Dame Emma Thompson (born April 15, 1959) is a British actress and screenwriter. Regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation, she has received numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over four decades, including 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 services 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 came to prominence for her performances in two BBC TV 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). For her performance in the Merchant-Ivory period drama Howards End (1992), Thompson won the BAFTA Award and the Academy Award for Best Actress. 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). Authorised by the publishers of Beatrix Potter, Thompson has also written three Peter Rabbit children's books.
Movie | Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Movie | 2026-02-20 | |
Movie | The Fisherwoman | 2025 | |
Series | Down Cemetery Road | Zoë Boehm | 2025 |
Movie | How to Stop a Nuclear War | Narrator | 2025 |
Movie | Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy | Dr. Rawlings | 2025-02-12 |
Movie | James Ivory: In Search of Love and Beauty | Self | 2025 |
Movie | Merchant Ivory | Self | 2024-08-30 |
Movie | What's Love Got to Do with It? | Cath | 2023-01-26 |
Series | Why Didn't They Ask Evans? | Lady Marcham | 2022-04-12 |
Movie | The Fringe, Fame and Me | Self | 2022-08-08 |
Movie | Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical | Agatha Trunchbull | 2022-11-25 |
Movie | Good Luck to You, Leo Grande | Nancy Stokes | 2022-06-16 |
Movie | The Laughter & Secrets of 'Love Actually': 20 Years Later | Self | 2022-11-29 |
Movie | Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony | Self (archive footage) | 2021-03-26 |
Movie | An Audience with Adele | Self | 2021-11-21 |
Movie | Cruella | The Baroness | 2021-05-26 |
Movie | Dolittle | Poly (voice) | 2020-01-02 |
Movie | How to Build a Girl | Amanda | 2020-09-24 |
Movie | Late Night | Katherine Newbury | 2019-01-25 |
Movie | Missing Link | Dora the Yeti Elder (voice) | 2019-04-04 |
Series | Years and Years | Vivienne Rook | 2019-05-14 |
Movie | Men in Black: International | Agent O | 2019-06-12 |
Movie | Last Christmas | Petra Andrich | 2019-11-07 |
Movie | Extinction | Unknown | 2019-09-01 |
Movie | Hollywood's Dark Secret | Self | 2019-07-09 |
Movie | King Lear | Goneril | 2018-05-28 |
Movie | The Children Act | Fiona Maye | 2018-08-01 |
Movie | Johnny English Strikes Again | Prime Minister | 2018-09-13 |
Movie | Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal | Self (archive footage) | 2018-08-21 |
Movie | Greenpeace: There's a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom | Narrator (voice) | 2018-08-13 |
Movie | Beauty and the Beast | Mrs. Potts | 2017-03-16 |
Movie | The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) | Maureen Meyerowitz | 2017-05-21 |
Movie | Sea Sorrow | Self | 2017-11-08 |
Movie | Die vielen Gesichter der Emma Thompson | Elle-Même | 2016-11-20 |
Movie | Alone in Berlin | Anna Quangel | 2016-02-15 |
Series | Upstart Crow | Queen Elizabeth I | 2016-05-09 |
Movie | To the Ends of the Earth | Narrator (voice) | 2016-10-29 |
Movie | Bridget Jones's Baby | Dr. Rawlings | 2016-09-14 |
Series | Funny Valentines | Debbie | 2015-02-13 |
Movie | Sainsbury's: Mog's Christmas Calamity | Narrator (voice) | 2015-12-01 |
Movie | A Walk in the Woods | Catherine Bryson | 2015-09-02 |
Movie | Burnt | Dr. Rosshilde | 2015-10-02 |
Movie | The Legend of Barney Thomson | Cemolina | 2015-07-24 |
Series | The Late Show with Stephen Colbert | Self | 2015-09-08 |
Movie | The Real Mary Poppins | Self | 2014-01-17 |
Movie | And the Oscar Goes To... | Self (archive footage) | 2014-02-01 |
Movie | The Love Punch | Kate Jones | 2014-01-13 |
Series | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | Unknown | 2014-02-17 |
Movie | Effie Gray | Lady Eastlake | 2014-03-08 |
Movie | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Mrs. Lovett | 2014-09-26 |
Series | Late Night with Seth Meyers | Self | 2014-02-25 |
Movie | Men, Women & Children | Narrator (voice) | 2014-10-17 |
Movie | Beautiful Creatures | Mrs. Lincoln / Sarafine Duchannes | 2013-02-13 |
Movie | Saving Mr. Banks | P.L. Travers | 2013-11-29 |
Movie | Brave | Elinor (voice) | 2012-06-21 |
Movie | Walking the Dogs | The Queen | 2012-05-31 |
Movie | Men in Black 3 | Agent O | 2012-05-23 |
Series | The Jonathan Ross Show | Self | 2011-09-03 |
Movie | When Harry Left Hogwarts | Self | 2011-11-11 |
Movie | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 | Sybill Trelawney | 2011-07-12 |
Movie | Fry and Laurie Reunited | Self | 2010-11-24 |
Movie | The Song of Lunch | She | 2010-10-08 |
Movie | Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang | Nanny McPhee | 2010-03-26 |
Movie | The Boat That Rocked | Charlotte | 2009-04-01 |
Movie | An Education | Headmistress | 2009-10-29 |
Movie | Last Chance Harvey | Kate Walker | 2008-12-25 |
Movie | Brideshead Revisited | Lady Marchmain | 2008-07-25 |
Movie | I Am Legend | Dr. Alice Krippin | 2007-12-12 |
Movie | Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out | Self | 2007-08-11 |
Movie | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Sybill Trelawney | 2007-07-08 |
Series | The Graham Norton Show | Self - Guest | 2007-02-22 |
Movie | Stranger Than Fiction | Karen Eiffel | 2006-09-09 |
Movie | Nanny McPhee | Nanny McPhee | 2005-10-21 |
Movie | Nos Bastidores de Hollywood | Self | 2005-03-01 |
Movie | Hoodwinked! | Lesa (voice) | 2005-12-16 |
Movie | A Tribute To Ismail Merchant | Self (archive footage) | 2005-10-30 |
Series | The Tony Danza Show | Self | 2004-09-13 |
Movie | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | Sybill Trelawney | 2004-05-31 |
Movie | Love Actually | Karen | 2003-09-07 |
Series | QI | Self | 2003-09-11 |
Series | Angels in America | Homeless Woman / The Angel | 2003-12-07 |
Movie | Imagining Argentina | Cecilia Rueda | 2003-09-13 |
Series | The Ellen DeGeneres Show | Self | 2003-09-08 |
Series | Timeshift | self | 2002-10-10 |
Series | Sucré salé | Self | 2002-06-03 |
Movie | Treasure Planet | Captain Amelia (voice) | 2002-11-26 |
Series | Friday Night with Jonathan Ross | Self - Guest | 2001-11-02 |
Movie | The Remains of the Day: The Filmmaker's Journey | Self | 2001-01-01 |
Movie | Wit | Vivian Bearing | 2001-02-09 |
Movie | Blind Loyalty, Hollow Honor: England's Fatal Flaw | Self | 2001-01-01 |
Movie | Love & Loyalty: The Making of 'The Remains of the Day' | Self | 2001-10-22 |
Movie | Maybe Baby | Druscilla | 2000-06-02 |
Movie | Junket Whore | Self | 1998-10-12 |
Movie | Judas Kiss | FBI Agent Sadie Hawkins | 1998-09-16 |
Movie | Primary Colors | Susan Stanton | 1998-03-20 |
Movie | The Winter Guest | Frances | 1997-12-27 |
Movie | Hospital! | Elephant Woman | 1997-03-30 |
Series | Leute heute | Self | 1997-07-23 |
Series | The View | Self - Guest | 1997-08-11 |
Series | E! True Hollywood Story | Unknown | 1996-08-21 |
Movie | Sense and Sensibility | Elinor Dashwood | 1995-12-13 |
Movie | Carrington | Dora Carrington | 1995-05-25 |
Movie | Junior | Dr. Diana Reddin | 1994-11-22 |
Movie | The Blue Boy | Marie Bonnar | 1994-07-02 |
Series | Ellen | Emma Thompson | 1994-03-29 |
Movie | My Father the Hero | Isabel (uncredited) | 1994-02-04 |
Series | GMTV | Self | 1993-01-01 |
Movie | The Remains of the Day | Miss Kenton | 1993-11-05 |
Movie | Much Ado About Nothing | Beatrice | 1993-05-07 |
Movie | In the Name of the Father | Gareth Peirce | 1993-12-12 |
Series | Late Night with Conan O'Brien | Self - Guest | 1993-09-13 |
Movie | Peter's Friends | Maggie Chester | 1992-09-18 |
Movie | Howards End | Margaret Schlegel | 1992-03-13 |
Series | The Tonight Show with Jay Leno | Unknown | 1992-05-25 |
Movie | Dead Again | Margaret Strauss / Grace | 1991-08-23 |
Movie | Impromptu | Duchess D'Antan | 1991-04-12 |
Movie | The Tall Guy | Kate | 1989-02-01 |
Movie | Henry V | Katherine | 1989-10-05 |
Movie | The Winslow Boy | Catherine Winslow | 1989-04-30 |
Movie | Look Back in Anger | Alison Porter | 1989-12-28 |
Series | LIVE with Kelly and Mark | Self - Guest | 1988-09-05 |
Series | Thompson | Self - Host | 1988-11-10 |
Series | Tutti Frutti | Suzi Kettles | 1987-03-03 |
Series | Fortunes of War | Harriet Pringle | 1987-10-11 |
Movie | Slags | Young Woman | 1984-02-11 |
Series | The Crystal Cube | Jackie Meld / Various Roles | 1983-07-07 |
Series | Alfresco | Various | 1983-05-01 |
Series | There's Nothing to Worry About! | Various | 1982-10-06 |
Series | The Young Ones | Miss Money-Sterling | 1982-11-09 |
Movie | The Cellar Tapes | various | 1982-05-20 |
Series | Cheers | Nanny Gee | 1982-09-30 |
Series | The Comic Strip Presents... | Young Woman | 1982-11-02 |
Series | Wetten, dass..? | Self | 1981-02-14 |
Series | The Val Doonican Music Show | Unknown | 1977-04-09 |
Series | Saturday Night Live | Self - Host | 1975-10-11 |
Series | The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson | Self | 1962-10-01 |
Series | The Oscars | Self | 1953-03-19 |