John Malkovich told a podcast host that the one thing he regrets about a past affair with Michelle Pfeiffer is not the liaison itself but the loss of a professional relationship he once valued.
On the "Fashion Neurosis" podcast with host Bella Freud, Malkovich discussed an off-screen relationship that began while the two were co-stars on the 1988 film Dangerous Liaisons. He said the affair, which occurred while both actors were married, ended and was followed by the dissolution of both of their marriages in 1988.
"It's not something I've ever really talked about," Malkovich said 25 minutes into the episode. He framed the affair in the context of his work as an actor, saying his craft frequently requires forming quick emotional bonds. "Very rarely, those bonds extend beyond the work," he added, before saying the real regret was losing a working relationship he "valued greatly as a colleague."
Malkovich described Pfeiffer as "great fun and moving, and with me, incredibly fair," and acknowledged his own failings. "And ... I certainly wasn't," he said. He reflected that a dependable professional partnership can be "rarer than anything" and warned that when a relationship becomes more than collegial it can be hard to retrieve.
He contrasted the Pfeiffer relationship with his long-term professional and personal rapport with Lithuanian actress Ingeborga Dapkunaite, with whom he has worked for more than three decades in projects including Shadow of a Vampire (2000) and About Love. For Adults Only (2017). "Ingeborga and I are still, 33 years now, working together and have remained great friends and colleagues because there is a line never crossed," he said.
Pfeiffer has not publicly discussed the affair. She married producer and writer David E. Kelley in 1993 and has spoken in interviews about her admiration for him. In a 2012 Parade interview, she said, "I got really lucky ... I never take him for granted. I’ve never met a person who has more integrity than my husband. I respect that."
Malkovich's remarks add a candid postscript to a chapter of both actors' lives that has been noted in entertainment histories but not extensively revisited by the participants. The actor framed his comments as personal reflection on craft and the boundaries that can preserve long-term creative partnerships.