Emily Watson
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Emily Margaret Watson (born 14 January 1967) is an English actress. She began her career on stage and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1992. In 2002, she starred in productions of Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya at the Donmar Warehouse. She was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Actress for the latter. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her debut film role as a newlywed in Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves (1996) and for her portrayal of Jacqueline du Pré in Anand Tucker's Hilary and Jackie (1998). Watson's other films include The Boxer (1997), Angela's Ashes (1999), Gosford Park (2001), Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Red Dragon (2002), The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004), Corpse Bride (2005), Miss Potter (2006), Synecdoche, New York (2008), Oranges and Sunshine (2010), War Horse (2011), The Theory of Everything (2014), Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017), God's Creatures (2022), and Small Things like These (2024). and A Pariare Farm Girl ( 2026). She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for her role in the HBO miniseries Chernobyl. She won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress for playing Janet Leach in the 2011 ITV television biopic Appropriate Adult. She was nominated for the International Emmy Award for Best Actress for the 2017 BBC miniseries Apple Tree Yard. In 2024, she portrayed the lead role of Valya Harkonnen in the HBO science fiction series Dune: Prophecy. Watson is a supporter of the children's charity the NSPCC. In 2004, she was inducted into the society's hall of fame for spearheading the successful campaign to appoint a Children's Commissioner for England. Receiving her award in the crowded House of Commons, she spoke out against the possibility that the Children's Commissioner become a figurehead with little real power.
Known for
Credits
Corpse Bride (2005)
as Victoria Everglot (voice)
The Legend of Ochi (2025)
as Dasha
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
as Chief of Staff Fox
Hamnet (2025)
as Mary
Equilibrium (2002)
as Mary O'Brien
Everest (2015)
as Helen Wilton
The Theory of Everything (2014)
as Beryl Wilde
The Water Horse (2007)
as Anne MacMorrow
The Book Thief (2013)
as Rosa Hubermann
Miss Potter (2006)
as Millie Warne
Small Things Like These (2024)
as Sister Mary
War Horse (2011)
as Rose Narracott
Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
as Lena Leonard
King Lear (2018)
as Regan
Gosford Park (2001)
as Elsie
Trixie (2000)
as Trixie Zurbo
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
as Tammy
Anna Karenina (2012)
as Countess Lydia Ivanova
Belle (2013)
as Lady Mansfield
Monster Family (2017)
as Emma Wishbone (voice)
Monster Family 2 (2021)
as Emma Wishbone (voice)
Breaking the Waves (1996)
as Bess McNeill
Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism (2015)
as Miss Trinklebury
Wah-Wah (2005)
as Ruby Compton
Testament of Youth (2015)
as Mrs. Brittain
Steve (2025)
as Jenny
Angela's Ashes (1999)
as Angela McCourt
Ballchewer (2002)
as Self
Hilary and Jackie (1998)
as Jackie du Pré
Little Boy (2015)
as Emma Busbee
The Proposition (2005)
as Martha Stanley
Cemetery Junction (2010)
as Mrs. Kendrick
Amri (—)
as Marie Antoinette Gottesman
Cradle Will Rock (1999)
as Olive Stanton
Oranges and Sunshine (2010)
as Margaret Humphreys
A Royal Night Out (2015)
as Queen Elizabeth
On Chesil Beach (2018)
as Violet Ponting
Fireflies in the Garden (2008)
as Jane Lawrence
The Happy Prince (2018)
as Constance Wilde
The Dresser (2015)
as Her Ladyship
The Boxer (1997)
as Maggie Hamill
Fado! (—)
Actor
The Memory Keeper's Daughter (2008)
as Caroline Gil
RSC Meets USA: Working Shakespeare (—)
as Self
God's Creatures (2022)
as Aileen O'Hara
Red Dragon (2002)
as Reba McClane
Meerkats 3D (2011)
as Narrator
Separate Lies (2005)
as Anne Manning
In Doctor von Trier's Laboratory: Back to the Magic of Cinema (1998)
as Self
Midas Man (2024)
as Queenie Epstein
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)
as Anne Sellers
Inside Look: Hamnet (2025)
as Self (archive footage)
The Luzhin Defence (2000)
as Natalia Katkov
Cold Souls (2009)
as Claire
A Christmas Child (—)
as Emily Watson ( Self/Narrator )
The Clockmaker’s Secret: Lost in Spindlewood (—)
as The Keeper of the Keys
Some Girl(s) (2013)
as Lindsay
London Fog: A Ruby Gale Mystery (—)
as (The Detective)
Crusade in Jeans (2006)
as Mary Vega
Holly Noel: The Winter Ball (Christmas 3) (—)
as ( Host )
The Mill on the Floss (1997)
as Maggie Tulliver
Metroland (1998)
as Marion
The Making of Gosford Park (2002)
as Self
Within the Whirlwind (2009)
as Evgenia Ginzburg
A Song for Jenny (2015)
as Julie Nicholson
Weinstein (2018)
as Narrator (voice)
Tranceformer: A Portrait of Lars von Trier (1997)
Actor
A Summer Day's Dream (1994)
Actor
A Director's Journey: The Making of 'Red Dragon' (2003)
as Self
Midday Sun (—)
as Sarah
Late in Summer (—)
Actor