Acting
Emma Thompson
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.
Filmography
The Sheep Detectives
Film · 2026
Everybody to Kenmure Street
Film · 2026
Dead of Winter
Film · 2025
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
Film · 2025
Down Cemetery Road
Series · 2025
Merchant Ivory
Film · 2024
What's Love Got to Do with It?
Film · 2023
The Fringe, Fame and Me
Film · 2022
The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later – A Diane Sawyer Special
Film · 2022
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Film · 2022
Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical
Film · 2022
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
Series · 2022
An Audience with Adele
Film · 2021
Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony
Film · 2021
Cruella
Film · 2021
How to Build a Girl
Film · 2020
Dolittle
Film · 2020
Hollywood's Dark Secret
Film · 2019
Extinction
Film · 2019
Late Night
Film · 2019
Missing Link
Film · 2019
Last Christmas
Film · 2019
Men in Black: International
Film · 2019
Years and Years
Series · 2019
The Kelly Clarkson Show
Series · 2019
The Kelly Clarkson Show
Series · 2019
Greenpeace: There's a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom
Film · 2018
The Children Act
Film · 2018
King Lear
Film · 2018
Johnny English Strikes Again
Film · 2018
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
Film · 2018
Beauty and the Beast
Film · 2017
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
Film · 2017
Sea Sorrow
Film · 2017
Alone in Berlin
Film · 2016
Bridget Jones's Baby
Film · 2016
To the Ends of the Earth
Film · 2016
Die vielen Gesichter der Emma Thompson
Film · 2016
The Doubt Machine: Inside the Koch Brothers' War on Climate Science
Film · 2016
Sainsbury's: Mog's Christmas Calamity
Film · 2015
A Walk in the Woods
Film · 2015
The Legend of Barney Thomson
Film · 2015
Burnt
Film · 2015
Funny Valentines
Series · 2015
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Series · 2015
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Series · 2015
The Real Mary Poppins
Film · 2014
Effie Gray
Film · 2014
The Love Punch
Film · 2014
Men, Women & Children
Film · 2014
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – In Concert with the New York Philharmonic
Film · 2014
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Series · 2014
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Series · 2014
Saving Mr. Banks
Film · 2013
Beautiful Creatures
Film · 2013
Men in Black 3
Film · 2012
Brave
Film · 2012
Walking the Dogs
Film · 2012
Playhouse Presents
Series · 2012
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Film · 2011
When Harry Left Hogwarts
Film · 2011
The Jonathan Ross Show
Series · 2011
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
Film · 2010
The Song of Lunch
Film · 2010
Fry and Laurie Reunited
Film · 2010
An Education
Film · 2009
The Boat That Rocked
Film · 2009
A Sense of Character
Film · 2009
A Very Quiet Man
Film · 2009
Locating the World of Sense & Sensibility
Film · 2009
Elegance & Simplicity: The Wardrobe of Sense & Sensibility
Film · 2009
Brideshead Revisited
Film · 2008
Last Chance Harvey
Film · 2008
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Film · 2007
I Am Legend
Film · 2007
Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out
Film · 2007
The Graham Norton Show
Series · 2007
The Graham Norton Show
Series · 2007
Stranger Than Fiction
Film · 2006
Nanny McPhee
Film · 2005
A Tribute To Ismail Merchant
Film · 2005
Nos Bastidores de Hollywood
Film · 2005
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Film · 2004
The Tony Danza Show
Series · 2004
Love Actually
Film · 2003
Imagining Argentina
Film · 2003
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Series · 2003
QI
Series · 2003
Angels in America
Series · 2003
Treasure Planet
Film · 2002
Heart of the Festival
Film · 2002
Sucré salé
Series · 2002
Timeshift
Series · 2002
Wit
Film · 2001
Love & Loyalty: The Making of 'The Remains of the Day'
Film · 2001
Blind Loyalty, Hollow Honor: England's Fatal Flaw
Film · 2001
The Remains of the Day: The Filmmaker's Journey
Film · 2001
We Know Where You Live. Live!
Film · 2001
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
Series · 2001
Maybe Baby
Film · 2000
Primary Colors
Film · 1998
Judas Kiss
Film · 1998
Junket Whore
Film · 1998
Parkinson
Series · 1998
The Winter Guest
Film · 1997
Hospital!
Film · 1997
The View
Series · 1997
Leute heute
Series · 1997
The View
Series · 1997
E! True Hollywood Story
Series · 1996
Sense and Sensibility
Film · 1995
Carrington
Film · 1995
Junior
Film · 1994
My Father the Hero
Film · 1994
The Blue Boy
Film · 1994
Ellen
Series · 1994
The Remains of the Day
Film · 1993
In the Name of the Father
Film · 1993
Much Ado About Nothing
Film · 1993
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Series · 1993
GMTV
Series · 1993
Peter's Friends
Film · 1992
Howards End
Film · 1992
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Series · 1992
Dead Again
Film · 1991
Impromptu
Film · 1991
Rabbit Ears - The White Cat
Film · 1991
Tin Fish
Film · 1990
Henry V
Film · 1989
The Tall Guy
Film · 1989
Look Back in Anger
Film · 1989
The Winslow Boy
Film · 1989
Colleagues From Hell
Film · 1989
The Simpsons
Series · 1989
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
Series · 1988
Thompson
Series · 1988
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
Series · 1988
Tutti Frutti
Series · 1987
Fortunes of War
Series · 1987
Screen Two
Series · 1985
Theatre Night
Series · 1985
Theatre Night
Series · 1985
Slags
Film · 1984
Royal Variety Performance 1984
Film · 1984
Alfresco
Series · 1983
The Crystal Cube
Series · 1983
The Cellar Tapes
Film · 1982
The Young Ones
Series · 1982
There's Nothing to Worry About!
Series · 1982
The Comic Strip Presents...
Series · 1982
Cheers
Series · 1982
Wetten, dass..?
Series · 1981
Friday Night, Saturday Morning
Series · 1979
The Val Doonican Music Show
Series · 1977
Saturday Night Live
Series · 1975
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Series · 1962
The Oscars
Series · 1953
How to Stop a Nuclear War
Film
James Ivory: In Search of Love and Beauty
Film
Hear Me Roar
Film