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.
TV Shows(43)
Down Cemetery Road
Zoë Boehm
2025
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
Lady Marcham
2022
The Kelly Clarkson Show
Self - Guest
2019
Years and Years
Vivienne Rook
2019
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self - Guest
2015
Funny Valentines
Debbie
2015
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Self
2014
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self - Guest
2014
Playhouse Presents
The Queen
2012
The Jonathan Ross Show
Self
2011
The Graham Norton Show
Self
2007
The Tony Danza Show
Self
2004
Angels in America
Nurse Emily / Homeless Woman / The Angel
2003
QI
Self
2003
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Self
2003
Timeshift
self
2002
Sucré salé
Self
2002
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
Self - Guest
2001
Parkinson
Self
1998
The View
Self
1997
Leute heute
Self
1997
E! True Hollywood Story
1996
Ellen
Emma Thompson
1994
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Self - Guest
1993
GMTV
Self
1993
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992
Thompson
Self - Host
1988
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
Fortunes of War
Harriet Pringle
1987
Tutti Frutti
Suzi Kettles
1987
Screen Two
Marie
1985
The Crystal Cube
Jackie Meld / Various Roles
1983
Alfresco
Various
1983
The Young Ones
Miss Money-Sterling
1982
The Comic Strip Presents...
Young Woman
1982
There's Nothing to Worry About!
Various
1982
Cheers
Nanny Gee
1982
Wetten, dass..?
Self
1981
Friday Night, Saturday Morning
1979
The Val Doonican Music Show
1977
Saturday Night Live
Self - Host
1975
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
1962
The Oscars
Self
1953
Movies(108)
The Sheep Detectives
Lydia Harbottle
2026
Everybody to Kenmure Street
Van Guy
2026
Dead of Winter
Barb
2025
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
Dr. Rawlings
2025
Bad Tidings
Self (archive footage)
2024
Merchant Ivory
Self
2024
What's Love Got to Do with It?
Cath Stevenson
2023
The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later – A Diane Sawyer Special
Self
2022
Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical
Agatha Trunchbull
2022
The Fringe, Fame and Me
Self
2022
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Nancy Stokes
2022
An Audience with Adele
Self
2021
Cruella
The Baroness
2021
Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony
Self (archive footage)
2021
How to Build a Girl
Amanda
2020
Dolittle
Poly (voice)
2020
Last Christmas
Petra Andrich
2019
Extinction
2019
Hollywood's Dark Secret
Self
2019
Men in Black: International
Agent O
2019
Missing Link
Dora the Yeti Elder (voice)
2019
Late Night
Katherine Newbury
2019
Johnny English Strikes Again
Prime Minister
2018
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
Self (archive footage)
2018
Greenpeace: There's a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom
Narrator (voice)
2018
The Children Act
Fiona Maye
2018
King Lear
Goneril
2018
Sea Sorrow
Self
2017
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
Maureen Meyerowitz
2017
Beauty and the Beast
Mrs. Potts
2017
Die vielen Gesichter der Emma Thompson
Elle-Même
2016
The Doubt Machine: Inside the Koch Brothers' War on Climate Science
Narrator (voice)
2016
To the Ends of the Earth
Narrator (voice)
2016
Bridget Jones's Baby
Dr Rawlings
2016
Alone in Berlin
Anna Quangel
2016
Sainsbury's: Mog's Christmas Calamity
Narrator (voice)
2015
Burnt
Dr. Rosshilde
2015
A Walk in the Woods
Catherine Bryson
2015
The Legend of Barney Thomson
Cemolina
2015
Men, Women & Children
Narrator (voice)
2014
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Mrs. Lovett
2014
Effie Gray
Lady Eastlake
2014
The Real Mary Poppins
Self
2014
The Love Punch
Kate Jones
2014
Saving Mr. Banks
P.L. Travers
2013
Beautiful Creatures
Mrs. Lincoln / Sarafine Duchannes
2013
Brave
Elinor (voice)
2012
Walking the Dogs
The Queen
2012
Men in Black 3
Agent O
2012
When Harry Left Hogwarts
Self
2011
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Sybill Trelawney
2011
Fry and Laurie Reunited
Self
2010
The Song of Lunch
She
2010
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
Nanny McPhee
2010
An Education
Headmistress
2009
The Boat That Rocked
Charlotte
2009
A Sense of Character
Self
2009
A Very Quiet Man
Self
2009
Locating the World of Sense & Sensibility
Self
2009
Elegance & Simplicity: The Wardrobe of Sense & Sensibility
Self
2009
Last Chance Harvey
Kate Walker
2008
Brideshead Revisited
Lady Marchmain
2008
I Am Legend
Dr. Alice Krippin
2007
Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out
Self
2007
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Sybill Trelawney
2007
Stranger Than Fiction
Karen Eiffel
2006
A Tribute To Ismail Merchant
Self (archive footage)
2005
Nanny McPhee
Nanny McPhee
2005
Nos Bastidores de Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
2005
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Sybill Trelawney
2004
Imagining Argentina
Cecilia Rueda
2003
Love Actually
Karen
2003
Treasure Planet
Captain Amelia (voice)
2002
Love & Loyalty: The Making of 'The Remains of the Day'
Self
2001
Wit
Vivian Bearing
2001
Blind Loyalty, Hollow Honor: England's Fatal Flaw
Self
2001
The Remains of the Day: The Filmmaker's Journey
Self
2001
Maybe Baby
Druscilla
2000
Junket Whore
Self
1998
Judas Kiss
FBI Agent Sadie Hawkins
1998
Primary Colors
Susan Stanton
1998
The Winter Guest
Frances
1997
Hospital!
Elephant Woman
1997
Sense and Sensibility
Elinor Dashwood
1995
Carrington
Dora Carrington
1995
Junior
Dr. Diana Reddin
1994
The Blue Boy
Marie Bonnar
1994
My Father the Hero
Isabel (uncredited)
1994
In the Name of the Father
Gareth Peirce
1993
The Remains of the Day
Miss Kenton
1993
Much Ado About Nothing
Beatrice
1993
Peter's Friends
Maggie Chester
1992
Howards End
Margaret Schlegel
1992
Rabbit Ears - The White Cat
Narrator (voice)
1991
Dead Again
Margaret Strauss / Grace
1991
Impromptu
Duchess D'Antan
1991
Tin Fish
1990
Look Back in Anger
Alison Porter
1989
Henry V
Katherine
1989
The Winslow Boy
Catherine Winslow
1989
The Tall Guy
Kate
1989
Colleagues From Hell
1989
Royal Variety Performance 1984
1984
Slags
Young Woman
1984
The Cellar Tapes
various
1982
How to Stop a Nuclear War
Narrator (voice)
James Ivory: In Search of Love and Beauty
Self
Hear Me Roar
Elizabeth Butler-Sloss