Trivia

Is the only person to have won Academy Awards for both acting and writing. She won Best Actress for Howards 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 had already had their daughter, Gaia), informally adopted a teenage boy. Their son, Tindyebwa ("Tindy") Agaba, was a former child soldier from Rwanda whom Thompson first met when he was 16 at a party for the charity organization the Refugee Council. Tindy's family had died before or during the Rwandan genocide, and after he escaped from his forced child soldier-hood, he lived on the streets of London before receiving aid from the Refugee Council.

Has won two Oscars and at both ceremonies, her statuettes were presented to her by frequent co-star Sir Anthony Hopkins.

Whilst working on the Oscar winning script for Sense and Sensibility (1995), Emma's computer developed a serious problem and she was unable to locate the file. She took the computer to Stephen Fry who, after seven hours, finally managed to retrieve the script.

Accepted the role of Professor Trelawny in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) to impress her daughter, Gaia.

She was initially cast as the lead role in Basic Instinct (1992), but refused later on. About Sharon Stone's appearance she said: "As far as I can see, from Sharon Stone's love scene in Basic Instinct (1992), they molded her body out of tough Plasticine. She was shagging Michael Douglas like a donkey, and not an inch moved. If that had been me, there would have been things flying around hitting me in the eye.".

She was a member of the Cambridge Footlights and in 1981, along with Stephen Fry, Tony Slattery, Hugh Laurie, Paul Dwyer and Paul Shearer, she became the winner of the first ever Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

On August 7, 2010, she was awarded a Star (#2416) on the Hollywood Walk of Fame right outside the 'British' landmark pub the Pig 'n' Whistle. Longtime friend Hugh Laurie, also a earlier boyfriend during undergraduates at Cambridge University... was on hand to deliver fond words of commendation.

Resides across the street from her mother and down the street from her sister.

Before giving birth to her daughter Gaia in 1999, Thompson became pregnant by her then-husband Kenneth Branagh in 1994 and partner Greg Wise in 1997; she suffered miscarriages on both occasions. Thompson and Wise used IVF to conceive Gaia.

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).

She was originally prepared to play the role of "God" in Kevin Smith's Dogma (1999). She was unable to perform due to her pregnancy.

Used to keep her Oscar statuettes in her bathroom but had to move her Oscars to make room for her daughter Gaia's artwork. She now keeps them in her office.

Both Emma and her younger sister, Sophie Thompson, met their future husbands - Greg Wise and Richard Lumsden respectively - on the set of Sense and Sensibility (1995).

Her mother is Phyllida Law, who has appeared in several movies with her.

Had done an uncredited final polishing of the screenplay for Paddington (2014).

She was awarded Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to drama. She is an actress in London, England.

Met husband-to-be Greg Wise on the set of Sense and Sensibility (1995).

As of 2018, has appeared in five films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Howards End (1992), In the Name of the Father (1993), The Remains of the Day (1993), Sense and Sensibility (1995) and An Education (2009). She was Oscar nominated for her performances in all of these films except An Education.

Thompson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tilda Swinton, Marion Cotillard, Tom Hanks, Daniel Brühl, Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams are the only actors to receive a Golden Globe, SAG, BAFTA and Critics' Choice Award nomination for the same performance and then fail to be Oscar-nominated for it: for their 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), respectively.

Though she is not seen in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) after her character is fired, it is her voice that speaks the prophecy that Harry retrieves at the film's ending.

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 has 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.

Good friends with Meryl Streep after starring with her in Angels in America (2003).

Read English Literature at Cambridge University.

She co-wrote, co-produced, and co-directed Cambridge University's first all-female revue "Woman's Hour" (1983).

Several of her Harry Potter castmates have appeared in her Nanny McPhee films as well: Imelda Staunton, Kelly Macdonald, Ralph Fiennes, Maggie Smith and Rhys Ifans.

Mother, with husband Greg Wise, of a daughter Gaia Wise (b. December 4, 1999) and adopted son Tindyebwa Agaba (b. 1987).

Her performance as Miss Kenton in The Remains of the Day (1993) is ranked #52 on Premiere magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).

Shares her birthday with her Harry Potter co-star Emma Watson (April 15).

Is one of only twelve actors who have been nominated for both a Supporting and Lead Acting Academy Award in the same year for their achievements in two different movies. The other eleven are Fay Bainter, Cate Blanchett, Teresa Wright, Barry Fitzgerald (nominated in both categories for the same role in the same movie), Jessica Lange, Sigourney Weaver, Al Pacino, Holly Hunter, Julianne Moore, Jamie Foxx and Scarlett Johansson. Holly Hunter received her double-nomination in the same year that Thompson did.

Has played Hugh Grant's love interest in Sense and Sensibility (1995) and his sister in Love Actually (2003).

She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6714 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on August 6, 2010. Among those who helped her celebrate were Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Laurie.

She was ranked fifth in the 2001 Orange Film Survey of greatest British film actresses.

She turned down the role of Anna Leonowens in Anna and the King (1999), which went to Jodie Foster.

Has one song dedicated to her and named after her, on famous French singer Georges Moustaki's album "Moustaki" (2003).

First on-screen kiss was with Jeff Goldblum in The Tall Guy (1989).

During the Primary Colors (1998) shoot after her divorce from Kenneth Branagh had finally been resolved, Emma was in her trailer when a call came directly through to her from Donald Trump who offered her accommodation in Trump Tower with the prospect of a dinner date. Coincidentally, he too had just been divorced from Marla Maples. Prophetic, considering Emma was playing a character based on Hillary Clinton who would become Trump's rival during his run for the presidency in 2016.

Good friends with Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hayley Atwell.

Attended and graduated from Camden School for Girls, and the all-women Newnham College of Cambridge University with an English degree (1982). Jodhi May also attended Camden School for Girls.

First experience of Los Angeles occurred in 1973 when, at age 14, she accompanied her father Eric Thompson who was scheduled to direct a theatrical production of Alan Ayckbourn's "The Norman Conquests" at the Ahmanson Theatre. Coincidentally, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (adjacent to the Ahmanson) would be where, 20 years on, Thompson was awarded her first Best Actress Oscar for Howards End (1992) in 1993.

Elder sister of Sophie Thompson.

Was named to the Board of Advisors for Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival (previously Fahrenheit Theater Company) in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Has won both of her Oscars for films that also featured actors she would work with again in 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), had played Professor Severus Snape in eight Harry Potter films from 2001 to 2011.

Returned to work eight months after giving birth to her daughter Gaia in order to begin filming Wit (2001).

Is one of three actresses who have won both the Best Actress Oscar (hers being for Howards End (1992)) and the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Emmy (hers being for Ellen (1994)). The other actresses are Gwyneth Paltrow and Kathy Bates.

She was considered for the lead role of Emma Peel in the high-profile film adaptation of The Avengers (1998), which went to Uma Thurman.

Her father was television presenter Eric Thompson. He was most famous for being the English narrator of the French animated show The Magic Roundabout (1964).

Was to executive produce the film "Johnny Hit and Run Pauline", that was to be written and directed by Fay Efrosini Lellios (1998). Actors Sherilyn Fenn, Kate Winslet, Rufus Sewell, Miranda Richardson and Paul McGann were involved in the project. The shooting was set to start in June 1998 in New Hampshire. The film was canceled due to financial withdrawal.

Ranked #91 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. (October 1997)

When she won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in Howards End (1992), she received that from Sir Anthony Hopkins, who had been her co-star in that movie. The next year, she presented the Best Actor Oscar to Tom Hanks for his performance in Philadelphia (1993). The two would co-star in Saving Mr. Banks (2013).