Emma Thompson

67 years old Paddington, London, England, UK

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.

Recent movies

# Name Character Rating
1 The Sheep Detectives (2026) Lydia Harbottle 10
2 Dead of Winter (2025) Barb 6.7
3 Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (2025) Dr Rawlings 6
4 Bad Tidings (2024) Self (archive footage) 6
5 What's Love Got to Do with It? (2023) Cath Stevenson 6.5
6 Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical (2022) Agatha Trunchbull 6.8
7 Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022) Nancy Stokes 7.3
8 Cruella (2021)
Top movies in 2021 		The Baroness 7.5
9 Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony (2021) Self (archive footage) -
10 Dolittle (2020) Poly (voice) 6.3
11 How to Build a Girl (2020) Amanda 6.5
12 Late Night (2019) Katherine Newbury 7.1
13 Men in Black: International (2019) Agent O 6.1
14 Last Christmas (2019) Director / Writer 6.5
15 Missing Link (2019) Dora the Yeti Elder (voice) 7.2
16 The Children Act (2018) Fiona Maye 6.5
17 Johnny English Strikes Again (2018) Prime Minister 6.6
18 King Lear (2018) Goneril 4
19 Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal (2018) Self (archive footage) -
20 The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (2017) Maureen Meyerowitz 6.6
21 Beauty and the Beast (2017) Mrs. Potts 7.5
22 Bridget Jones's Baby (2016) Director / Writer 6.7
23 Alone in Berlin (2016) Anna Quangel 5.7
24 A Walk in the Woods (2015) Catherine Bryson 5.7
25 Burnt (2015) Dr. Rosshilde 6.7
26 The Legend of Barney Thomson (2015) Cemolina 5.7
27 Effie Gray (2014) Director / Writer 3
28 Men, Women & Children (2014) Narrator (voice) 7.3
29 The Love Punch (2014) Kate 6.8
30 Beautiful Creatures (2013) Mrs. Lincoln / Sarafine Duchannes 6.4
31 Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
Oscars 2014 		P.L. Travers 7.6
32 Men in Black 3 (2012) Agent O 6.9
33 Brave (2012)
Oscars 2013 		Elinor (voice) 7.5
34 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
Top 100 by FilmGator 		Sybill Trelawney 8.4
35 Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010) Director / Writer 6.6
36 The Song of Lunch (2010) She 7
37 The Boat That Rocked (2009) Charlotte 7.5
38 An Education (2009)
Oscars 2010 		Headmistress 7.1
39 Brideshead Revisited (2008) Lady Marchmain -
40 Last Chance Harvey (2008) Kate Walker 6.9
41 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) Sybill Trelawney 7.7
42 I Am Legend (2007) Dr. Alice Krippin 7.4
43 Stranger Than Fiction (2006) Karen Eiffel 7.7
44 Nanny McPhee (2005) Director / Writer 6.3
45 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Top 100 by FilmGator 		Sybill Trelawney 8
46 Imagining Argentina (2003) Cecilia Rueda 5
47 Love Actually (2003) Karen 7.4
48 Treasure Planet (2002)
Oscars 2003 		Captain Amelia (voice) 7.1
49 Wit (2001) Director / Writer 7
50 Maybe Baby (2000) Druscilla -
51 Primary Colors (1998)
Oscars 1999 		Susan Stanton 6
52 Judas Kiss (1998) FBI Agent Sadie Hawkins -
53 The Winter Guest (1997) Frances -
54 Carrington (1995) Dora Carrington 5
55 Sense and Sensibility (1995) Director / Writer 7.2
56 Junior (1994) Dr. Diana Reddin 4.9
57 My Father the Hero (1994) Isabel (uncredited) 6.3
58 The Remains of the Day (1993) Miss Kenton 6.5
59 In the Name of the Father (1993) Gareth Peirce 8
60 Much Ado About Nothing (1993) Beatrice 7.2
61 Peter's Friends (1992) Maggie Chester 6
62 Howards End (1992) Margaret Schlegel 7
63 Impromptu (1991) Duchess D'Antan -
64 Dead Again (1991) Margaret Strauss / Grace 7
65 The Tall Guy (1989) Kate -
66 Henry V (1989) Katherine 7