Emma Thompson
Born
April 15, 1959 (66 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Paddington, London, England, UK
Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress and screenwriter. Her work spans over four decades of screen and stage, and her accolades include two Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2018, she was made a dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to drama.
Born to actors Eric Thompson and Phyllida Law, Thompson was educated at Newnham College, Cambridge, where she became a member of the Footlights troupe and appeared in the comedy sketch series Alfresco (1983–1984). In 1985, she starred in the West End revival of the musical Me and My Girl, which was a breakthrough in her career. In 1987, she became famous for her performances in two BBC series, Tutti Frutti and Fortunes of War, winning the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for her work on both series. In the early 1990s, she often collaborated with then-husband, actor and director Kenneth Branagh in films such as Henry V (1989), Dead Again (1991), and Much Ado About Nothing (1993).
Thompson won the BAFTA Award and the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the Merchant-Ivory period drama Howards End (1992). In 1993, she received two Academy Award nominations—Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress—for the respective roles of the housekeeper of a grand household in The Remains of the Day and a lawyer in In the Name of the Father, becoming one of the few actors to achieve this feat. Thompson wrote and starred in Sense and Sensibility (1995), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay—making her the only person in history to win Oscars for both acting and writing—and once again won the BAFTA. Further critical acclaim came for her roles in Primary Colors (1998), Love Actually (2003), Saving Mr. Banks (2013), Late Night (2019), and Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022).
Other notable film credits include the Harry Potter series (2004–2011), Nanny McPhee (2005), Stranger than Fiction (2006), An Education (2009), Men in Black 3 (2012) and the spin-off Men in Black: International (2019), Brave (2012), Beauty and the Beast (2017), Cruella (2021), and Matilda the Musical (2022). Her television credits include Wit (2001), Angels in America (2003), The Song of Lunch (2010), King Lear (2018) and Years and Years (2019). She portrayed Mrs. Lovett in a Lincoln Center production of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in 2014. Authorised by the publishers of Beatrix Potter, Thompson has also written three Peter Rabbit children's books.
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Known For
An Audience with Adele
Self
2021
Greenpeace: There's a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom
Narrator (voice)
2018
The Real Mary Poppins
Self
2014
Saving Mr. Banks
P.L. Travers
2013
Brave
Elinor (voice)
2012
Men in Black 3
Agent O
2012
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Sybill Trelawney
2011
The Song of Lunch
She
2010
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
Nanny McPhee
2010
An Education
Headmistress
2009
The Boat That Rocked
Charlotte
2009
Last Chance Harvey
Kate Walker
2008
Brideshead Revisited
Lady Marchmain
2008
I Am Legend
Dr. Alice Krippin
2007
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Sybill Trelawney
2007
Stranger Than Fiction
Karen Eiffel
2006
Nanny McPhee
Nanny McPhee
2005
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Sybill Trelawney
2004
Imagining Argentina
Cecilia Rueda
2003
Love Actually
Karen
2003
Treasure Planet
Captain Amelia (voice)
2002
Wit
Vivian Bearing
2001
Judas Kiss
FBI Agent Sadie Hawkins
1998
Primary Colors
Susan Stanton
1998
The Winter Guest
Frances
1997
Sense and Sensibility
Elinor Dashwood
1995
Carrington
Dora Carrington
1995
Junior
Dr. Diana Reddin
1994
In the Name of the Father
Gareth Peirce
1993
The Remains of the Day
Miss Kenton
1993
Much Ado About Nothing
Beatrice
1993
Peter's Friends
Maggie Chester
1992
Howards End
Margaret Schlegel
1992
Dead Again
Margaret Strauss / Grace
1991
Henry V
Katherine
1989
The Tall Guy
Kate
1989
How to Stop a Nuclear War
Narrator
Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Movie
2026
The Dead of Winter
2025
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
Dr. Rawlings
2025
Merchant Ivory
Self
2024
The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later – A Diane Sawyer Special
Self
2022
The Fringe, Fame and Me
Self
2022
Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony
Self (archive footage)
2021
Extinction
2019
Hollywood's Dark Secret
Self
2019
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
Maureen Meyerowitz
2017
Beauty and the Beast
Mrs. Potts
2017
Bridget Jones's Baby
Dr Rawlings
2016
Alone in Berlin
Anna Quangel
2016
Sainsbury's: Mog's Christmas Calamity
Narrator (voice)
2015
Burnt
Dr. Rosshilde
2015
A Walk in the Woods
Catherine Bryson
2015
The Legend of Barney Thomson
Cemolina
2015
Men, Women & Children
Narrator (voice)
2014
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Mrs. Lovett
2014
Effie Gray
Lady Eastlake
2014
The Love Punch
Kate Jones
2014
Beautiful Creatures
Mrs. Lincoln / Sarafine Duchannes
2013
Walking the Dogs
The Queen
2012
When Harry Left Hogwarts
Self
2011
Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out
Self
2007
Hoodwinked!
Lesa (voice) (uncredited)
2005
A Tribute To Ismail Merchant
Self (archive footage)
2005
Nos Bastidores de Hollywood
Self
2005
Junket Whore
Self
1998
The Blue Boy
Marie Bonnar
1994
My Father the Hero
Isabel (uncredited)
1994
Impromptu
Duchess D'Antan
1991
Look Back in Anger
Alison Porter
1989
The Winslow Boy
Catherine Winslow
1989
Slags
Young Woman
1984
The Cellar Tapes
various
1982
James Ivory: In Search of Love and Beauty
Self
The Untold Story of Mary Poppins: A Special Edition of 20/20
Self
2024
What's Love Got to Do with It?
Cath
2023
Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical
Agatha Trunchbull
2022
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Nancy Stokes
2022
Twelve Nights
Narrator
2021
Cruella
The Baroness
2021
How to Build a Girl
Amanda
2020
Dolittle
Poly (voice)
2020
Last Christmas
Petra Andrich
2019
Men in Black: International
Agent O
2019
Missing Link
Dora the Yeti Elder (voice)
2019
Late Night
Katherine Newbury
2019
Johnny English Strikes Again
Prime Minister
2018
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
Self (archive footage)
2018
The Children Act
Fiona Maye
2018
King Lear
Goneril
2018
Sea Sorrow
Self
2017
Die vielen Gesichter der Emma Thompson
Elle-Même
2016
The Doubt Machine: Inside the Koch Brothers' War on Climate Science
Narrator (voice)
2016
To the Ends of the Earth
Narrator (voice)
2016
And the Oscar Goes To...
Self (archive footage)
2014
Fry and Laurie Reunited
Self
2010
The Tony Danza Show
Self · (1 episode)
2004
QI
Self · (1 episode)
2003
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Self · (3 episodes)
2003
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
Self - Guest · (2 episodes)
2001
Love & Loyalty: The Making of 'The Remains of the Day'
Self
2001
Blind Loyalty, Hollow Honor: England's Fatal Flaw
Self
2001
The Remains of the Day: The Filmmaker's Journey
Self
2001
Maybe Baby
Druscilla
2000
The View
Self · (2 episodes)
1997
Hospital!
Elephant Woman
1997
Rabbit Ears - The White Cat
Narrator (voice)
1991
Hear Me Roar
Elizabeth Butler-Sloss
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
Lady Marcham · (1 episode)
2022
Years and Years
Vivienne Rook · (6 episodes)
2019
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self · (3 episodes)
2015
Funny Valentines
Debbie · (1 episode)
2015
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Self · (2 episodes)
2014
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self · (1 episode)
2014
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
(1 episode)
2014
The Jonathan Ross Show
Self · (1 episode)
2011
Creating the World of Harry Potter
Self - 'Professor Trelawney' · (8 episodes)
2009
The Graham Norton Show
Self · (4 episodes)
2007
The Graham Norton Show
Self - Guest · (2 episodes)
2007
Angels in America
Nurse Emily / Homeless Woman / The Angel · (6 episodes)
2003
Timeshift
self · (1 episode)
2002
Sucré salé
Self · (1 episode)
2002
Parkinson
Self · (1 episode)
1998
The View
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
1997
Leute heute
Self · (1 episode)
1997
E! True Hollywood Story
(1 episode)
1996
Ellen
Emma Thompson · (1 episode)
1994
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
1993
GMTV
Self · (1 episode)
1993
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
(2 episodes)
1992
Tin Fish
1990
Thompson
Self - Host · (6 episodes)
1988
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
(1 episode)
1988
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
1988
Fortunes of War
Harriet Pringle · (7 episodes)
1987
Tutti Frutti
Suzi Kettles · (6 episodes)
1987
The Crystal Cube
Jackie Meld / Various Roles · (1 episode)
1983
Alfresco
Various · (13 episodes)
1983
The Young Ones
Miss Money-Sterling · (1 episode)
1982
The Comic Strip Presents...
Young Woman · (1 episode)
1982
There's Nothing to Worry About!
Various · (3 episodes)
1982
Cheers
Nanny Gee · (1 episode)
1982
Wetten, dass..?
Self · (1 episode)
1981
The Val Doonican Music Show
(1 episode)
1977
Saturday Night Live
Self - Host · (1 episode)
1975
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self · (1 episode)
1962
The Oscars
Self · (3 episodes)
1953
Down Cemetery Road
Zoë Boehm · (1 episode)