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)
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
as Chief of Staff Fox
Hamnet (2025)
as Mary
The Theory of Everything (2014)
as Beryl Wilde
Small Things Like These (2024)
as Sister Mary
Equilibrium (2002)
as Mary O'Brien
War Horse (2011)
as Rose Narracott
Everest (2015)
as Helen Wilton
The Legend of Ochi (2025)
as Dasha
The Book Thief (2013)
as Rosa Hubermann
Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
as Lena Leonard
Anna Karenina (2012)
as Countess Lydia Ivanova
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
as Tammy
Gosford Park (2001)
as Elsie
The Water Horse (2007)
as Anne MacMorrow
Miss Potter (2006)
as Millie Warne
Monster Family (2017)
as Emma Wishbone (voice)
The Proposition (2005)
as Martha Stanley
Monster Family 2 (2021)
as Emma Wishbone (voice)
Fireflies in the Garden (2008)
as Jane Lawrence
Breaking the Waves (1996)
as Bess McNeill
Steve (2025)
as Jenny
King Lear (2018)
as Regan
On Chesil Beach (2018)
as Violet Ponting
Belle (2013)
as Lady Mansfield
Angela's Ashes (1999)
as Angela McCourt
Testament of Youth (2015)
as Mrs. Brittain
Little Boy (2015)
as Emma Busbee
The Dresser (2015)
as Her Ladyship
The Boxer (1997)
as Maggie Hamill
The Happy Prince (2018)
as Constance Wilde
A Royal Night Out (2015)
as Queen Elizabeth
Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism (2015)
as Miss Trinklebury
Cold Souls (2009)
as Claire
Hilary and Jackie (1998)
as Jackie du Pré
Cradle Will Rock (1999)
as Olive Stanton
The Memory Keeper's Daughter (2008)
as Caroline Gil
Cemetery Junction (2010)
as Mrs. Kendrick
The Luzhin Defence (2000)
as Natalia Katkov
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)
as Anne Sellers
Crusade in Jeans (2006)
as Mary Vega
Red Dragon (2002)
as Reba McClane
Wah-Wah (2005)
as Ruby Compton
God's Creatures (2022)
as Aileen O'Hara
Midas Man (2024)
as Queenie Epstein
Separate Lies (2005)
as Anne Manning
Oranges and Sunshine (2010)
as Margaret Humphreys
Trixie (2000)
as Trixie Zurbo
Amri (—)
as Marie Antoinette Gottesman
RSC Meets USA: Working Shakespeare (—)
as Self
A Director's Journey: The Making of 'Red Dragon' (2003)
as Self
Metroland (1998)
as Marion
Fado! (—)
Actor
Some Girl(s) (2013)
as Lindsay
Ballchewer (2002)
as Self
Within the Whirlwind (2009)
as Evgenia Ginzburg
The Making of Gosford Park (2002)
as Self
The Mill on the Floss (1997)
as Maggie Tulliver
A Song for Jenny (2015)
as Julie Nicholson
In Doctor von Trier's Laboratory: Back to the Magic of Cinema (1998)
as Self
Tranceformer: A Portrait of Lars von Trier (1997)
Actor
Late in Summer (—)
Actor
Meerkats 3D (2011)
as Narrator
A Christmas Child (—)
as Emily Watson ( Self/Narrator )
Inside Look: Hamnet (2025)
as Self (archive footage)
London Fog: A Ruby Gale Mystery (—)
as (The Detective)
Midday Sun (—)
as Sarah
A Summer Day's Dream (1994)
Actor
The Clockmaker’s Secret: Lost in Spindlewood (—)
as The Keeper of the Keys
Weinstein (2018)
as Narrator (voice)
Holly Noel: The Winter Ball (Christmas 3) (—)
as ( Host )