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Emma Thompson
Acting
Biography
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 f…
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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.
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BODY OF WORK
Emma Thompson's Filmography
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The Sheep Detectives
as Lydia Harbottle
Everybody to Kenmure Street
as Van Guy
Dead of Winter
as Barb
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
as Dr Rawlings
Merchant Ivory
as Self
What's Love Got to Do with It?
as Cath Stevenson
The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later – A Diane Sawyer Special
as Self
Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical
as Agatha Trunchbull
The Fringe, Fame and Me
as Self
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
as Nancy Stokes
An Audience with Adele
as Self
Cruella
as The Baroness
Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony
as Self (archive footage)
How to Build a Girl
as Amanda
Dolittle
as Poly (voice)
Last Christmas
as Petra Andrich
Extinction
Hollywood's Dark Secret
as Self
Men in Black: International
as Agent O
Missing Link
as Dora the Yeti Elder (voice)
Late Night
as Katherine Newbury
Johnny English Strikes Again
as Prime Minister
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
as Self (archive footage)
Greenpeace: There's a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom
as Narrator (voice)
The Children Act
as Fiona Maye
King Lear
as Goneril
Sea Sorrow
as Self
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
as Maureen Meyerowitz
Beauty and the Beast
as Mrs. Potts
Die vielen Gesichter der Emma Thompson
as Elle-Même
No Poster
The Doubt Machine: Inside the Koch Brothers' War on Climate Science
as Narrator (voice)
To the Ends of the Earth
as Narrator (voice)
Bridget Jones's Baby
as Dr Rawlings
Alone in Berlin
as Anna Quangel
Sainsbury's: Mog's Christmas Calamity
as Narrator (voice)
Burnt
as Dr. Rosshilde
A Walk in the Woods
as Catherine Bryson
The Legend of Barney Thomson
as Cemolina
Men, Women & Children
as Narrator (voice)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – In Concert with the New York Philharmonic
as Self / Mrs. Lovett
Effie Gray
as Lady Eastlake
The Real Mary Poppins
as Self
The Love Punch
as Kate
Saving Mr. Banks
as P.L. Travers
Beautiful Creatures
as Mrs. Lincoln / Sarafine Duchannes
Brave
as Elinor (voice)
Walking the Dogs
as The Queen
Men in Black 3
as Agent O
When Harry Left Hogwarts
as Self
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
as Sybill Trelawney
Fry and Laurie Reunited
as Self
The Song of Lunch
as She
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
as Nanny McPhee
An Education
as Headmistress
The Boat That Rocked
as Charlotte
No Poster
A Sense of Character
as Self
No Poster
A Very Quiet Man
as Self
No Poster
Locating the World of Sense & Sensibility
as Self
No Poster
Elegance & Simplicity: The Wardrobe of Sense & Sensibility
as Self
Last Chance Harvey
as Kate Walker
Brideshead Revisited
as Lady Marchmain
I Am Legend
as Dr. Alice Krippin
Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out
as Self
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
as Sybill Trelawney
Stranger Than Fiction
as Karen Eiffel
A Tribute To Ismail Merchant
as Self (archive footage)
Nanny McPhee
as Nanny McPhee
Nos Bastidores de Hollywood
as Self (archive footage)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
as Sybill Trelawney
Imagining Argentina
as Cecilia Rueda
Love Actually
as Karen
Treasure Planet
as Captain Amelia (voice)
Heart of the Festival
as Self (archive footage)
Love & Loyalty: The Making of 'The Remains of the Day'
as Self
We Know Where You Live. Live!
as Self
Wit
as Vivian Bearing
Blind Loyalty, Hollow Honor: England's Fatal Flaw
as Self
The Remains of the Day: The Filmmaker's Journey
as Self
Maybe Baby
as Druscilla
Junket Whore
as Self
Judas Kiss
as FBI Agent Sadie Hawkins
Primary Colors
as Susan Stanton
The Winter Guest
as Frances
Hospital!
as Elephant Woman
Sense and Sensibility
as Elinor Dashwood
Carrington
as Dora Carrington
Junior
as Dr. Diana Reddin
The Blue Boy
as Marie Bonnar
My Father the Hero
as Isabel (uncredited)
In the Name of the Father
as Gareth Peirce
The Remains of the Day
as Miss Kenton
Much Ado About Nothing
as Beatrice
Peter's Friends
as Maggie Chester
Howards End
as Margaret Schlegel
No Poster
Rabbit Ears - The White Cat
as Narrator (voice)
Dead Again
as Grace / Margaret Strauss
Impromptu
as Duchess D'Antan
Tin Fish
Look Back in Anger
as Alison Porter
Henry V
as Katherine
No Poster
The Winslow Boy
as Catherine Winslow
The Tall Guy
as Kate
Colleagues From Hell
Royal Variety Performance 1984
Slags
as Young Woman
The Cellar Tapes
as various
No Poster
Hear Me Roar
as Elizabeth Butler-Sloss
No Poster
How to Stop a Nuclear War
as Narrator (voice)
No Poster
James Ivory: In Search of Love and Beauty
as Self