subject: Emma Thompson Video Profile [print this page] Emma Thompson's Profile - ViewCave presents a series of top celebrity video profiles which include candid interviews with the stars and a collection of their most famous roles.
Profession: Actress / Writer / Producer
Known for: Sense and Sensibility / Love Actually / Nanny McPhee
Awards: Won 2 Oscars. Another 36 wins & 43 nominations (see below)
Born: 15 April 1959, UK (age 51)
Height: 5' 8" (1.74 m)
Emma Thompson was born in London on April 15, 1959, into a family of actors - her father was Eric Thompson, who has passed away, and her mother, Phyllida Law, has co-starred with Thompson in several films (her sister, Sophie Thompson, is an actor as well). Thompson's wit was earlier cultivated by a cheerful, clever, creative family atmosphere, and she was a popular and successful student. She attended Cambridge University, studying English Literature, and was part of the university's Footlights Group, the famous group where, previously, many of the Monty Python members had first met.
Thompson graduated in 1980 and embarked on her career in entertainment, beginning with stints on BBC radio and touring with comedy shows. She soon got her first major break in television, on the comedy skit program Alfresco, writing and performing along with her fellow Footlights Group alums Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. She also worked on other TV comedy review programs in the mid-1980s, occasionally with some of her fellow Footlights alums, and often with actor Robbie Coltrane.
Thompson found herself collaborating again with Fry in 1985, this time in his stage adaptation of the play "Me and My Girl" in London's West End, in which she had a leading role, playing Sally Smith. The show was a success and she received favorable reviews, and the strength of her performance led to her casting as the lead in the BBC television miniseries Fortunes of War, in which Thompson and her co-star, Kenneth Branagh, play an English ex-patriate couple living in Eastern Europe as the Second World War erupts. Thompson won a BAFTA award for her work on the program. She married Branagh in 1989, continued to work with him professionally, and formed a production company with him. In the late 80s and early 90s, she starred in a string of well-received and successful television and film productions, most notably her lead role in the Merchant-Ivory production of Howards End, which confirmed her ability to carry a movie on both sides of the Atlantic and appropriately showered her with trans-Atlantic honors - both an Oscar and a BAFTA award.
Since then, Thompson has continued to move effortlessly between the art film world and mainstream Hollywood, though even her Hollywood roles tend to be in more up-market productions. She continues to work on television as well, but is generally very selective about which roles she takes. She writes for the screen as well, such as the screenplay for Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility, in which she also starred as Elinor Dashwood, and the teleplay adaptation of Margaret Edson's acclaimed play Wit, in which she also starred.
Thompson is known for her sophisticated, skillful, though her critics say somewhat mannered, performances, and of course for her arch wit, which she is unafraid to point at herself - she is a fearless self-satirist. Thompson and Branagh divorced in 1994, and Thompson is now married to fellow actor Greg Wise, who had played Willoughby in Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility. Thompson and Wise have one child, Gaia, born in 1999.
Emma Thompson's awards:
Academy Awards, USA
1996
Won, Oscar
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium for Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Nominated, Oscar
Best Actress in a Leading Role for Sense and Sensibility (1995)
1994
Nominated, Oscar
Best Actress in a Supporting Role for In the Name of the Father (1993)
Nominated, Oscar
Best Actress in a Leading Role for The Remains of the Day (1993)
1993
Won, Oscar
Best Actress in a Leading Role for Howards End (1992)
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
2007
Nominated, Saturn Award
Best Supporting Actress for Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
American Comedy Awards, USA
1999
Nominated, American Comedy Award
Funniest Actress in a Motion Picture (Leading Role) for Primary Colors (1998)
Annie Awards
2003
Nominated, Annie
Outstanding Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production for Treasure Planet (2002)
As the voice of "Captain Amelia".
BAFTA Awards
2004
Nominated, BAFTA Film Award
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for Love Actually (2003)
1996
Won, BAFTA Film Award
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Nominated, BAFTA Film Award
Best Screenplay - Adapted for Sense and Sensibility (1995)
1994
Nominated, BAFTA Film Award
Best Actress for The Remains of the Day (1993)
1993
Won, BAFTA Film Award
Best Actress for Howards End (1992)
1988
Won, BAFTA TV Award
Best Actress for Tutti Frutti (1987)
Also for Fortunes of War.
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
1999
Nominated, Blockbuster Entertainment Award
Favorite Actress - Drama for Primary Colors (1998)
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards
1995
Won, BSFC Award
Best Screenplay for Sense and Sensibility (1995)
British Independent Film Awards
2008
Nominated, British Independent Film Award
Best Supporting Actress for Brideshead Revisited (2008)
1998
Nominated, British Independent Film Award
Best Performance by a British Actress in an Independent Film for The Winter Guest (1997)
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards
2007
Nominated, Critics Choice Award
Best Supporting Actress for Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
2002
Nominated, Critics Choice Award
Best Actress in a Picture Made for Television for Wit (2001)
1996
Won, Critics Choice Award
Best Screenplay for Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
1993
Won, CFCA Award
Best Actress for Howards End (1992)
Chlotrudis Awards
1998
Nominated, Chlotrudis Award
Best Actress for The Winter Guest (1997)
1996
Nominated, Chlotrudis Award
Best Actress for Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Christopher Awards
2002
Won, Christopher Award
Television & Cable for Wit (2001)
Shared With: Mike Nichols (director/writer/executive producer), Simon Bosanquet (producer), Julie Lynn (co-producer), Charles F. Ryan (co-producer), Michael Haley (co-producer), Cary Brokaw (executive producer)
David di Donatello Awards
1994
Won, David
Best Foreign Actress (Migliore Attrice Straniero) for The Remains of the Day (1993)
1993
Won, David
Best Foreign Actress (Migliore Attrice Straniero) for Howards End (1992)
Emmy Awards
2004
Nominated, Emmy
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for Angels in America (2003)
2001
Nominated, Emmy
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for Wit (2001)
Nominated, Emmy
Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie for Wit (2001)
Shared With: Mike Nichols (writer)
1998
Won, Emmy
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for Ellen (1994)
For playing "Herself".
For episode "Emma".
Empire Awards, UK
2004
Won, Empire Award
Best British Actress for Love Actually (2003)
European Film Awards
1998
Nominated, Outstanding European Achievement in World Cinema
for Primary Colors (1998)
1997
Nominated, European Film Award
Best Actress for The Winter Guest (1997)
Evening Standard British Film Awards
2004
Won, Evening Standard British Film Award
Best Actress for Love Actually (2003)
1997
Won, Evening Standard British Film Award
Best Screenplay for Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Tied with John Hodge for Trainspotting.
1994
Won, Evening Standard British Film Award
Best Actress for Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
Also for The Remains of the Day.
1993
Won, Evening Standard British Film Award
Best Actress for Howards End (1992)
Also for Peter's Friends.
Golden Globes, USA
2009
Nominated, Golden Globe
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical for Last Chance Harvey (2008)
2002
Nominated, Golden Globe
Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television for Wit (2001)
1996
Won, Golden Globe
Best Screenplay - Motion Picture for Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Nominated, Golden Globe
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama for Sense and Sensibility (1995)
1995
Nominated, Golden Globe
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical for Junior (1994)
1994
Nominated, Golden Globe
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for In the Name of the Father (1993)
Nominated, Golden Globe
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama for The Remains of the Day (1993)
1993
Won, Golden Globe
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama for Howards End (1992)
Humanitas Prize
2001
Won, Humanitas Prize
90 Minute or Longer Cable Category for Wit (2001)
Shared With: Mike Nichols
Independent Spirit Awards
1994
Nominated, Independent Spirit Award
Best Female Lead for Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
1992
Nominated, Independent Spirit Award
Best Supporting Female for Impromptu (1991)
Irish Film and Television Awards
2009
Nominated, Audience Award
Best International Actress for Brideshead Revisited (2008)
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards
1994
Won, KCFCC Award
Best Supporting Actress for In the Name of the Father (1993)
Won, KCFCC Award
Best Actress for The Remains of the Day (1993)
1993
Won, KCFCC Award
Best Actress for Howards End (1992)
London Critics Circle Film Awards
2009
Nominated, ALFS Award
British Supporting Actress of the Year for Brideshead Revisited (2008)
2007
Nominated, ALFS Award
British Supporting Actress of the Year for Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
2004
Won, ALFS Award
British Supporting Actress of the Year for Love Actually (2003)
1997
Won, ALFS Award
British Screenwriter of the Year for Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
1995
Won, LAFCA Award
Best Screenplay for Sense and Sensibility (1995)
1992
Won, LAFCA Award
Best Actress for Howards End (1992)
National Board of Review, USA
1995
Won, NBR Award
Best Actress for Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Also for Carrington.
1992
Won, NBR Award
Best Actress for Howards End (1992)
National Society of Film Critics Awards, USA
1993
Won, NSFC Award
Best Actress for Howards End (1992)
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
1995
Won, NYFCC Award
Best Screenplay for Sense and Sensibility (1995)
1992
Won, NYFCC Award
Best Actress for Howards End (1992)
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards
2004
Nominated, PFCS Award
Best Ensemble Acting for Love Actually (2003)
Shared With: Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Sienna Guillory, Liam Neeson, Lulu Popplewell, Kris Marshall, Heike Makatsch, Martin Freeman, Joanna Page, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Andrew Lincoln, Keira Knightley, Nina Sosanya, Martine McCutcheon, Laura Linney, Thomas Sangster, Alan Rickman, Rodrigo Santoro, Rowan Atkinson, Claudia Schiffer, Bill Nighy, Gregor Fisher, Rory MacGregor, Carla Vasconcelos, Shannon Elizabeth, Denise Richards, Elisha Cuthbert
Nominated, PFCS Award
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for Love Actually (2003)
Satellite Awards
2008
Nominated, Satellite Award
Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Brideshead Revisited (2008)
2004
Nominated, Golden Satellite Award
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television for Angels in America (2003)
Nominated, Golden Satellite Award
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Comedy or Musical for Love Actually (2003)
2002
Nominated, Golden Satellite Award
Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television for Wit (2001)
Screen Actors Guild Awards
2010
Nominated, Actor
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for An Education (2009)
Shared With: Dominic Cooper, Alfred Molina, Carey Mulligan, Rosamund Pike, Peter Sarsgaard, Olivia Williams
2004
Nominated, Actor
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries for Angels in America (2003)
2002
Nominated, Actor
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries for Wit (2001)
1996
Nominated, Actor
Outstanding Performance by a Cast for Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Shared With: Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, Kate Winslet
Nominated, Actor
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards
1993
Won, SEFCA Award
Best Actress for Howards End (1992)
USC Scripter Award
1996
Won, USC Scripter Award
for Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Shared With: Jane Austen (author)
Valladolid International Film Festival
2001
Won, Best Actress
for Wit (2001)
Venice Film Festival
1997
Won, Pasinetti Award
Best Actress for The Winter Guest (1997)
Writers Guild of America, USA
1996
Won, WGA Award (Screen)
Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published for Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Writers' Guild of Great Britain
1996
Won, Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award
Film - Screenplay for Sense and Sensibility (1995)
