British actor Emma Thompson revealed that Donald Trump once asked her out on a date — on the very same day her divorce from actor Kenneth Branagh was finalized. The 66-year-old Oscar winner shared this story while receiving a career achievement honor at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland.

Unexpected Call from Trump on Movie Set

Thompson recalled that she was filming the 1998 political drama Primary Colors when she received a surprising phone call. “Hello, this is Donald Trump,” she remembered him saying, according to The Telegraph. At first, she thought it was a prank. “I thought it was a joke and asked, ‘How can I help you?’ Maybe he needed directions from someone,” she said. Instead, Trump invited her to one of his properties. “Then he said: ‘I’d love you to come and stay at one of my beautiful places. Maybe we could have dinner.’”

Thompson’s Polite Decline

The Love Actually star told the audience she responded by calling the offer “very sweet” and thanking him. “I’ll get back to you,” she recalled saying. Thompson suggested that Trump, who had recently separated from his second wife Marla Maples, may have been actively looking for a new partner.

“I realized 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 divorcée, that’s what he was looking for,” she said. She even speculated how he got her number. “And he found the number in my trailer. I mean, that’s stalking,” she added.

“I Could Have Changed American History”

Reflecting on the incident with humor, Thompson mused, “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.” Thompson is now married to actor Greg Wise, and they have two children. Trump went on to marry Melania.

Salma Hayek Shares Similar Experience

This was not the first time Trump reportedly asked out a famous actor. Salma Hayek, known for Once Upon a Time in Mexico, once said Trump invited her out despite knowing she had a boyfriend. Hayek claimed that after she declined, details about her life appeared in the National Enquirer, a tabloid linked to Trump.

“When I told him I wouldn’t go out with him even if I didn’t have a boyfriend, (which he took as disrespectful), he called — well, he wouldn’t say he called, but someone told the National Enquirer,” she said. The article in the tabloid claimed Trump refused to date her because she was “too short.”