She is the only person to win an Academy Award in both acting and writing. She won Best Actress for Howard's End (1992) and Best Adapted Screenplay for Sense and Sensibility (1995).
According to a 2012 Guardian profile of Emma Thompson, in 2003 she and Greg Wise (who already had their daughter Gaia) informally adopted a young boy. Their son, Tindyebwa ("Tindy") Agaba, was a former child soldier from Rwanda whom Thompson first met at a party for the Refugee Council charity when he was 16. Tindy's family had died before or during the Rwandan genocide, and after escaping forced child soldiering he lived on the streets of London before receiving help from the Refugee Council.
She was a member of Cambridge Footlights and in 1981, along with Stephen Fry, Tony Slattery, Hugh Laurie, Paul Dwyer and Paul Shearer, won the first Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
She accepted the role of Professor Trelawney in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) to impress her daughter Gaia.
While working on the Oscar-winning screenplay for Sense and Sensibility (1995), Emma had a serious problem with her computer and could not find the file. She took the computer to Stephen Fry, who finally managed to retrieve the script seven hours later.
She has won two Oscars, and at both ceremonies the statuettes were presented to her by Sir Anthony Hopkins, with whom she has often co-starred.
She was originally cast in the lead role in Basic Instinct (1992), but later turned it down. Of Sharon Stone's appearance she said: "As far as I could see from Sharon Stone's love scene in Basic Instinct (1992), they sculpted her body out of hard dough. She was screwing Michael Douglas like a donkey and didn't move an inch. If it had been me, there would have been things flying around and catching my eye."
She lives across the street from her mother and down the street from her sister.
On 7 August 2010 she was honored with a Star (#2416) on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, just outside the iconic British bar Pig'n' Whistle. Her longtime friend, who was also her boyfriend when she was an undergraduate at Cambridge University, Hugh Laurie… was there to say loving, praise-filled words.
The final polish of the script for Paddington (2014) was done without her being credited in the titles.
Before giving birth to her daughter Gaia in 1999, Thompson became pregnant in 1994 by her then-husband Kenneth Branagh and in 1997 by her partner Greg Wise; in both cases she miscarried. Thompson and Wise used IVF to conceive Gaia.
She was originally set to play "God" in Kevin Smith's Dogma (1999). She was unable to perform the role because of her pregnancy.
She used to keep her Oscar statuettes in her bathroom, but had to move her Oscars to make room for her daughter Gaia's artworks. She now keeps them in her office.
Her mother is Phyllida Law, who has appeared with her in many films.
She met her future husband Greg Wise on the set of Sense and Sensibility (1995).
Both Emma and her younger sister Sophie Thompson met their future husbands, Greg Wise and Richard Lumsden, on the set of Sense and Sensibility (1995).
Thompson, along with Leonardo DiCaprio, Tilda Swinton, Marion Cotillard, Tom Hanks, Daniel Brühl, Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams, is the only performer to be nominated for the Golden Globe, SAG, BAFTA and Critics' Choice Awards for the same performance and then fail to be nominated for an Oscar, for her performances in Saving Mr. Banks (2013), The Departed (2006), We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011), Rust and Bone (2012), Captain Phillips (2013), Rush (2013), Nightcrawler (2014) and Arrival (2016).
She appeared in four films directed by her then-husband Kenneth Branagh: Henry V (1989), Dead Again (1991), Peter's Friends (1992) and Much Ado About Nothing (1993).
After appearing with Meryl Streep in Angels in America (2003), they became good friends.
She has appeared in five films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Howard's End (1992), The Remains of the Day (1993), In the Name of the Father (1993), Sense and Sensibility (1995) and An Education (2009).
In 2003, Thompson and her husband Greg Wise informally adopted a Rwandan orphan and former child soldier named Tindyebwa Agaba. They met at a Refugee Council event when he was 16, and she invited him to spend Christmas at their home. "Slowly", Thompson commented, "he became a sort of permanent fixture, came on holiday to Scotland with us, became part of the family." Agaba became a British citizen in 2009.
She co-wrote, co-produced and co-directed Cambridge University's first all-female revue, "Woman's Hour" (1983).
Although her character is not seen after being fired in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), it is her voice that speaks the prophecy Harry obtains at the end of the film.
Her mother, with her husband Greg Wise, her daughter Gaia Wise (b. 4 December 1999) and her adopted son Tindyebwa Agaba (b. 1987).
She studied English Literature at Cambridge University.
She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to drama. An actress in London, England.
On 6 August 2010 she was honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6714 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. Among those who helped her celebrate were Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Laurie.
For her role as Miss Kenton in The Remains of the Day (1993), she ranked 52nd on Premiere magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
She turned down the role of Anna Leonowens in Anna and the King (1999), which went to Jodie Foster.
Several of her Harry Potter co-stars also appeared in the Nanny McPhee films: Imelda Staunton, Kelly Macdonald, Ralph Fiennes, Maggie Smith and Rhys Ifans.
She played Hugh Grant's love interest in Sense and Sensibility (1995) and his sister in Love Actually (2003).
She shares her birthday with Harry Potter lead actress Emma Watson (15 April).
After her divorce from Kenneth Branagh was finally settled, Emma was in her trailer during the shooting of Primary Colors (1998) when she received a direct call from Donald Trump, who offered her accommodation at Trump Tower in the hope of a dinner date. Coincidentally, he had just divorced Marla Maples. Prophetic, considering that during the 2016 presidential race Emma played a character based on Hillary Clinton, Trump's rival.
She is one of twelve actors nominated for both a supporting and a lead acting Oscar in the same year for achievements in two different films. The other eleven are Fay Bainter, Cate Blanchett, Teresa Wright, Barry Fitzgerald (nominated in both categories for the same role in the same film), Jessica Lange, Sigourney Weaver, Al Pacino, Holly Hunter, Julianne Moore, Jamie Foxx and Scarlett Johansson. Holly Hunter received her double nomination the same year as Thompson.
She ranked fifth among the best British film actors in the 2001 Orange Film Survey.
She attended Camden School for Girls and the all-women Newnham College at Cambridge University, graduating with a degree in English (1982). Jodhi May also attended Camden School for Girls.
Her first on-screen kiss was with Jeff Goldblum in The Tall Guy (1989).
She paid for the rewrite of the Pride and Prejudice screenplay without being credited.
She was elected to the Advisory Board of the Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival (formerly the Fahrenheit Theatre Company) in Cincinnati, Ohio.
She is one of three actresses to have won both a Best Actress Oscar (Howards End (1992)) and an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (Ellen (1994)). The other actresses are Gwyneth Paltrow and Kathy Bates.
On famous French singer Georges Moustaki's album "Moustaki" (2003) there is a song dedicated to her and bearing her name.
Her first Los Angeles experience came in 1973, at the age of 14, when she accompanied her father Eric Thompson, who was set to direct a stage production of Alan Ayckbourn's "The Norman Conquests" at the Ahmanson Theatre. Coincidentally, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (adjacent to the Ahmanson) would be the place where, 20 years later, Thompson was awarded her first Best Actress Oscar in 1993 for Howards End (1992).
She is good friends with Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hayley Atwell.
She returned to work to begin shooting Wit (2001) eight months after giving birth to her daughter Gaia.
She is Sophie Thompson's older sister.
She was accepted for the lead role of Emma Peel in the high-profile film adaptation of The Avengers (1998), which went to Uma Thurman.
She won both of her Oscars with films that also featured actors she would later work with again on the Harry Potter films. Helena Bonham Carter, who appeared in Howards End (1992), also played Bellatrix Lestrange in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). Alan Rickman, who appeared in Sense and Sensibility (1995), played Professor Severus Snape in eight Harry Potter films from 2001 to 2011.
Her father was television presenter and stage director Eric Thompson. He was best known as the English narrator of the French animated children's series The Magic Roundabout (1964).
She ranked 91st on Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.
She was to executive produce the film "Johnny Hit and Run Pauline", written and to be directed by Fay Efrosini Lellios (1998). The cast was to include Sherilyn Fenn, Kate Winslet, Rufus Sewell, Miranda Richardson and Paul McGann. Shooting was to begin in June 1998 in New Hampshire. The film was cancelled due to financial withdrawal.
When she won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in Howards End (1992), she received it from her co-star in that film, Sir Anthony Hopkins. The following year, she presented the Best Actor Oscar to Tom Hanks for his performance in Philadelphia (1993). The two would later appear together in Saving Mr. Banks (2013).
She and Simon McBurney have been very close friends since their youth.
She became the 105th actor to win an Oscar; she won the Best Actress Oscar for Howards End (1992) at the 65th Annual Academy Awards (1993) on 29 March 1993.
Along with Fay Bainter, Teresa Wright, Barry Fitzgerald, Jessica Lange, Sigourney Weaver, Al Pacino, Holly Hunter, Julianne Moore, Jamie Foxx, Cate Blanchett and Scarlett Johansson, she is one of twelve actors nominated for Oscars in two acting categories in the same year. At the 66th Academy Awards in 1994, she was nominated for Best Actress for The Remains of the Day (1993) and Best Supporting Actress for In the Name of the Father (1993). Hunter was likewise nominated for both awards at the 66th Academy Awards and won Best Actress for The Piano (1993).
In 2016, Emma Thompson played a high-octane version of herself in the comedy web series High Road. The performance earned Thompson a nomination for "Best Guest Actress - Comedy" at the 8th Annual Indie Series Awards. Her husband Greg Wise was also nominated for his work in the same episode. The winners will be announced at the ISA ceremony to be held in Los Angeles on April 5, 2017.
Her brother-in-law is the English actor-comedian Richard Lumsden.
She was the first choice for the female lead in the film Mutlu Aileler (1985). However, she was unavailable because she had won the lead role in the musical "Me and My Girl".
Her godfather is the writer, director and producer Ronald Eyre.
Jokingly, her daughter Gaia called "jane. Com".
She is the only actor to have a Shakespeare role directly after attending the British premiere, on the day her other co-stars matched her by attending/supporting a Shakespeare-themed event.
She is the former sister-in-law of Joyce Branagh.