Emma Thompson
Known for Acting · 151 credits
- Born
- 1959-04-15 (age 67)
- Place of birth
- Paddington, London, England, UK
Biography
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.
Known For
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
as Self
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014
as Self - Guest
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
as Self - Guest
Late Night with Seth Meyers
2014
as Self
The Graham Norton Show
2007
as Self / Self - Guest
The Kelly Clarkson Show
2019
as Self - Guest
TV Shows (43)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
as Self
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014
as Self - Guest
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
as Self - Guest
Late Night with Seth Meyers
2014
as Self
The Graham Norton Show
2007
as Self / Self - Guest
The Kelly Clarkson Show
2019
as Self - Guest
Saturday Night Live
1975
as Self - Host
Cheers
1982
as Nanny Gee
The View
1997
as Self / Self - Guest
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
as Self - Guest
Leute heute
1997
as Self
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2003
as Self
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
1993
as Self - Guest
QI
2003
as Self
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992
Ellen
1994
as Emma Thompson
Screen Two
1985
as Marie
Wetten, dass..?
1981
as Self
The Jonathan Ross Show
2011
as Self
The Tony Danza Show
2004
as Self
GMTV
1993
as Self
The Oscars
1953
as Self
The Young Ones
1982
as Miss Money-Sterling
The Comic Strip Presents...
1982
as Young Woman
Parkinson
1998
as Self
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
2001
as Self - Guest
Playhouse Presents
2012
as The Queen
Timeshift
2002
as self
Down Cemetery Road
2025
as Zoë Boehm
Years and Years
2019
as Vivienne Rook
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
2022
as Lady Marcham
Angels in America
2003
as Nurse Emily / Homeless Woman / The Angel
Sucré salé
2002
as Self
Fortunes of War
1987
as Harriet Pringle
Alfresco
1983
as Various
E! True Hollywood Story
1996
Friday Night, Saturday Morning
1979
The Val Doonican Music Show
1977
Funny Valentines
2015
as Debbie
Thompson
1988
as Self - Host
Tutti Frutti
1987
as Suzi Kettles
There's Nothing to Worry About!
1982
as Various
The Crystal Cube
1983
as Jackie Meld / Various Roles
Movies (108)
The Sheep Detectives
2026
as Lydia Harbottle
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
2004
as Sybill Trelawney
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
2011
as Sybill Trelawney
Brave
2012
as Elinor (voice)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
2007
as Sybill Trelawney
Cruella
2021
as The Baroness
I Am Legend
2007
as Dr. Alice Krippin
Beauty and the Beast
2017
as Mrs. Potts
Love Actually
2003
as Karen
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
2022
as Nancy Stokes
Dolittle
2020
as Poly (voice)
Treasure Planet
2002
as Captain Amelia (voice)
Men in Black 3
2012
as Agent O
Men in Black: International
2019
as Agent O
Nanny McPhee
2005
as Nanny McPhee
Sense and Sensibility
1995
as Elinor Dashwood
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
2010
as Nanny McPhee
Johnny English Strikes Again
2018
as Prime Minister
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
2025
as Dr Rawlings
Dead of Winter
2025
as Barb
The Remains of the Day
1993
as Miss Kenton
Beautiful Creatures
2013
as Mrs. Lincoln / Sarafine Duchannes
Burnt
2015
as Dr. Rosshilde
Howards End
1992
as Margaret Schlegel
Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical
2022
as Agatha Trunchbull
Men, Women & Children
2014
as Narrator (voice)
In the Name of the Father
1993
as Gareth Peirce
Junior
1994
as Dr. Diana Reddin
Dead Again
1991
as Margaret Strauss / Grace
Last Christmas
2019
as Petra Andrich
Bridget Jones's Baby
2016
as Dr Rawlings
The Boat That Rocked
2009
as Charlotte
Much Ado About Nothing
1993
as Beatrice
Missing Link
2019
as Dora the Yeti Elder (voice)
Stranger Than Fiction
2006
as Karen Eiffel
Late Night
2019
as Katherine Newbury
An Education
2009
as Headmistress
Saving Mr. Banks
2013
as P.L. Travers
Nos Bastidores de Hollywood
2005
as Self (archive footage)
Primary Colors
1998
as Susan Stanton
Wit
2001
as Vivian Bearing
Impromptu
1991
as Duchess D'Antan
The Children Act
2018
as Fiona Maye
What's Love Got to Do with It?
2023
as Cath Stevenson
Henry V
1989
as Katherine
King Lear
2018
as Goneril
Effie Gray
2014
as Lady Eastlake
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
2017
as Maureen Meyerowitz
Brideshead Revisited
2008
as Lady Marchmain
Everybody to Kenmure Street
2026
as Van Guy
Last Chance Harvey
2008
as Kate Walker
Peter's Friends
1992
as Maggie Chester
How to Build a Girl
2020
as Amanda
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
2018
as Self (archive footage)
A Walk in the Woods
2015
as Catherine Bryson
Alone in Berlin
2016
as Anna Quangel
Imagining Argentina
2003
as Cecilia Rueda
My Father the Hero
1994
as Isabel (uncredited)
Carrington
1995
as Dora Carrington
Sea Sorrow
2017
as Self
Maybe Baby
2000
as Druscilla
Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony
2021
as Self (archive footage)
Extinction
2019
Judas Kiss
1998
as FBI Agent Sadie Hawkins
The Winter Guest
1997
as Frances
When Harry Left Hogwarts
2011
as Self
Junket Whore
1998
as Self
An Audience with Adele
2021
as Self
The Tall Guy
1989
as Kate
The Legend of Barney Thomson
2015
as Cemolina
Slags
1984
as Young Woman
The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later – A Diane Sawyer Special
2022
as Self
The Love Punch
2014
as Kate
Fry and Laurie Reunited
2010
as Self
Love & Loyalty: The Making of 'The Remains of the Day'
2001
as Self
Bad Tidings
2024
as Self (archive footage)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
2014
as Mrs. Lovett
The Song of Lunch
2010
as She
Hospital!
1997
as Elephant Woman
Merchant Ivory
2024
as Self
Look Back in Anger
1989
as Alison Porter
The Fringe, Fame and Me
2022
as Self
The Real Mary Poppins
2014
as Self
James Ivory: In Search of Love and Beauty
as Self
Royal Variety Performance 1984
1984
Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out
2007
as Self
The Remains of the Day: The Filmmaker's Journey
2001
as Self
Blind Loyalty, Hollow Honor: England's Fatal Flaw
2001
as Self
Walking the Dogs
2012
as The Queen
Hear Me Roar
as Elizabeth Butler-Sloss
The Blue Boy
1994
as Marie Bonnar
The Cellar Tapes
1982
as various
Hollywood's Dark Secret
2019
as Self
The Winslow Boy
1989
as Catherine Winslow
Die vielen Gesichter der Emma Thompson
2016
as Elle-Même
Sainsbury's: Mog's Christmas Calamity
2015
as Narrator (voice)
A Tribute To Ismail Merchant
2005
as Self (archive footage)
To the Ends of the Earth
2016
as Narrator (voice)
Elegance & Simplicity: The Wardrobe of Sense & Sensibility
2009
as Self
How to Stop a Nuclear War
as Narrator (voice)
Tin Fish
1990
Colleagues From Hell
1989
Locating the World of Sense & Sensibility
2009
as Self
A Very Quiet Man
2009
as Self
A Sense of Character
2009
as Self
The Doubt Machine: Inside the Koch Brothers' War on Climate Science
2016
as Narrator (voice)
Greenpeace: There's a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom
2018
as Narrator (voice)
Rabbit Ears - The White Cat
1991
as Narrator (voice)
About Emma Thompson
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 (1983–1… With 151 credits spanning from 1953 to 2026, Emma Thompson has appeared in 108 films and 43 TV shows.
Fans searching for Emma Thompson movies, Emma Thompson filmography, or the latest projects starring Emma Thompson can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular Emma Thompson Movies
- The Sheep Detectives (2026) — as Lydia Harbottle
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) — as Sybill Trelawney
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) — as Sybill Trelawney
- Brave (2012) — as Elinor (voice)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) — as Sybill Trelawney
Where to Watch Emma Thompson Films
Most Emma Thompson movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring Emma Thompson, check our movies catalogue and browse page.