Emma Thompson
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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
Credits
The Sheep Detectives (2026)
as Lydia Harbottle
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
as Sybill Trelawney
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
as Sybill Trelawney
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
as Sybill Trelawney
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
as Mrs. Potts
Brave (2012)
as Elinor (voice)
Cruella (2021)
as The Baroness
I Am Legend (2007)
as Dr. Alice Krippin
Dead of Winter (2025)
as Barb
Treasure Planet (2002)
as Captain Amelia (voice)
Sense and Sensibility (1995)
as Elinor Dashwood
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022)
as Nancy Stokes
Nanny McPhee (2005)
as Nanny McPhee
Men in Black 3 (2012)
as Agent O
Love Actually (2003)
as Karen
Men in Black: International (2019)
as Agent O
Dolittle (2020)
as Poly (voice)
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010)
as Nanny McPhee
Johnny English Strikes Again (2018)
as Prime Minister
Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical (2022)
as Agatha Trunchbull
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (2025)
as Dr Rawlings
Burnt (2015)
as Dr. Rosshilde
In the Name of the Father (1993)
as Gareth Peirce
Beautiful Creatures (2013)
as Mrs. Lincoln / Sarafine Duchannes
King Lear (2018)
as Goneril
Missing Link (2019)
as Dora the Yeti Elder (voice)
Bridget Jones's Baby (2016)
as Dr Rawlings
Men, Women & Children (2014)
as Narrator (voice)
Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
as Beatrice
Last Christmas (2019)
as Petra Andrich
Late Night (2019)
as Katherine Newbury
Howards End (1992)
as Margaret Schlegel
The Remains of the Day (1993)
as Miss Kenton
Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
as Karen Eiffel
Junior (1994)
as Dr. Diana Reddin
The Boat That Rocked (2009)
as Charlotte
An Education (2009)
as Headmistress
Dead Again (1991)
as Margaret Strauss / Grace
Peter's Friends (1992)
as Maggie Chester
Primary Colors (1998)
as Susan Stanton
Wit (2001)
as Vivian Bearing
The Tall Guy (1989)
as Kate
Last Chance Harvey (2008)
as Kate Walker
Henry V (1989)
as Katherine
Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
as P.L. Travers
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (2017)
as Maureen Meyerowitz
Brideshead Revisited (2008)
as Lady Marchmain
Effie Gray (2014)
as Lady Eastlake
The Children Act (2018)
as Fiona Maye
Junket Whore (1998)
as Self
My Father the Hero (1994)
as Isabel (uncredited)
What's Love Got to Do with It? (2023)
as Cath Stevenson
Alone in Berlin (2016)
as Anna Quangel
Impromptu (1991)
as Duchess D'Antan
Judas Kiss (1998)
as FBI Agent Sadie Hawkins
Everybody to Kenmure Street (2026)
as Van Guy
How to Build a Girl (2020)
as Amanda
A Walk in the Woods (2015)
as Catherine Bryson
Maybe Baby (2000)
as Druscilla
Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony (2021)
as Self (archive footage)
Merchant Ivory (2024)
as Self
The Love Punch (2014)
as Kate
Nos Bastidores de Hollywood (2005)
as Self (archive footage)
Sea Sorrow (2017)
as Self
Imagining Argentina (2003)
as Cecilia Rueda
When Harry Left Hogwarts (2011)
as Self
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal (2018)
as Self (archive footage)
Carrington (1995)
as Dora Carrington
Bad Tidings (2024)
as Self (archive footage)
The Winter Guest (1997)
as Frances
The Legend of Barney Thomson (2015)
as Cemolina
The Blue Boy (1994)
as Marie Bonnar
The Song of Lunch (2010)
as She
An Audience with Adele (2021)
as Self
Hear Me Roar (—)
as Elizabeth Butler-Sloss
Hospital! (1997)
as Elephant Woman
Look Back in Anger (1989)
as Alison Porter
Fry and Laurie Reunited (2010)
as Self
The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later – A Diane Sawyer Special (2022)
as Self
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2014)
as Mrs. Lovett
The Cellar Tapes (1982)
as various
The Fringe, Fame and Me (2022)
as Self
The Winslow Boy (1989)
as Catherine Winslow
The Real Mary Poppins (2014)
as Self
Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out (2007)
as Self
Tin Fish (1990)
Actor
A Tribute To Ismail Merchant (2005)
as Self (archive footage)
Colleagues From Hell (1989)
Actor
Walking the Dogs (2012)
as The Queen
Royal Variety Performance 1984 (1984)
Actor
Love & Loyalty: The Making of 'The Remains of the Day' (2001)
as Self
Slags (1984)
as Young Woman
Extinction (2019)
Actor
Blind Loyalty, Hollow Honor: England's Fatal Flaw (2001)
as Self
A Very Quiet Man (2009)
as Self
Sainsbury's: Mog's Christmas Calamity (2015)
as Narrator (voice)
To the Ends of the Earth (2016)
as Narrator (voice)
James Ivory: In Search of Love and Beauty (—)
as Self
Elegance & Simplicity: The Wardrobe of Sense & Sensibility (2009)
as Self
The Remains of the Day: The Filmmaker's Journey (2001)
as Self
Hollywood's Dark Secret (2019)
as Self
A Sense of Character (2009)
as Self
Locating the World of Sense & Sensibility (2009)
as Self
The Doubt Machine: Inside the Koch Brothers' War on Climate Science (2016)
as Narrator (voice)
Rabbit Ears - The White Cat (1991)
as Narrator (voice)
How to Stop a Nuclear War (—)
as Narrator (voice)
Die vielen Gesichter der Emma Thompson (2016)
as Elle-Même
Greenpeace: There's a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom (2018)
as Narrator (voice)