Emma Thompson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Emma Thompson
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Thompson in 2022
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| Born | 15 April 1959 London, England
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| Alma mater | Newnham College, Cambridge (BA) École Philippe Gaulier |
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| Years active | 1982–present |
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| Children | 2 |
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| Relatives | Sophie Thompson (sister) |
| Awards | Full list |
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Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a talented British actress and screenwriter. She has worked in movies and on stage for over forty years. Emma Thompson has won many important awards, including two Academy Awards (also known as Oscars), three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2018, Queen Elizabeth II made her a Dame (DBE) for her amazing contributions to acting and drama.
Emma Thompson was born to actors Eric Thompson and Phyllida Law. She studied at Newnham College, Cambridge, where she joined a famous comedy group called Footlights. She appeared in the TV comedy series Alfresco from 1983 to 1984. In 1985, she starred in the musical Me and My Girl in London's West End, which was a big step in her career. In 1987, she became well-known for her roles in two BBC TV series, Tutti Frutti and Fortunes of War. She won a BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for both shows. In the early 1990s, she often worked with her husband at the time, actor and director Kenneth Branagh, in films like Henry V (1989), Dead Again (1991), and Much Ado About Nothing (1993).
Emma Thompson won the BAFTA Award and the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the historical drama Howards End (1992). In 1993, she was nominated for two Academy Awards in the same year. She was nominated for Best Actress for her role as a housekeeper in The Remains of the Day and for Best Supporting Actress as a lawyer in In the Name of the Father. This made her one of the few actors to achieve this. Thompson also wrote and starred in Sense and Sensibility (1995). For this film, she won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, becoming the only person to win Oscars for both acting and writing. She also won another BAFTA for this film. She received more praise 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).
Her other famous movies include the Harry Potter series (2004–2011), Nanny McPhee (2005) (which she also wrote), Stranger than Fiction (2006), An Education (2009), Men in Black 3 (2012) and Men in Black: International (2019), Brave (2012), Beauty and the Beast (2017), Cruella (2021), and Matilda the Musical (2022). On television, she has appeared in Wit (2001), Angels in America (2003), The Song of Lunch (2010), King Lear (2018) and Years and Years (2019). In 2014, she played Mrs. Lovett in a Lincoln Center show of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Emma Thompson has also written three Peter Rabbit children's books, with permission from the original author's publishers.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Emma Thompson was born in London on 15 April 1959. Her mother, Phyllida Law, is a Scottish actress. Her English father, Eric Thompson, was an actor best known for writing the children's TV series The Magic Roundabout. Her younger sister, Sophie Thompson, is also an actress. The family lived in West Hampstead, London, and Emma went to Camden School for Girls. She spent a lot of time in Scotland when she was a child, visiting her grandparents and uncle.
When she was young, Emma Thompson loved language and books, a passion she shared with her father. After doing well in her exams and getting a scholarship, she started studying English at Newnham College, Cambridge, in 1977. Thompson felt it was natural for her to become an actor because she was "surrounded by creative people." At Cambridge, she had an important moment that led her to become interested in feminism and performing. She read a book called The Madwoman in the Attic, which was about Victorian female writers. She said this book "completely changed my life." She became a "punk rocker" with short red hair and a motorbike, wanting to be a comedian like Lily Tomlin.
At Cambridge, Emma Thompson was invited to join the Cambridge Footlights, a famous university comedy group. She was the first female member. Other members included future actors Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. Fry once said, "there was no doubt that Emma was going the distance. Our nickname for her was Emma Talented." In 1980, Thompson became the Vice President of Footlights and helped direct the group's first all-female show, Woman's Hour. The next year, she and her Footlights team won an award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for their comedy show The Cellar Tapes. She graduated with good grades. In the early 1980s, Thompson also studied clowning at École Philippe Gaulier.
Emma Thompson's father passed away in 1982 when he was 52. She has said that this was a very difficult time for her family. She also mentioned that his passing might have given her the courage and space to do what she has done in her career.
Career Highlights
Early Roles and First Success (1980–1989)
While studying at Cambridge, Emma Thompson starred in a BBC Radio 4 comedy series called Injury Time from 1980 to 1982. Her first professional acting job was in 1982, touring in a stage version of Not the Nine O'Clock News. She then moved to television, often working with her Footlights co-stars Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry. They appeared in the ITV comedy series There's Nothing to Worry About! (1982) and the BBC show The Crystal Cube (1983). There's Nothing to Worry About! later became the sketch show Alfresco (1983–84), which ran for two seasons. She also worked with Fry and Laurie again on the BBC Radio 4 series Saturday Night Fry (1988).
In 1985, Thompson was cast in the London West End musical Me and My Girl. This role was a big success for her, and the show received excellent reviews. She played Sally Smith for 15 months, which was very tiring. At the end of 1985, she wrote and starred in her own TV special for Channel 4, Emma Thompson: Up for Grabs.
Thompson had another big success in 1987 with leading roles in two TV mini-series: Fortunes of War, a World War II drama with Kenneth Branagh, and Tutti Frutti, a comedy about a Scottish rock band. She won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress for these performances. In 1989, she and Branagh starred in a stage play called Look Back in Anger, directed by Judi Dench. Later that year, they also appeared in a TV version of the play.
Thompson's first movie role was in the romantic comedy The Tall Guy (1989). She played a nurse who falls in love with a West End actor. Her performance was praised, with one critic calling her "an exceptionally versatile comic actress." She then appeared in Kenneth Branagh's movie version of Shakespeare's Henry V (1989) as Princess Katherine. The film was highly praised by critics.
Worldwide Recognition (1990–1993)
Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh were seen as leaders in British cinema in the 1990s. She continued to act in Shakespeare plays with Branagh, including A Midsummer Night's Dream and King Lear. Critics praised her "extraordinary" performance as the Fool in King Lear. Thompson returned to movies in 1991, playing a "frivolous aristocrat" in Impromptu. She was nominated for an award for this role. Her second movie in 1991 was Dead Again, also with Branagh, where she played a woman who had lost her memory. In early 1992, Thompson had a guest role in an episode of the TV show Cheers.
A major moment in Thompson's career was when she starred with Anthony Hopkins and Vanessa Redgrave in the historical drama Howards End (1992). The film was based on a novel by E. M. Forster and explored social classes in Edwardian Britain. Thompson played an intelligent and forward-thinking woman. Critics loved her performance, describing her as "superb" and "quiet, ironic, observant, with steel inside." Howards End was a big success and received nine Academy Award nominations. Thompson won the Academy Award for Best Actress, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA for her role. This film made her an international success almost overnight.
For her next two films, Thompson worked with Branagh again. In Peter's Friends (1992), they starred with other actors as a group of Cambridge friends who reunite ten years after graduating. Critics liked the comedy, and Thompson's performance was highlighted. She then appeared in Branagh's movie version of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (1993). Thompson and Branagh played Beatrice and Benedick, and their on-screen chemistry was highly praised.
Thompson worked with Merchant–Ivory and Anthony Hopkins again in The Remains of the Day (1993). This film, based on a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, tells the story of a housekeeper and butler in Britain between the World Wars. Thompson was interested in how working as a servant could affect people, as her own grandmother had been a servant. She considers this film one of the best experiences of her career. The Remains of the Day was a success and received eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and a second Best Actress nomination for Thompson.
At the 66th Academy Awards, Thompson was nominated for both Best Actress (for The Remains of the Day) and Best Supporting Actress. This second nomination was for her role as lawyer Gareth Peirce in In the Name of the Father (1993), a drama about the Guildford Four. This film was also a hit, earning a lot of money and critical praise.
Writing and Continued Success (1994–1999)
In 1994, Thompson made her Hollywood debut in Junior, playing a doctor alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito. She then returned to independent films for a lead role in Carrington, which explored the friendship between artist Dora Carrington and writer Lytton Strachey.
Thompson's success at the Academy Awards continued with Sense and Sensibility (1995), a popular movie based on Jane Austen's novel. Thompson, who loved Austen's work, was hired to write the screenplay. She spent five years working on it and also took on the role of Elinor Dashwood, even though she was older than the character in the book. Directed by Ang Lee and co-starring Kate Winslet, Sense and Sensibility was highly praised and became one of Thompson's highest-grossing films. Critics noted her understanding of Jane Austen's style. Thompson received another nomination for Best Actress and won the award for Best Adapted Screenplay. This made her the only person in history to win an Oscar for both acting and screenwriting. She also won another BAFTA Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay.
After a break in 1996, Thompson returned in 1997 with Alan Rickman's first film as a director, The Winter Guest. In this drama, set in a Scottish village, Thompson and her mother (Phyllida Law) played mother and daughter on screen. She then appeared in an episode of the TV show Ellen, and her funny performance earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.
For her second Hollywood role, Thompson starred with John Travolta in Primary Colors (1998), playing a couple similar to Bill and Hillary Clinton. Thompson's character, Susan, is an ambitious wife dealing with her husband's unfaithfulness. The film was well-received by critics. Thompson turned down many Hollywood offers because she didn't like the idea of living in Los Angeles with bodyguards. She also felt tired of the industry at this point, which led her to take a year off from films. After Primary Colors, Thompson played an FBI agent in the thriller Judas Kiss (1998).
Continued Film and TV Work (2000–2011)
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When she became a mother in 1999, Emma Thompson decided to work less. In the following years, she often appeared in supporting roles. She was next seen on screen in 2000, with a small part in the British comedy Maybe Baby, which she did as a favor for her friend, the director Ben Elton.
However, for the HBO TV film Wit (2001), Thompson took the main role in what she felt was "one of the best scripts." This film, based on a play, is about a Harvard professor who faces challenges after being diagnosed with cancer. Thompson helped bring Mike Nichols to direct the project, and they spent months preparing. She was drawn to the challenging role and was happy to shave her head for it. Critics praised her performance, with one calling it "one of her most brilliant." The film earned Thompson nominations for several awards.
In 2002, Thompson voiced Captain Amelia in Disney's animated film Treasure Planet. The next year, she had a big commercial success with Richard Curtis's romantic comedy Love Actually. As part of a large cast, she played a wife who discovers her husband has been unfaithful. The scene where her character breaks down was highly praised, and Thompson has said that people often mention this role to her. Her performance earned her a BAFTA nomination.
Thompson continued with supporting roles in the 2003 drama Imagining Argentina, where she played a journalist taken by a dictatorial government. She had greater success that year with the HBO mini-series Angels in America (2003), which dealt with the AIDS epidemic. Thompson played three different roles in the show and was nominated for another Emmy Award. In 2004, she played the quirky Divination teacher Sybill Trelawney in the third Harry Potter film, Prisoner of Azkaban. She later played the role again in Order of the Phoenix (2007) and Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011), and she enjoyed working on the popular series.
In 2005, a project Thompson had worked on for nine years was released: Nanny McPhee. Based on the Nurse Matilda stories she read as a child, Thompson wrote the screenplay for this children's film about a mysterious nanny who helps discipline children. She also played the main role. The film was a success, earning a lot of money worldwide. Critics praised her screenplay.
The next year, Thompson appeared in the American comedy–drama Stranger than Fiction, playing a novelist whose character comes to life. Reviews for the film were generally positive. After a small, uncredited role in I Am Legend (2007), Thompson played Lady Marchmain in a 2008 film based on Brideshead Revisited. Critics were not very excited about the film, but many praised Thompson's performance.
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Thompson received more praise for her work in the London-based romance Last Chance Harvey (2008), where she and Dustin Hoffman played two lonely, middle-aged people who start a relationship. Critics liked the chemistry between them, and both actors received Golden Globe nominations. Thompson's two films in 2009 were set in 1960s United Kingdom, and she made cameo appearances in both: as a headmistress in the drama An Education and as a "tippling mother" in Richard Curtis's The Boat That Rocked.
Five years after the first film, Thompson played Nanny McPhee again in Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010). Her screenplay moved the story to Britain during World War II. This sequel was also a success and was seen as an improvement over the first film. In the same year, Thompson reunited with Alan Rickman for the BBC TV film The Song of Lunch, about two characters meeting after 15 years. Thompson's performance earned her another Emmy Award nomination.
Expanding Roles and Blockbuster Films (2012–Present)
In 2012, Emma Thompson appeared in a big Hollywood film, Men in Black 3, playing the head Agent. This science fiction comedy film was a huge success, earning a lot of money worldwide, making it one of Thompson's highest-grossing films outside of the Harry Potter series. She continued this mainstream success with the Pixar animated film Brave, where she voiced Elinor, the Scottish queen. Critics generally liked the film. Also in 2012, Thompson played Queen Elizabeth II in a TV episode that showed an incident where an intruder broke into the Queen's bedroom. Her first film of 2013 was the fantasy romance Beautiful Creatures, where she played an evil mother. The film was not well-received and did not do well at the box office.
Saving Mr. Banks (2013) told the story of how the movie Mary Poppins was made. Thompson starred as P. L. Travers, the author of the original book, alongside Tom Hanks as Walt Disney. Her performance was highly praised, with one journalist saying, "Emma Thompson is back, firing on all cylinders." She found it the most challenging role of her career because she had "never really played anyone quite so contradictory or difficult before." The film was well-received and earned a lot of money. Thompson's performance was critically acclaimed, earning her nominations for Best Actress at the BAFTAs, SAGs, and Golden Globes.
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The romantic comedy The Love Punch (2013) gave Thompson another main role, where she played half of a divorced couple who reunite to steal a diamond. In March 2014, she performed on stage for the first time in 24 years in New York, in a Lincoln Center production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. She appeared in the musical for five nights, and her "playful" performance of Mrs. Lovett was highly praised. She received another Emmy Award nomination for the televised performance. In 2014, Thompson narrated the comedy-drama film Men, Women & Children.
The historical drama Effie Gray, a project she had worked on for many years, was written by Thompson. It was based on the true story of John Ruskin's difficult marriage. The film was released in October 2014 to a modest reception. Thompson played Elizabeth Eastlake.
Thompson's first film of 2015 was A Walk in the Woods, a comedy based on a book by Bill Bryson, where she co-starred with Robert Redford and Nick Nolte. She then starred in The Legend of Barney Thomson, playing a 77-year-old, tough-talking mother. Neither film was a major critical success, but Thompson's performance in the latter was called "unforgettable." Later that year, she had a supporting role in the film Burnt, set in a restaurant. In 2016, she starred in the World War II drama Alone in Berlin. She also helped write the screenplay for Bridget Jones's Baby and appeared in the film as a doctor.
In 2017, Thompson appeared as Mrs. Potts in Disney's live-action movie Beauty and the Beast. The film received positive reviews and earned a huge amount of money worldwide, making it one of the highest-grossing films of 2017. She also had a supporting role in the dramedy The Meyerowitz Stories, which was praised by critics. She then starred in The Children Act, a drama about a family who refuse medical treatment for their son due to religious beliefs. She had a small role as Queen Elizabeth I in a 2017 Christmas TV special. In 2018, she narrated a commercial for Greenpeace about palm oil, which was later rejected by advertising organizations. Also in 2018, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her contributions to drama. She also starred in Johnny English Strikes Again as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom alongside Rowan Atkinson.
Thompson starred in the comedy-drama Late Night (2019), written by Mindy Kaling. Thompson played a popular television host who hires a new writer to save her show. The film received positive reviews, and Thompson was highly praised for her performance. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. In the same year, she voiced the Yeti Elder in the animated film Missing Link, played Agent O again in Men in Black: International, and co-produced and co-starred in the romantic comedy Last Christmas, which was based on the song of the same name by George Michael.
In 2021, Thompson starred opposite Emma Stone as the villain Baroness in Cruella, a Disney live-action movie. The film was released to positive reviews and earned a lot of money worldwide. Critics praised Thompson's role as the Baroness. In 2022, Thompson starred with Daryl McCormack in the comedy-drama Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.
Thompson plays the strict headmistress Miss Trunchbull in the film version of Matilda the Musical, which is based on the novel by Roald Dahl. Critics praised Thompson's portrayal of Trunchbull as a "deranged villain to remember." In 2022, she also starred alongside Lily James in the romantic comedy What's Love Got to Do with It?
In an upcoming film called The Fisherwoman, Thompson is set to star. The film was shot in Finland in early 2024. Thompson praised the local film crew, and the Finnish president even called her to thank her for her kind words.
Writing for Children
In 2012, Emma Thompson wrote The Further Tale of Peter Rabbit as a new story for the Peter Rabbit series by Beatrix Potter. This was to celebrate the 110th anniversary of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. She was asked by the publishers to write it, making it the first authorized Peter Rabbit story not written by Potter herself since 1930. The book takes Peter Rabbit outside of Mr. McGregor's garden and into Scotland. It became a New York Times Best Seller. In 2013, Thompson wrote a second book in the series called The Christmas Tale of Peter Rabbit. A third book, The Spectacular Tale of Peter Rabbit, was released in 2014.
Awards and Recognition
Emma Thompson has won two Academy Awards: one for Best Actress in Howards End (1992) and one for Best Adapted Screenplay for Sense and Sensibility (1995). She has also been nominated for three other Oscars. Thompson has received 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. In 2021, she was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Personal Life
Emma Thompson has said she feels Scottish because she is half Scottish and has spent half her life in Scotland. She often visits Scotland and owns a home there.
Family and Relationships
Thompson's first husband was actor and director Kenneth Branagh. They met in 1987 while filming Fortunes of War and married in 1989. They appeared in several films together. Their relationship was often in the news. Thompson and Branagh announced their separation in September 1995. It later became known that he was in a relationship with another actress.
After her relationship with Branagh ended, Thompson felt sad. While filming Sense and Sensibility in 1995, she started a relationship with her co-star Greg Wise. She said that "Work saved me and Greg saved me. He picked up the pieces and put them together again." The couple have a daughter, Gaia.
Thompson and Wise married in Scotland in 2003. Their main home is in West Hampstead, London, on the same street where she grew up. Also in 2003, Thompson and Wise informally adopted a young man from Rwanda named Tindyebwa Agaba, who had been a child soldier. They met him at an event when he was sixteen, and Thompson invited him to spend Christmas with them. He slowly became a part of their family. Agaba became a British citizen in 2009. As of 2020, Thompson and Wise are also residents of Venice, Italy. They own homes in London, Scotland, and Venice.
Views and Activism
Emma Thompson has stated that she is an atheist and views religion with "fear and suspicion." She is politically liberal and has supported the Labour Party for many years. She also supported the Women's Equality Party.
Thompson has been an activist since she was young. As a public figure, she often shares her opinions and gets involved in many causes. She believes that everyone needs to speak up, especially women with a strong voice.
She is very active in human rights work. She chairs the Helen Bamber Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, which helps victims of torture. She also supports the Refugee Council and has a therapy room in her office for refugees who have experienced trauma. In 2017, she supported Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British charity worker held in Iran. Thompson is also a supporter of the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Time magazine named her a "European Hero" in 2009 for her work to help people with AIDS in Africa.
She is an active environmentalist and supports Greenpeace. In 2009, she and other Greenpeace members bought land near Heathrow Airport to try and stop a third runway from being built. In August 2014, Thompson and her daughter Gaia went on a Greenpeace trip to the Arctic to raise awareness about the dangers of drilling for oil. She narrated a short documentary about efforts to discredit climate research. She supported the London Extinction Rebellion rally against climate change in 2019. She is also an ambassador for the Galapagos Conservation Trust.
In 2010, Thompson spoke out against people using "sloppy language." She said that using words like "likes" and "innits?" can make people sound less intelligent, and that it's important to use proper language in formal situations.
In February 2024, Thompson appeared in a video with other world stars to show support for Ukraine.
See also
In Spanish: Emma Thompson para niños
