John Malkovich Opens Up on Scandalous Affair with Michelle Pfeiffer That Shattered Their Marriages
In a rare and candid confession, John Malkovich has finally addressed the long-rumoured affair with Michelle Pfeiffer that rocked Hollywood and ended both their marriages.
More than 30 years later, the Oscar-winning actor has opened up about how the intense bond they shared while filming Dangerous Liaisons spiralled into a scandal that cost him dearly.
Now 71, Malkovich spoke about the fallout in a heartfelt interview on the Fashion Neurosis podcast.
“It’s not something I’ve ever really talked about,” he admitted, acknowledging the emotional connection that formed so quickly during the shoot.
“Put it in this way, in the work I do, you make emotional bonds with people very quickly. That’s part of the work. Very rarely, those bonds extend beyond the work.”
John Malkovich breaks his silence on explosive affair with Michelle Pfeiffer that tore apart their marriages
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The affair passed while rephotographing the acclaimed period drama, in which Malkovich played the ignominious solicitor Vicomte de Valmont, and Pfeiffer starred as the righteous Madame de Tourvel.
Their on-screen chemistry was electric, and dangerously so. Malkovich confessed, “For me, she was someone I valued greatly as a colleague, was great fun and moving, and with me, incredibly fair. And I certainly wasn’t.”
At the time, both actors were married. Malkovich had been wed to Glenne Headly from 1982 to 1988, while Pfeiffer was married to actor Peter Horton. The affair contributed to the eventual breakdown of both unions.
Glenne went on to remarry and tragically passed away in 2017 from a pulmonary embolism at the age of 62.
Pfeiffer, meanwhile, disassociated Horton in 1990 and later tied the knot with television producer David E. Kelley, with whom she shares two children. enterprise girding the affair has persisted for decades.
Director Stephen Frears once hinted at the blurring of reality and fiction during filming, stating in 2003 that the lines “intersected.”
Reflecting on the cost of crossing personal boundaries, Malkovich explained, “I think I’ve learned over the course of my life that a great colleague is actually rarer than anything.
And when that relationship becomes more than collegial or more than a friendship, even a profound friendship, then at least in my experience, and it might be my particular psychology or stupidity or ineptness or all of the above… you lose a great colleague.”
He contrasted the affair with his long-standing professional relationship with Lithuanian actress Ingeborga Dapkunaite, with whom he has worked for over 33 years.
“Ingeborga and I are still, 33 years now, working together and have remained great friends and colleagues because there is a line we never crossed. That’s what I’ve learned, that when a thing like that happens, it probably might be, not retrievable.”
Following the affair, Malkovich eventually found love with Nicoletta Peyran, an Italian production designer. The couple remains together and shares two children.
Pfeiffer, on the other hand, has remained largely silent on the subject, noway intimately attesting or denying the affair. Her representative has not responded to requests for comment.
In former interviews, Malkovich frequently sidestepped questions about the reproach. He once deflected by saying, “It’s hard to believe Michelle Pfeiffer ever said hello to me.”
As Hollywood’s whispers girding the affair continue to ripple through entertainment circles, this newfound openness from Malkovich offers a glimpse into the emotional complications behind one of the most talked-about celebrity dishonors in film history.
