson later joked the timing was curious, suggesting he might have been “looking for a nice divorcee.” She politely declined, quipping years later that accepting might have given her “a story to tell” — and maybe even “changed the course of history.”

The revelation came as Thompson reflected on her relationships. She and Branagh married in 1989, divorced in 1995, and weathered tabloid speculation about his link to Helena Bonham Carter. All have since moved on amicably.

Thompson eventually met her true match, actor Greg Wise, on the set of Sense and Sensibility. They married in 2003, have two children, and remain happily together.

As for Trump? Just another curious footnote in an extraordinary career — and one more reason Emma Thompson’s life story is never short on surprises.