Emma Thompson is a two-time Oscar winner, a brilliant British actress and screenwriter. Fame and glory came to her with the movie "Howards End", in which she played her Oscar-winning role as Margaret Schlegel. Then came the melodrama "Sense and Sensibility", for which Emma wrote the script, earning her second Oscar, and portrayed the main character Elinor Dashwood.
Emma Thompson
She holds the title of Dame Commander of the British Empire. According to Thompson's firm belief, all the most interesting things in life usually start after the words "and they lived happily ever after".
Childhood, Youth, Family
Emma was born in the spring of 1959 to the creative couple of Phyllida Law and Eric Thompson in London. Her Scottish mother was an actress, her English father worked as a director, performed at the Old Vic theatre, and hosted the children's TV program "The Magic Roundabout".
Emma Thompson in childhood (center)
Emma was three years old when her younger sister Sophie was born, who also became an actress later. The girls were raised according to British customs, with the help of governesses. The older sister was a well-behaved child who sometimes loved to guide the process of raising the younger one, but they hardly ever fought. The daughters saw their father often ill and tried not to upset him.
Emma Thompson with her parents and sister
When Emma grew up, she was sent to the prestigious private school Camden, and she spent her holidays in Scotland, with her grandparents who lived in the village of Ardentinny. There, she played with the local children, loved to walk around Loch Long Lake, and dreamed of becoming a great writer someday.
Her dreams did not come out of nowhere – Emma learned to read very early and adored books. Her parents did not hinder the development of the baby's imagination. Emma also studied music, showed herself as an active participant in school holidays and theatrical performances. But books were always her first love:
Since childhood, I was passionately in love with Sherlock Holmes and always wanted to play him. I'm still upset that there are very few memorable female characters in both cinema and literature.
But it was still a long way to filming. After finishing school, Thompson preferred the philology department at Cambridge University, although she immediately joined the theatrical troupe Footlights (the first among female students), where she successfully demonstrated her comedic talent. Other future stars of British cinema studied with her: the trio of Emma Thompson – Hugh Laurie – Stephen Fry is still remembered at their university with nostalgia.
Young Emma Thompson with friends at the student theater Footlights
Showing a revolutionary spirit, the girl dyed her hair red, then shaved it off, and began to support the feminist movement. She also developed a new hobby - Emma started riding a motorcycle.
Fry and Laurie and Thompson - Proposal (1986)
She had to grow up quickly when her father died of pulmonary thromboembolism:
Dad always wanted me to become a director like him. I thought about it many times, but I never dared. Dad died very young, at 53. I had just finished studying at Cambridge. It was such a hard time for our family. I still admire my mom's strong character and how she bravely endured our loss.
Career Path
To cope with her grief, Thompson immersed herself in work. She entered the world of television, started acting in historical TV series, and created the comedy program "Alfresco" on BBC, where she often invited her university friends. Additionally, she began to show herself as a dramatic actress in Shakespearean performances on the London stage.
Emma Thompson in her youth
However, her true calling was comedy, and soon, the success of the aspiring actress caught the attention of film directors. Emma was invited to play the role of Mrs. Wally in the TV movie "There's Nothing to Worry About!", which aired in 1982.
Emma Thompson Alfresco Phone Sketches
She then appeared as the frivolous Suzy in the comedy "Tutti Frutti", a girl with red braids in the series "Alfresco", Catherine Winslow in the dramatic comedy "The Winslow Boy". She played Harriet Pringle in the war drama "Fortunes of War" and nurse Kate Lemmon in the melodrama "The Tall Guy". After this, roles were regularly offered to Thompson.
Emma Thompson in the mini-series 'Fortunes of War'
Global fame came to the actress after filming in James Ivory's historical drama "Howard's End" (1992), where she appeared as Margaret Schlegel. A brilliant duet with Anthony Hopkins made the film a triumph at the Oscars, where the actress received the coveted statuette for "the quintessential portrayal of a British female character". Emma was also honored with BAFTA and Golden Globe awards.
Emma Thompson Wins Best Actress: 1993 Oscars
The same director invited Hopkins and Thompson to his next film "The Remains of the Day", an adaptation of a novel by Japanese writer Kazuo Ishiguro, which was equally sensational and again nominated for an Oscar.
A scene from 'The Remains of the Day'
Next was another significant role. A crime he didn't commit but for which he spent almost 15 years in prison – this is the plot of the drama "In the Name of the Father", based on real events, in which Emma played one of the central characters, Gareth Peirce. Once again, she was nominated for an Oscar, as her performance was so poignant and accurate that audiences cried out loud. Thompson's co-star was Daniel Day-Lewis.
Emma Thompson in 'In the Name of the Father'
Next, the actress was invited to the Hollywood comedy "Junior", where she was joined by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito, and in the thriller "Imagining Argentina", Emma starred alongside Antonio Banderas. Another famous Hollywood actor, John Travolta, starred with Thompson in the political comedy satire on Bill Clinton called "Primary Colors". They brilliantly played a "political" couple.
On the set of 'Junior'
In 1995, the new masterpiece of American-British cinema "Sense and Sensibility" – scripted by Emma Thompson herself – was released. She also played the leading role of the oldest of the three Dashwood sisters. This time, her script won the Oscar and the Golden Globe.
'Sense and Sensibility' was written by Emma herself
The actress recalled that she finished working on it at a time when it seemed like everything in her life was falling apart. But work distracted the woman from personal problems, and when filming began, she was very attentive to the process, even kept a diary where she recorded thoughts and opinions every day. For example, about the actress who played her middle screen sister, Emma said:
Kate Winslet looks paler than usual. If anything, this girl is not lacking in courage. I can't even imagine what I would have been like if at nineteen I had to take on a role of such magnitude. But she is full of energy, smart, and, on top of everything, she is never boring.
After the film's triumph, Thompson stepped out of the spotlight for several years, occasionally accepting invitations to film. For example, she appeared as Professor Sybill Trelawney in the Harry Potter film series, but the actress herself thinks her character was not quite successful, as the directors did not allow her to give Sybill some distinctive features.
In 'Harry Potter', Emma Thompson played Professor Trelawney
But her Karen from Richard Curtis's Christmas fairy tale "Love Actually" delighted viewers with her typical "unstoppable" Emma and sense of humor. And the company in the film was the one the actress liked: Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson and other famous personalities, who created a great atmosphere on the set. And, of course, Alan Rickman, with whom Emma Thompson had met on the set many times (and each time their tandem delighted viewers).
Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman ('Love Actually')
Over several years, Thompson wrote, rewrote, and supplemented a script that eventually became the interesting family film with elements of fantasy "Nanny McPhee". In it, Emma played the lead role of Nanny McPhee with subtle irony and brilliance. The actress then starred in the comedy drama "Stranger than Fiction" (Karen Eiffel), the drama "Last Chance Harvey" (Kate Walker), the comedy "The Love Punch" (Kate). In the latter, her duet was Pierce Brosnan.
Emma Thompson's makeup in 'Nanny McPhee'
An interesting role for Thompson was that of writer P.L. Travers, whose most famous work was the fairy tale "Mary Poppins". The story "Saving Mr. Banks" is about how the eccentric and perpetually dissatisfied Travers disagreed with the film adaptation of the book by Walt Disney. Her demands were absurd, for example, the writer wanted the color red to be completely removed from the film. Emma, as always, brilliantly handled the creation of the character, and the legendary producer and film director was no less vividly embodied on screen by Tom Hanks.
A scene from 'Saving Mr. Banks'
Quite serious works were the roles of the German underground fighter Anna Quangel in the social drama "Alone in Berlin" and the federal judge Fiona Maye in the adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel "The Children Act".
Emma Thompson: On Acting
In 2017, the actress starred in Noah Baumbach's tragicomedy "The Meyerowitz Stories" with Dustin Hoffman, Ben Stiller, and Adam Sandler. The film was presented at the Cannes Film Festival.
The cast of 'The Meyerowitz Stories'
On the eve of 2020, the comedy "Last Christmas", for which Emma also co-wrote the script, was released.
Emma Thompson's Personal Life
Emma Thompson met Hugh Laurie at university. They became not only partners in the Cambridge student theatre - Hugh seemed to Emma a talented and interesting person. They soon started dating. Their relationship was light-hearted, the couple constantly made each other laugh, together they came up with sketches for performances. Gradually, romance gave way to friendship, which Thompson and Laurie still maintain.
Hugh Laurie and Emma Thompson dated
While filming "Fortunes of War", the budding actress met Kenneth Branagh, already known for his roles as Henry V and Hamlet. Feelings ignited with such force that Emma did not notice either the five-year age difference (she was older), or her lover's excessive ambition and selfishness.
Emma Thompson's first husband was Kenneth Branagh
They got married in 1989. At first, they starred together for other directors, then Branagh created his own production company. After Emma won her first "Oscar", their relationship became somewhat tense. Later, she found out that her husband was cheating on her with her friend Helena Bonham Carter.
«Don't sigh, don't cry!» Emma Thompson on THAT Love Actually scene, Harry Potter and Late Night
The breakup was long and painful. To avoid falling into depression, Thompson took on the adaptation of a Jane Austen novel, wrote the script, and then played the lead role in the film "Sense and Sensibility". During filming, she met actor Greg Wise. Initially, the young bachelor courted the only unmarried girl on set - Kate Winslet. But, according to Kate herself, there were no sparks between them, so the relationship did not go beyond joint hangouts in cafes and attending a rock concert.
A scene from the movie ‘Sense and Sensibility’
One day, Winslet persuaded Thompson, with whom she had become close friends during this time, to go to a cafe with them. Greg turned out to be a very interesting interlocutor, Emma herself did not notice how time flew by. She was in the process of getting a divorce and did not immediately respond to the actor's feelings, but Wise, despite being seven years younger than her, did not back down. Thompson learned about a prediction that a clairvoyant friend had made for Greg: supposedly, it was during the filming of "Sense and Sensibility" that the actor would meet his destiny. And this destiny, according to Greg, was indeed Emma.
Emma Thompson and Greg Wise
In 1995, Emma got a divorce from Branagh and moved in with Wise. The couple really wanted to have many children, but even the IVF procedure initially did not yield results. Only in 1999 did they have a daughter, whom they named Gaia.
Emma Thompson with her husband and children
In 2003, two significant events happened in Thompson's life: she and Greg adopted a boy, Tindyebwa Agaba, a refugee from Rwanda, and finally got married. Emma was completely convinced of her chosen one's love and was perfectly happy.
Emma Thompson Now
2021 was a busy year for the actress. Production began on the Sophie Hyde film "Good Luck to You, Leo Grande," in which Emma played former teacher and widow Nancy Stokes. Thompson, who turned 60 in 2019, promised she would film erotic scenes as her character is a "jolly widow" who decided to catch up on lost time by hiring twenty-year-old Leo for her bedroom pleasures. For this role, the actress was nominated for a "Golden Globe", but lost to Michelle Yeoh for "Everything Everywhere All at Once".
Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack
In the same year, Thompson appeared as the Baroness in the film "Cruella", which tells the backstory of the famous Disney villain, and also played Cat in the melodrama "What's Love Got to Do With It?" and Miss Trunchbull in the musical "Matilda". In addition, Emma was commissioned to adapt the screenplay "Nanny McPhee" for the stage.
