Acting · Paddington, London, England, UK · Born April 15, 1959
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.
MovieThe Sheep Detectives
2026
as Lydia Harbottle
MovieEverybody to Kenmure Street
2026
as Van Guy
TVDown Cemetery Road
2025
as Zoë Boehm
MovieDead of Winter
2025
as Barb
MovieBridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
2025
as Dr Rawlings
MovieBad Tidings
2024
as Self (archive footage)
MovieMerchant Ivory
2024
as Self
MovieWhat's Love Got to Do with It?
2023
as Cath Stevenson
MovieThe Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later – A Diane Sawyer Special
2022
as Self
MovieRoald Dahl's Matilda the Musical
2022
as Agatha Trunchbull
MovieThe Fringe, Fame and Me
2022
as Self
MovieGood Luck to You, Leo Grande
2022
as Nancy Stokes
TVWhy Didn't They Ask Evans?
2022
as Lady Marcham
MovieAn Audience with Adele
2021
as Self
MovieCruella
2021
as The Baroness
MovieHannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony
2021
as Self (archive footage)
MovieHow to Build a Girl
2020
as Amanda
MovieDolittle
2020
as Poly (voice)
MovieLast Christmas
2019
as Petra Andrich
TVThe Kelly Clarkson Show
2019
as Self - Guest
MovieExtinction
2019
MovieHollywood's Dark Secret
2019
as Self
MovieMen in Black: International
2019
as Agent O
TVYears and Years
2019
as Vivienne Rook
MovieMissing Link
2019
as Dora the Yeti Elder (voice)
MovieLate Night
2019
as Katherine Newbury
MovieJohnny English Strikes Again
2018
as Prime Minister
MovieBeyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
2018
as Self (archive footage)
MovieGreenpeace: There's a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom
2018
as Narrator (voice)
MovieThe Children Act
2018
as Fiona Maye
MovieKing Lear
2018
as Goneril
MovieSea Sorrow
2017
as Self
MovieThe Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
2017
as Maureen Meyerowitz
MovieBeauty and the Beast
2017
as Mrs. Potts
MovieDie vielen Gesichter der Emma Thompson
2016
as Elle-Même
The Doubt Machine: Inside the Koch Brothers' War on Climate Science
2016
as Narrator (voice)
MovieTo the Ends of the Earth
2016
as Narrator (voice)
MovieBridget Jones's Baby
2016
as Dr Rawlings
MovieAlone in Berlin
2016
as Anna Quangel
MovieSainsbury's: Mog's Christmas Calamity
2015
as Narrator (voice)
MovieBurnt
2015
as Dr. Rosshilde
TVThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
as Self - Guest
MovieA Walk in the Woods
2015
as Catherine Bryson
MovieThe Legend of Barney Thomson
2015
as Cemolina
Funny Valentines
2015
as Debbie
MovieMen, Women & Children
2014
as Narrator (voice)
MovieSweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
2014
as Mrs. Lovett
MovieEffie Gray
2014
as Lady Eastlake
TVLate Night with Seth Meyers
2014
as Self
TVThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014
as Self - Guest
MovieThe Real Mary Poppins
2014
as Self
MovieThe Love Punch
2014
as Kate
MovieSaving Mr. Banks
2013
as P.L. Travers
MovieBeautiful Creatures
2013
as Mrs. Lincoln / Sarafine Duchannes
MovieBrave
2012
as Elinor (voice)
MovieWalking the Dogs
2012
as The Queen
MovieMen in Black 3
2012
as Agent O
TVPlayhouse Presents
2012
as The Queen
MovieWhen Harry Left Hogwarts
2011
as Self
TVThe Jonathan Ross Show
2011
as Self
MovieHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
2011
as Sybill Trelawney
MovieFry and Laurie Reunited
2010
as Self
MovieThe Song of Lunch
2010
as She
MovieNanny McPhee and the Big Bang
2010
as Nanny McPhee
MovieAn Education
2009
as Headmistress
MovieThe Boat That Rocked
2009
as Charlotte
A Sense of Character
2009
as Self
A Very Quiet Man
2009
as Self
Locating the World of Sense & Sensibility
2009
as Self
Elegance & Simplicity: The Wardrobe of Sense & Sensibility
2009
as Self
MovieLast Chance Harvey
2008
as Kate Walker
MovieBrideshead Revisited
2008
as Lady Marchmain
MovieI Am Legend
2007
as Dr. Alice Krippin
MovieStephen Fry: 50 Not Out
2007
as Self
MovieHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
2007
as Sybill Trelawney
TVThe Graham Norton Show
2007
as Self
MovieStranger Than Fiction
2006
as Karen Eiffel
MovieA Tribute To Ismail Merchant
2005
as Self (archive footage)
MovieNanny McPhee
2005
as Nanny McPhee
MovieNos Bastidores de Hollywood
2005
as Self (archive footage)
The Tony Danza Show
2004
as Self
MovieHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
2004
as Sybill Trelawney
TVAngels in America
2003
as Nurse Emily / Homeless Woman / The Angel
MovieImagining Argentina
2003
as Cecilia Rueda
TVQI
2003
as Self
TVThe Ellen DeGeneres Show
2003
as Self
MovieLove Actually
2003
as Karen
MovieTreasure Planet
2002
as Captain Amelia (voice)
TVTimeshift
2002
as self
TVSucré salé
2002
as Self
TVFriday Night with Jonathan Ross
2001
as Self - Guest
MovieLove & Loyalty: The Making of 'The Remains of the Day'
2001
as Self
MovieWit
2001
as Vivian Bearing
MovieBlind Loyalty, Hollow Honor: England's Fatal Flaw
2001
as Self
MovieThe Remains of the Day: The Filmmaker's Journey
2001
as Self
MovieMaybe Baby
2000
as Druscilla
MovieJunket Whore
1998
as Self
MovieJudas Kiss
1998
as FBI Agent Sadie Hawkins
MoviePrimary Colors
1998
as Susan Stanton
TVParkinson
1998
as Self
MovieThe Winter Guest
1997
as Frances
TVThe View
1997
as Self
TVLeute heute
1997
as Self
MovieHospital!
1997
as Elephant Woman
TVE! True Hollywood Story
1996
MovieSense and Sensibility
1995
as Elinor Dashwood
MovieCarrington
1995
as Dora Carrington
MovieJunior
1994
as Dr. Diana Reddin
MovieThe Blue Boy
1994
as Marie Bonnar
TVEllen
1994
as Emma Thompson
MovieMy Father the Hero
1994
as Isabel (uncredited)
MovieIn the Name of the Father
1993
as Gareth Peirce
MovieThe Remains of the Day
1993
as Miss Kenton
TVLate Night with Conan O'Brien
1993
as Self - Guest
MovieMuch Ado About Nothing
1993
as Beatrice
TVGMTV
1993
as Self
MoviePeter's Friends
1992
as Maggie Chester
TVThe Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992
MovieHowards End
1992
as Margaret Schlegel
Rabbit Ears - The White Cat
1991
as Narrator (voice)
MovieDead Again
1991
as Margaret Strauss / Grace
MovieImpromptu
1991
as Duchess D'Antan
MovieTin Fish
1990
MovieLook Back in Anger
1989
as Alison Porter
MovieHenry V
1989
as Katherine
The Winslow Boy
1989
as Catherine Winslow
MovieThe Tall Guy
1989
as Kate
MovieColleagues From Hell
1989
Thompson
1988
as Self - Host
TVLIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
TVFortunes of War
1987
as Harriet Pringle
TVTutti Frutti
1987
as Suzi Kettles
TVScreen Two
1985
as Marie
MovieRoyal Variety Performance 1984
1984
MovieSlags
1984
as Young Woman
TVThe Crystal Cube
1983
as Jackie Meld / Various Roles
TVAlfresco
1983
as Various
TVThe Young Ones
1982
as Miss Money-Sterling
TVThe Comic Strip Presents...
1982
as Young Woman
TVThere's Nothing to Worry About!
1982
as Various
TVCheers
1982
as Nanny Gee
MovieThe Cellar Tapes
1982
as various
TVWetten, dass..?
1981
as Self
TVFriday Night, Saturday Morning
1979
The Val Doonican Music Show
1977
TVSaturday Night Live
1975
as Self - Host
TVThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
as Self
TVThe Oscars
1953
as Self
How to Stop a Nuclear War
as Narrator (voice)
James Ivory: In Search of Love and Beauty
as Self
Hear Me Roar
as Elizabeth Butler-Sloss
