Emma Thompson is, hands down, one of the most acclaimed actresses in the industry and ranks among the greatest of her generation. Thompson has been connected to the artistic world since birth, as she is born to actress Phyllida Law and actor, screenwriter, and stage director Eric Thompson, while being the goddaughter of theater director, actor and writer Ronald Eyre.
Having grown up surrounded by so much artistic talent, it comes as no surprise that Thompson decided to follow the same path. While studying for an English degree at Cambridge’s Newnham College, she sparked an interest in acting and feminism, and became the first female member of the Cambridge Footlights, a sketch comedy troupe that also featured performers such as Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.
In 1982, some years after serving as a member of the Footlights, Thompson landed her first role in the stage play Not the Nine O’Clock News, and subsequently made her television debut in the comedy series There’s Nothing To Worry About! Her film debut would come seven years later, in Kenneth Branagh’s historical drama Henry V, a director who would later become her first husband.
Over the years, Thompson has been involved in projects both as an actress and as a writer, earning great acclaim for both roles. She has successfully starred in films across all genres, both independent and blockbusters, and has wowed audiences in each of her roles, winning the industry’s most prestigious awards. Her latest project to date is Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical, a film by Matthew Warchus inspired by the stage musical of the same name. In it, Thompson portrayed the fearsome Miss Trunchbull, Matilda’s school headmistress. However, new projects keep coming her way, as she was recently confirmed to star in Brian Kirk’s upcoming film The Fisherwoman. Let’s take a look at Emma Thompson’s best movies so far.
10 Cruella
For several years now, Disney has been releasing live-actions that revisited the audience’s favorite animated films. In 2021, they did it again, but from a new perspective: for the first time, we get to know a story from the villain’s point of view. Thus, in Craig Gillespie’s Cruella, the audience is able to follow the evolution of Estella Miller, an aspiring fashion designer, and how her life circumstances led her to turn into the infamous Cruella de Vil. This is the third live-action film in the 101 Dalmatians franchise, but the first one to focus exclusively on this character who is as hated as popular.
Emma Stone leads the cast as Cruella, joined by Thompson in the role of the Baroness, a fashion designer who becomes the main character’s boss and seems to have several secrets in store. Rounding out the cast of this production are Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser, Emily Beecham, Kirby Howell-Baptiste and Mark Strong. This film, which already has a sequel in development, became a hit with audiences and also received very good reviews, with two Academy Award nominations.
9 Love Actually
2003 marked the arrival in theaters of the quintessential Christmas rom-com, Love Actually. This production was directed and written by Richard Curtis, a filmmaker with extensive experience in the rom-com genre who had previously worked on hits such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, and Bridget Jones’s Diary. Love Actually features different stories linked to one another, giving the audience a different perspective on love, and stars an ensemble cast comprising Alan Rickman, Thompson, Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley, Colin Firth and Liam Neeson, among other actors.
Love Actually became a worldwide box-office hit and a Christmas classic, although, as is often the case with rom-coms, it was more popular with audiences than with critics. Despite that, it received a few accolades, including two Golden Globe Award nominations and the Empire Award for Best British Actress for Thompson.
8 Saving Mr. Banks
Saving Mr. Banks is a 2013 biographical drama that recounts the story behind the popular Disney film Mary Poppins, and how Walt Disney fought for years to get P. L. Travers, the author of the original books, to allow him to adapt her story for the silver screen as promised to his daughters. This John Lee Hancock-directed production stars Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson as Disney and Travers, joined by Colin Farrell, Paul Giamatti, Jason Schwartzman, Bradley Whitford, Ruth Wilson and B.J. Novak.
Saving Mr. Banks became a box-office hit and, more importantly, a hit with critics, receiving a huge number of nominations and awards. For her role, Thompson earned Best Actress nominations at the BAFTA Film Awards, Golden Globes and Satellite Awards, among many other accolades.
7 An Education
In the 2009 film An Education, Carey Mulligan plays Jenny, a highly intelligent and dedicated teenager in the 1960s whose greatest dream is to study at Oxford University. However, everything changes radically upon meeting David, a man much older than her who introduces Jenny to a lifestyle she was unaware of, but now craves to have. This situation puts her in a dilemma where she must decide whether to follow her lifelong dream or pursue this new relationship of which everyone disapproves.
An Education is based on Lynn Barber’s memoir and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Peter Sarsgaard joins Mulligan in the role of David, and the cast is rounded out by Dominic Cooper, Rosamund Pike, Alfred Molina, Cara Seymour, Olivia Williams and Thompson, who plays the main character’s stern school principal.
6 In the Name of the Father
In the Name of the Father is a biographical film that follows the story of the Guildford Four, a group of people who were falsely accused of a 1974 pub bombing that killed four people. This production, directed and co-written by Jim Sheridan, focuses on Gerry Conlon, who spent over 15 years trying to clear his name.
Daniel Day-Lewis stars in this acclaimed film, alongside Thompson, who plays lawyer and human rights activist Gareth Peirce. For this role, Thompson received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, among other accolades. This was just one of the seven Academy Award nominations received by this production, which also competed for Best Actor, Best Picture and Best Director, among other categories.
5 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is the 2011 film that brought closure to the story of the world’s best-known wizard and his battle with Lord Voldemort, becoming not only a blockbuster, but one of the highest-rated films of the year. This movie by David Yates featured the performance of great stars of the industry reprising their roles in the saga, with Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson leading the cast.
Thompson joined the film series in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban as Professor Sybill Trelawney, who teaches Divination. This peculiar-looking professor comes from a family of prestigious seers, and has inherited some of her talents from them. However, many times her predictions are not taken into account because of her erratic attitudes.
4 Henry V
The 1989 film Henry V marked Thompson’s film acting debut, and at the same time, the directorial debut of her future husband, Kenneth Branagh. This historical drama revolving around King Henry V of England was met with great acclaim, and became one of the best film adaptations of William Shakespeare’s work in the history of cinema.
Besides serving as director and writer, Branagh stars in the title role alongside Thompson, Paul Scofield, Derek Jacobi, Ian Holm, Alec McCowen, Judi Dench and Robbie Coltrane. Henry V earned Kenneth an impressive string of accolades, including Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Actor.
3 Howards End
Howards End is a 1992 film by James Ivory based on E. M. Forster’s novel of the same name. This production, starring Thompson, Helena Bonham Carter, Vanessa Redgrave, and Anthony Hopkins, follows the relationship between two Edwardian Britain families, the Schlegels and the Wilcoxes, and how things turn upside down between them when Ruth Wilcox dies and, in her will, leaves Margaret Schlegel Howards End, her family house.
The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and quickly became a box-office and critical success, topping the Academy Awards and the British Academy Film Award with nine and eleven nominations respectively. Additionally, Howards End was the film that earned Thompson her first Oscar for Best Actress.
2 The Remains of the Day
A year after Howards End‘s premiere, James Ivory brought Anthony Hopkins and Thompson back to the silver screen to star in the drama film The Remains of the Day, inspired by Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel of the same name. This production, which like Ivory’s previous film proved to be wildly successful, follows James Stevens, a British man who served for many years as Lord Darlington’s butler, devoting himself so much to his duties that he forgot about his personal life and was even willing to let his employer’s controversial ideologies pass him by.
20 years after he left his position, James embarks on a journey of introspection by revisiting his time as Darlington’s butler and attempting to reconnect with Miss Kenton, the man’s housekeeper who stirred up feelings of love that he never dared to pursue.
1 Sense and Sensibility
Topping this ranking is Sense and Sensibility, a 1995 film that, despite being among the earliest of Emma Thompson’s repertoire, remains as one of her finest pieces of work. Besides starring in this production alongside Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman and Hugh Grant, Thompson served as screenwriter based on Jane Austen’s novel of the same name. Sense and Sensibility follows Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, two young women from a wealthy family that, after their father’s passing, must adjust to a new stage in their lives while looking for a husband who can provide some financial security.
Imogen Stubbs, Greg Wise, Gemma Jones, Harriet Walter, James Fleet and Hugh Laurie round out the cast of this production that quickly became a box-office hit, earning $135 million worldwide. In addition, Sense and Sensibility was highly acclaimed and received many accolades, including seven Academy Award nominations and 11 British Academy Film Award nominations.