Emma Thompson
Acting
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
Acting151
movieThe Sheep Detectives
2026
Lydia Harbottle
tvDown Cemetery Road
2025
Zoë Boehm
movieBridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
2025
Dr Rawlings
movieBad Tidings
2024
Self (archive footage)
movieWhat's Love Got to Do with It?
2023
Cath Stevenson
movieRoald Dahl's Matilda the Musical
2022
Agatha Trunchbull
movieGood Luck to You, Leo Grande
2022
Nancy Stokes
tvWhy Didn't They Ask Evans?
2022
Lady Marcham
movieCruella
2021
The Baroness
movieHannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony
2021
Self (archive footage)
movieDolittle
2020
Poly (voice)
movieLast Christmas
2019
Petra Andrich
tvThe Kelly Clarkson Show
2019
Self - Guest / Self
tvYears and Years
2019
Vivienne Rook
movieMissing Link
2019
Dora the Yeti Elder (voice)
movieLate Night
2019
Katherine Newbury
movieJohnny English Strikes Again
2018
Prime Minister
movieBeyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
2018
Self (archive footage)
movieGreenpeace: There's a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom
2018
Narrator (voice)
movieThe Children Act
2018
Fiona Maye
movieKing Lear
2018
Goneril
movieThe Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
2017
Maureen Meyerowitz
movieBeauty and the Beast
2017
Mrs. Potts
The Doubt Machine: Inside the Koch Brothers' War on Climate Science
2016
Narrator (voice)
movieTo the Ends of the Earth
2016
Narrator (voice)
movieBridget Jones's Baby
2016
Dr Rawlings
movieAlone in Berlin
2016
Anna Quangel
movieSainsbury's: Mog's Christmas Calamity
2015
Narrator (voice)
movieBurnt
2015
Dr. Rosshilde
tvThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
Self - Guest / Self
movieA Walk in the Woods
2015
Catherine Bryson
movieMen, Women & Children
2014
Narrator (voice)
movieEffie Gray
2014
Lady Eastlake
tvThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014
Self - Guest
movieSaving Mr. Banks
2013
P.L. Travers
movieBeautiful Creatures
2013
Mrs. Lincoln / Sarafine Duchannes
movieBrave
2012
Elinor (voice)
movieWalking the Dogs
2012
The Queen
movieMen in Black 3
2012
Agent O
tvPlayhouse Presents
2012
The Queen
movieHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
2011
Sybill Trelawney
movieNanny McPhee and the Big Bang
2010
Nanny McPhee
movieAn Education
2009
Headmistress
movieThe Boat That Rocked
2009
Charlotte
movieLast Chance Harvey
2008
Kate Walker
movieBrideshead Revisited
2008
Lady Marchmain
movieI Am Legend
2007
Dr. Alice Krippin
movieHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
2007
Sybill Trelawney
tvThe Graham Norton Show
2007
Self / Self - Guest
movieStranger Than Fiction
2006
Karen Eiffel
movieA Tribute To Ismail Merchant
2005
Self (archive footage)
movieNanny McPhee
2005
Nanny McPhee
movieNos Bastidores de Hollywood
2005
Self (archive footage)
movieHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
2004
Sybill Trelawney
tvAngels in America
2003
Nurse Emily / Homeless Woman / The Angel
movieImagining Argentina
2003
Cecilia Rueda
tvQI
2003
Self
movieTreasure Planet
2002
Captain Amelia (voice)
tvTimeshift
2002
self
tvSucré salé
2002
Self
tvFriday Night with Jonathan Ross
2001
Self - Guest
movieWit
2001
Vivian Bearing
movieMaybe Baby
2000
Druscilla
movieJudas Kiss
1998
FBI Agent Sadie Hawkins
moviePrimary Colors
1998
Susan Stanton
tvParkinson
1998
Self
movieThe Winter Guest
1997
Frances
tvThe View
1997
Self / Self - Guest
movieHospital!
1997
Elephant Woman
movieSense and Sensibility
1995
Elinor Dashwood
movieCarrington
1995
Dora Carrington
movieJunior
1994
Dr. Diana Reddin
movieThe Blue Boy
1994
Marie Bonnar
tvEllen
1994
Emma Thompson
movieMy Father the Hero
1994
Isabel (uncredited)
movieIn the Name of the Father
1993
Gareth Peirce
movieThe Remains of the Day
1993
Miss Kenton
tvLate Night with Conan O'Brien
1993
Self - Guest
movieMuch Ado About Nothing
1993
Beatrice
tvGMTV
1993
Self
moviePeter's Friends
1992
Maggie Chester
movieHowards End
1992
Margaret Schlegel
Rabbit Ears - The White Cat
1991
Narrator (voice)
movieDead Again
1991
Margaret Strauss / Grace
movieImpromptu
1991
Duchess D'Antan
movieLook Back in Anger
1989
Alison Porter
movieHenry V
1989
Katherine
The Winslow Boy
1989
Catherine Winslow
Thompson
1988
Self - Host
tvLIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
Self - Guest
tvFortunes of War
1987
Harriet Pringle
tvTutti Frutti
1987
Suzi Kettles
tvScreen Two
1985
Marie
movieSlags
1984
Young Woman
tvThe Crystal Cube
1983
Jackie Meld / Various Roles
tvAlfresco
1983
Various
tvThe Young Ones
1982
Miss Money-Sterling
tvThe Comic Strip Presents...
1982
Young Woman
tvCheers
1982
Nanny Gee
movieThe Cellar Tapes
1982
various
tvSaturday Night Live
1975
Self - Host
tvThe Oscars
1953
Self
How to Stop a Nuclear War
Narrator (voice)
Hear Me Roar
Elizabeth Butler-Sloss
Writing10
movieLast Christmas
2019
Screenplay
movieBridget Jones's Baby
2016
Screenplay
movieEffie Gray
2014
Screenplay
movieNanny McPhee and the Big Bang
2010
Screenplay
movieNanny McPhee
2005
Screenplay
movieWit
2001
Writer, Teleplay
movieSense and Sensibility
1995
Screenplay
tvAlfresco
1983
Writer
Production8
movieEverybody to Kenmure Street
2026
Executive Producer
tvDown Cemetery Road
2025
Executive Producer
movieDead of Winter
2025
Executive Producer
movieMediha
2024
Executive Producer
movieLast Christmas
2019
Producer
moviePonyboi
2019
Co-Producer
movieSold
2016
Executive Producer
movieNanny McPhee and the Big Bang
2010
Executive Producer
Creator1
Crew1
movieEight
1998
Thanks