Emma Thompson

Emma Thompson Bio

Dame Emma Thompson is a British actress and screenwriter whose career spans over four decades on stage, television, and film. Born in London in 1959, she became the first person in history to win Academy Awards for both acting and screenwriting, earning Oscars for Best Actress in Howards End (1992) and Best Adapted Screenplay for Sense and Sensibility (1995). She has been honoured with a Damehood for her contributions to drama and continues to be regarded as one of Britain’s most accomplished performers.

Early Life and Background

Emma Thompson was born on 15 April 1959 in Hammersmith, London, to Scottish actress Phyllida Law and actor-writer Eric Thompson, best known for creating the children’s television series The Magic Roundabout. Her younger sister, Sophie Thompson, is also an actress. The family lived in West Hampstead, London, and Thompson attended the Camden School for Girls. She spent much of her childhood in Scotland, regularly visiting Ardentinny where her grandparents lived.

Thompson attended Newnham College at the University of Cambridge, studying English. While at Cambridge, she joined the prestigious Cambridge Footlights comedy troupe, performing alongside future stars Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. In 1981, she and her Footlights team won the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for their sketch show The Cellar Tapes. She graduated with upper second-class honours in 1980. Following her father’s death in 1982, Thompson studied clowning in Paris under Philippe Gaulier.

Path to Acting

Thompson’s first professional role came in 1982, touring with a stage version of Not the Nine O’Clock News. She then transitioned to television, working with her Footlights colleagues on the sketch show Alfresco, which ran from 1983 to 1984. In 1985, she achieved her West End breakthrough, starring in the musical Me and My Girl for 15 months alongside Robert Lindsay. That same year, she wrote and starred in her own television special, Emma Thompson: Up for Grabs.

In 1987, Thompson received widespread recognition for her performances in two BBC television miniseries: Fortunes of War, a World War II drama, and Tutti Frutti, a dark comedy about a Scottish rock band. For both performances, she won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress. Thompson’s film debut came in the romantic comedy The Tall Guy in 1989. That same year, she appeared as Princess Katherine in Kenneth Branagh’s acclaimed film adaptation of Henry V, launching a significant creative partnership.

Emma Thompson Career

Early Career (1980s)

During the late 1980s, Thompson established herself as a rising British talent through collaborations with then-husband Kenneth Branagh. Following Henry V, she appeared in the thriller Dead Again (1991) and continued her work in theatre, performing in productions like Look Back in Anger with Branagh’s Renaissance Theatre Company. Her early film work also included the independent film Impromptu (1991), which earned her an Independent Spirit Award nomination.

Breakthrough (1990s)

Thompson’s career-defining moment arrived with Merchant-Ivory’s Howards End (1992), based on E.M. Forster’s novel. Playing the idealistic Margaret Schlegel opposite Anthony Hopkins, Thompson delivered what critics called a “superb” performance. The film received nine Academy Award nominations, and Thompson won the Oscar for Best Actress, along with a Golden Globe and BAFTA for the role. She followed this with another acclaimed performance in The Remains of the Day (1993), earning a second Best Actress nomination alongside one for Best Supporting Actress for In the Name of the Father, becoming one of the few actors nominated for two Academy Awards in the same year.

Notable Works and Milestones

Thompson wrote and starred in Sense and Sensibility (1995), adapted from Jane Austen’s novel. The film, directed by Ang Lee and co-starring Kate Winslet, received widespread critical acclaim and became one of the most successful Austen adaptations. Thompson won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, making her the only person in history to win Oscars for both acting and screenwriting. She also earned BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for the screenplay. Other significant films of this period include Primary Colors (1998), where she played a political wife opposite John Travolta, and The Winter Guest (1997), which she starred in alongside her mother Phyllida Law.

Established Career (2000s)

After becoming a mother in 1999, Thompson chose to focus more on supporting and voice roles. She delivered what many consider her finest screen performance in the HBO television film Wit (2001), playing a Harvard professor diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The role earned her Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG nominations. She voiced Captain Amelia in Disney’s Treasure Planet (2002) and achieved one of her biggest commercial successes with Richard Curtis’s Love Actually (2003), portraying a wife who discovers her husband’s infidelity in a scene widely praised as the best crying performance on screen.

Thompson played three roles in the acclaimed HBO miniseries Angels in America (2003), earning another Emmy nomination. She joined the Harry Potter franchise as the eccentric Professor Sybill Trelawney in Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) and reprised the role twice more. In 2005, she released Nanny McPhee, a project she had spent nine years developing, starring as the title character and serving as screenwriter. The film was a UK box office number one and grossed over 122 million pounds worldwide.

Continued Success (2010s-present)

Thompson continued to demonstrate her range through diverse roles. She appeared in blockbuster films like Men in Black 3 (2012) and Pixar’s Brave (2012), both major commercial successes. Her performance as P.L. Travers in Saving Mr. Banks (2013), depicting the creation of Mary Poppins, received widespread critical acclaim and numerous award nominations. Critics praised her ability to bring depth to the complicated character, with many calling it her best performance in years.

In 2017, Thompson appeared as Mrs. Potts in Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast, which grossed 1.2 billion pounds worldwide. She played the villainous Baroness in Cruella (2021) and portrayed the authoritarian Miss Trunchbull in Matilda the Musical (2022), with both performances receiving strong reviews. Thompson continues to work in television, including appearances in HBO’s Years and Years (2019) and the 2024 Apple TV+ series Down Cemetery Road.

Emma Thompson Awards Won

Thompson is among the most decorated British actresses of her generation, with Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and Emmy recognition across her career. Her Academy Award wins came for Best Actress in Howards End (1992) and Best Adapted Screenplay for Sense and Sensibility (1995). She has received multiple BAFTA awards for both acting and screenwriting, along with Golden Globe wins and Emmy nominations for her television work.

Emma Thompson Family

Thompson is the daughter of Phyllida Law, a Scottish actress, and Eric Thompson, the creator of The Magic Roundabout. Her younger sister, Sophie Thompson, is also an actress. She has been open about her father’s influence on her love of language and literature, and his death in 1982 marked a profound moment in her life that she credits with giving her the courage to pursue her career.

Personal Life

Thompson was married to actor and director Kenneth Branagh from 1989 to 1995. They met while filming Fortunes of War and collaborated on several films, including Henry V, Dead Again, and Much Ado About Nothing. Since 2003, she has been married to actor Greg Wise, whom she met while filming Sense and Sensibility. They have one daughter, Gaia, born in 1999. The family resides in West Hampstead, London, where Thompson grew up, as well as in Scotland and Venice. Thompson and Wise also informally adopted a Rwandan orphan who became part of their family.