Helena Bonham-Carter lent her support to former love Kenneth
Branagh at the
premiere of his latest movie tonight - but he insisted they were
just "friends".
The actress slipped quietly into the London cinema wearing a pink
crushed velvet
top and black skirt for the appropriately-titled Shakespeare
adaptation Love's
Labour's Lost.
But asked about her presence and whether their romance might be
back on again,
Branagh, 39, said: "Hel's a friend, she's come to see the film.
"I'm here with lots of friends and that's very nice," he added.
The film also attracted a pair of Hollywood superstars - both past
and present.
One of them, Alicia Silverstone, 23, was at the event London's
Odeon West End
cinema to celebrate her starring role in the production. The other
was Esther
Williams, 77, a surprise visitor whose synchronised swimming
routines made her a
screen legend.
Branagh's film - which revamps Shakespeare's original into a 30s
musical - includes
a sequence in homage to Williams' dazzling performances.
Silverstone, wearing a grey strapless top and elegant straight
black skirt, said the
presence of the music in the film seemed natural when it was first
suggested to her.
"When I read the script the first time it was like it was born that
way. Ken told me
about how lots of Shakespeare's plays had songs in them and the
script was just so
organic it was perfect.
"I do think a lot of people have a misunderstanding of Shakespeare
- I did - and they
think that it's so far above you."
But she added: "I think it is such an original film, the best word
I can use is
refreshing. It's the kind of movie that is so full of energy."
Branagh himself acknowledged that turning Love's Labour's Lost into
a musical had
seemed a bizarre idea to many.
"Many people said I was mad - musical genre hasn't worked with one
or two notable
exceptions for some time now," said the director and star.
But he added that was what made it a challenge.
Other stars of the comedy who arrived at tonight's screening
included Adrian Lester,
Emily Mortimer and Timothy Spall.
Model Marie Helvin, MP Gerald Kaufman and At Home with the
braithwaites star
Linda Bellingham also attended.
The film opens across the UK on March 31.