Harry Potter Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Harry Potter Wiki

Emma Thompson (born 15 April, 1959) is an Emmy, BAFTA, and two time-Academy Award-winning English actress, who portrayed Sybill Trelawney in the Harry Potter film series.

She is also a comedian, screenwriter, and patron of the Refugee Council.

Career[]

In 2004, Thompson played the eccentric Divination teacher Sybill Trelawney in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, her character described as a "hippy chick professor who teaches fortune-telling".[2] She later reprised the role in the fifth and eighth films,[3] and has described her time working on the popular franchise as "great fun".[4] She has named the film as one of the greatest experiences of her career, considering it to be a "masterpiece of withheld emotion".[5]

Thompson's other roles include: Stranger Than Fiction (2006), Last Chance Harvey (2008), and Beautiful Creatures (2013) and more. She worked on but was uncredited in I Am Legend (2007), and while she joined in 2011 and recorded narration, she was ultimately cut from the finished production of the 2016 documentary film Voyage of Time.[6]

Aside from acting, Thompson also wrote screenplays and produced films. She wrote Sense and Sensibility (1995), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, Nanny McPhee (2005) and its sequel Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010), Effie Gray (2014), Bridget Jones's Baby (2016), and Last Christmas (2019), which she herself also all starred in. She produced Last Christmas, and executive produced Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang and the 2014 film Sold.[7]

Personal life[]

Thompson was born in London[8] to the Scottish actress Phyllida Law, and the English writer–narrator Eric Thompson, who was involved in theatre and known for the popular children's television series The Magic Roundabout.[9][10] She has one sister, Sophie Thompson, who also works as an actress.[9]

She was formerly married to Kenneth Branagh who played Gilderoy Lockhart in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. She later married Greg Wise, her co-star in Sense and Sensibility.

Thompson, along with the activist Sam Roddick, instigated The Journey,[11] an art installation on the subject of human trafficking. Through a series of seven linked transport containers it depicts the experiences of women sold into the sex trade.[12] It is designed to highlight the work of the Helen Bamber Foundation, an organisation offering therapeutic treatment to those traumatised by violence and abuse.[13] The installation was first shown in Trafalgar Square in London between 23 and 30 September 2007.[14]

Selective filmography[]

Year Work Award Category Result
1992 Howards End / Peter's Friends Evening Standard
British Film
Best Actress Won
Howards End Academy Best Actress Won
BAFTA Film Best Actress in a Leading Role Won
Golden Globe Best Actress – Drama Won
1993 Grammy Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Album Nominated
The Remains of the Day Academy Best Actress Nominated
BAFTA Film Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated
Golden Globe Best Actress – Drama Nominated
The Remains of the Day / Much Ado About Nothing Evening Standard
British Film
Best Actress Won
In the Name of the Father Academy Best Supporting Actress Nominated
Golden Globe Best Supporting Actress Nominated
1994 Junior Golden Globe Best Actress – Musical or Comedy Nominated
1995 Sense and Sensibility Academy Best Actress Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay Won
BAFTA Film Best Actress in a Leading Role Won
Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
Golden Globe Best Actress – Drama Nominated
Best Screenplay Won
1996 Evening Standard
British Film
Best Screenplay Won
1998 The Winter Guest BIFA Best British Actress Nominated
2002 Treasure Planet Annie Voice Acting in a Feature Production Nominated
2003 Love Actually BAFTA Film Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated
Evening Standard
British Film
Best Actress Won
Satellite Best Supporting Actress – Musical or Comedy Nominated
2004 Empire Best British Actress Won
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban N/A
2006 Stranger than Fiction Saturn Best Supporting Actress Nominated
2007 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix N/A
2008 Last Chance Harvey Golden Globe Best Actress – Musical or Comedy Nominated
Brideshead Revisited BIFA Best Supporting Actress Nominated
Satellite Best Supporting Actress Nominated
2009 IFTA Pantene Best International Actress Nominated
2010 Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang Grammy Best Spoken Word Album for Children Nominated
2011 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 N/A
2012 Men in Black III N/A
2013 Saving Mr. Banks BAFTA Film Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated
Empire Best Actress Won
Golden Globe Best Actress – Drama Nominated
Satellite Best Actress Nominated
Saturn Best Actress Nominated
2014 Beautiful Creatures Jupiter Best International Actress Nominated
2016 The Legend of Barney Thomson Evening Standard
British Film
Comedy Award Won
2019 Late Night Golden Globe Best Actress – Musical or Comedy Nominated
Men in Black: International N/A
Stage and TV
Year Work Award Category Result
1987 Fortunes of War / Tutti Frutti BAFTA TV Best Actress Won
1998 Ellen: "Emma" Primetime Emmy Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Won
2001 Wit Golden Globe Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film Nominated
Primetime Emmy Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special Nominated
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie Nominated
Satellite Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film Nominated
2003 Angels in America Satellite Best Supporting Actress – Miniseries or Television Film Nominated
2004 Primetime Emmy Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie Nominated
2012 The Song of Lunch
2015 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – In Concert with the New York Philharmonic (Live from Lincoln Center)
2019 Saturday Night Live: "Emma Thompson / Jonas Brothers" Primetime Emmy Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Nominated

Selective gallery[]

Behind the scenes[]

Notes and references[]

  1. Internet Movie Database biography page
  2. "Emma Thompson: English rose. Flower of Scotland. And all-round thorn in the side", The Guardian. Retrieved on 10 March 2019. 
  3. Emma Thompson – Biography. Yahoo!. Retrieved on 12 October 2013.
  4. Thompson, Emma (24 November 2014). Interview with Boyd Hilton London. A Life in Pictures. BAFTA
  5. Howe, Desson (28 March 2010). "Andrew Marr interview with Emma Thompson", BBC. Retrieved on 19 January 2014. 
  6. Jagernauth, Kevin (August 17, 2011). "Emma Thompson Signs On As Another Narrator For Terrence Malick's 'Voyage Of Time' Documentary", Indiewire. Retrieved on April 27, 2016. 
  7. How Emma Thompson Got Involved With Sold, A Film On Child Trafficking, Boemagazine.com
  8. "Emma Thompson", All Media Guide / Rovi via The New York Times. Retrieved on 12 October 2013. 
  9. 9.0 9.1 Grice, Elizabeth (23 February 2013). "Phyllida Law: my mother's dementia had its funny side". Retrieved on 14 September 2013. 
  10. Moorhead, Joanna (20 March 2010). "Emma Thompson: 'Family is about connection'". Retrieved on 14 September 2013. 
  11. WP favicon The Journey (installation) on Wikipedia
  12. "Container Exhibit Highlights Plight of Trafficking Victims". United Nations press release, 6 February 2008.
  13. "Acts of compassion". Guardian, 3 October 2007.
  14. "Art exposes reality of sex trade". BBC News website, 24 September 2007.

External links[]

Wiki
The Harry Potter Wiki has 9 images related to Emma Thompson.
Advertisement