Emma Thompson
Dame Emma Thompson (born April 15, 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.
Known for
Cheers
Nanny Gee
The Oscars
Self
Ellen
Emma Thompson
The Comic Strip Presents...
Young Woman
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Sybill Trelawney
Beauty and the Beast
Mrs. Potts
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Sybill Trelawney
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Sybill Trelawney
Screen Two
Marie
Cruella
The Baroness
Brave
Elinor (voice)
The Young Ones
Miss Money-Sterling
I Am Legend
Dr. Alice Krippin
Timeshift
self
Men in Black: International
Agent O
Dolittle
Poly (voice)
Treasure Planet
Captain Amelia (voice)
Down Cemetery Road
Zoë Boehm
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
Lady Marcham
Sense and Sensibility
Elinor Dashwood
Years and Years
Vivienne Rook
Dead of Winter
Barb
Love Actually
Karen
Men in Black 3
Agent O
Angels in America
Nurse Emily / Homeless Woman / The Angel
Johnny English Strikes Again
Prime Minister
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
Nanny McPhee
King Lear
Goneril
Wit
Vivian Bearing
The Sheep Detectives
Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical
Agatha Trunchbull
Last Christmas
Petra Andrich
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
Dr. Rawlings
Impromptu
Duchess D'Antan
Imagining Argentina
Cecilia Rueda
Nanny McPhee
Nanny McPhee
Missing Link
Dora the Yeti Elder (voice)
Late Night
Katherine Newbury
Men, Women & Children
Narrator (voice)
Brideshead Revisited
Lady Marchmain
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Nancy Stokes
Bridget Jones's Baby
Dr Rawlings
Junior
Dr. Diana Reddin
Stranger Than Fiction
Karen Eiffel
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
Maureen Meyerowitz
Burnt
Dr. Rosshilde
In the Name of the Father
Gareth Peirce
Fortunes of War
Harriet Pringle
Merchant Ivory
Self
The Remains of the Day
Miss Kenton
Saving Mr. Banks
P.L. Travers
Beautiful Creatures
Mrs. Lincoln / Sarafine Duchannes
Henry V
Katherine
Howards End
Margaret Schlegel
The Boat That Rocked
Charlotte
Twelve Nights
Narrator (voice)
Alfresco
Various
The Children Act
Fiona Maye
An Education
Headmistress
The Val Doonican Music Show
My Father the Hero
Isabel (uncredited)
Junket Whore
Self
Alone in Berlin
Anna Quangel
How to Build a Girl
Amanda
The Love Punch
Kate Jones
Dead Again
Margaret Strauss / Grace
A Walk in the Woods
Catherine Bryson
E! True Hollywood Story
Funny Valentines
Debbie
Tin Fish
Primary Colors
Susan Stanton
Last Chance Harvey
Kate Walker
Tutti Frutti
Suzi Kettles
Much Ado About Nothing
Beatrice
There's Nothing to Worry About!
Various
Nos Bastidores de Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
The Crystal Cube
Jackie Meld / Various Roles
The Tall Guy
Kate
Effie Gray
Lady Eastlake
Carrington
Dora Carrington
Thompson
Self - Host
When Harry Left Hogwarts
Self
Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony
Self (archive footage)
Judas Kiss
FBI Agent Sadie Hawkins
What's Love Got to Do with It?
Cath Stevenson
An Audience with Adele
Self
The Winter Guest
Frances
Peter's Friends
Maggie Chester
The Song of Lunch
She
Slags
Young Woman
Bad Tidings
Self (archive footage)
The Legend of Barney Thomson
Cemolina
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
Self (archive footage)
Maybe Baby
Druscilla
A Tribute To Ismail Merchant
Self (archive footage)
Blind Loyalty, Hollow Honor: England's Fatal Flaw
Self
Look Back in Anger
Alison Porter
Fry and Laurie Reunited
Self
The Remains of the Day: The Filmmaker's Journey
Self
The Fringe, Fame and Me
Self
Locating the World of Sense & Sensibility
Self
Hospital!
Elephant Woman
Royal Variety Performance 1984
The Blue Boy
Marie Bonnar
Hear Me Roar
Elizabeth Butler-Sloss
Sea Sorrow
Self
Elegance & Simplicity: The Wardrobe of Sense & Sensibility
Self
Walking the Dogs
The Queen
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Mrs. Lovett
The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later – A Diane Sawyer Special
Self
Extinction
The Real Mary Poppins
Self
To the Ends of the Earth
Narrator (voice)
Greenpeace: There's a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom
Narrator (voice)
The Winslow Boy
Catherine Winslow
A Very Quiet Man
Self
Love & Loyalty: The Making of 'The Remains of the Day'
Self
A Sense of Character
Self
Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out
Self
The Cellar Tapes
various
Hollywood's Dark Secret
Self
James Ivory: In Search of Love and Beauty
Self
Sainsbury's: Mog's Christmas Calamity
Narrator (voice)
Die vielen Gesichter der Emma Thompson
Elle-Même
Rabbit Ears - The White Cat
Narrator (voice)
How to Stop a Nuclear War
Narrator (voice)
Colleagues From Hell
Everybody to Kenmure Street
Van Guy
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self - Guest
The Doubt Machine: Inside the Koch Brothers' War on Climate Science
Narrator (voice)
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Self
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self - Guest
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
Saturday Night Live
Self - Host
The Graham Norton Show
Self
The Graham Norton Show
Self - Guest
The Kelly Clarkson Show
Self - Guest
The View
Self
The View
Self - Guest
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Self - Guest
Leute heute
Self
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
Self - Guest
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
QI
Self
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Self
Wetten, dass..?
Self
Parkinson
Self
The Tony Danza Show
Self
The Jonathan Ross Show
Self
GMTV
Self
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
Self - Guest
Sucré salé
Self