John Malkovich has spoken for the first time about his affair with Michelle Pfeiffer, three decades after they starred together in the 1988 film Dangerous Liaisons. The fling is believed to have contributed to the breakdown of both their marriages at the time.
Speaking on the Fashion Neurosis podcast, Malkovich reflected on the relationship. He said: “It’s not something I’ve ever really talked about. 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.”
He added: “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.” Malkovich noted that when a professional relationship becomes more than collegial, “you lose a great colleague.”
In the Oscar-winning film, Malkovich played the scheming Vicomte de Valmont, who plots to seduce Pfeiffer’s character, only to fall in love with her. Director Stephen Frears later remarked in 2003 that reality and fiction “intersected” during filming.
Malkovich split from his wife, the late actress Glenne Headly, in 1988 after six years of marriage. Pfeiffer separated from her husband, actor Peter Horton, shortly after the film’s release. Malkovich has since been in a long-term relationship with Italian production designer Nicoletta Peyran, with whom he has two children. Pfeiffer married TV producer David E. Kelley in 1993.
