Emily Watson
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Emily Margaret Watson (born 14 January 1967) is an English actress. She began her career on stage and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1992. In 2002, she starred in productions of Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya at the Donmar Warehouse. She was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Actress for the latter. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her debut film role as a newlywed in Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves (1996) and for her portrayal of Jacqueline du Pré in Anand Tucker's Hilary and Jackie (1998). Watson's other films include The Boxer (1997), Angela's Ashes (1999), Gosford Park (2001), Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Red Dragon (2002), The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004), Corpse Bride (2005), Miss Potter (2006), Synecdoche, New York (2008), Oranges and Sunshine (2010), War Horse (2011), The Theory of Everything (2014), Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017), God's Creatures (2022), and Small Things like These (2024). and A Pariare Farm Girl ( 2026). She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for her role in the HBO miniseries Chernobyl. She won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress for playing Janet Leach in the 2011 ITV television biopic Appropriate Adult. She was nominated for the International Emmy Award for Best Actress for the 2017 BBC miniseries Apple Tree Yard. In 2024, she portrayed the lead role of Valya Harkonnen in the HBO science fiction series Dune: Prophecy. Watson is a supporter of the children's charity the NSPCC. In 2004, she was inducted into the society's hall of fame for spearheading the successful campaign to appoint a Children's Commissioner for England. Receiving her award in the crowded House of Commons, she spoke out against the possibility that the Children's Commissioner become a figurehead with little real power.
Known for
Credits
Corpse Bride (2005)
as Victoria Everglot (voice)
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
as Chief of Staff Fox
The Legend of Ochi (2025)
as Dasha
The Book Thief (2013)
as Rosa Hubermann
Hamnet (2025)
as Mary
Everest (2015)
as Helen Wilton
Equilibrium (2002)
as Mary O'Brien
The Theory of Everything (2014)
as Beryl Wilde
Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
as Lena Leonard
War Horse (2011)
as Rose Narracott
Anna Karenina (2012)
as Countess Lydia Ivanova
Small Things Like These (2024)
as Sister Mary
The Water Horse (2007)
as Anne MacMorrow
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
as Tammy
Monster Family (2017)
as Emma Wishbone (voice)
Monster Family 2 (2021)
as Emma Wishbone (voice)
Gosford Park (2001)
as Elsie
Miss Potter (2006)
as Millie Warne
Breaking the Waves (1996)
as Bess McNeill
On Chesil Beach (2018)
as Violet Ponting
King Lear (2018)
as Regan
Little Boy (2015)
as Emma Busbee
The Dresser (2015)
as Her Ladyship
The Proposition (2005)
as Martha Stanley
Angela's Ashes (1999)
as Angela McCourt
A Royal Night Out (2015)
as Queen Elizabeth
God's Creatures (2022)
as Aileen O'Hara
Steve (2025)
as Jenny
Fireflies in the Garden (2008)
as Jane Lawrence
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)
as Anne Sellers
Cradle Will Rock (1999)
as Olive Stanton
Testament of Youth (2015)
as Mrs. Brittain
Cemetery Junction (2010)
as Mrs. Kendrick
Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism (2015)
as Miss Trinklebury
The Happy Prince (2018)
as Constance Wilde
Belle (2013)
as Lady Mansfield
Hilary and Jackie (1998)
as Jackie du Pré
The Boxer (1997)
as Maggie Hamill
The Memory Keeper's Daughter (2008)
as Caroline Gil
Separate Lies (2005)
as Anne Manning
Midas Man (2024)
as Queenie Epstein
Red Dragon (2002)
as Reba McClane
Cold Souls (2009)
as Claire
The Making of Gosford Park (2002)
as Self
Trixie (2000)
as Trixie Zurbo
Oranges and Sunshine (2010)
as Margaret Humphreys
Wah-Wah (2005)
as Ruby Compton
Amri (—)
as Marie Antoinette Gottesman
A Song for Jenny (2015)
as Julie Nicholson
A Director's Journey: The Making of 'Red Dragon' (2003)
as Self
The Luzhin Defence (2000)
as Natalia Katkov
RSC Meets USA: Working Shakespeare (—)
as Self
Crusade in Jeans (2006)
as Mary Vega
The Mill on the Floss (1997)
as Maggie Tulliver
Fado! (—)
Actor
Ballchewer (2002)
as Self
In Doctor von Trier's Laboratory: Back to the Magic of Cinema (1998)
as Self
Meerkats 3D (2011)
as Narrator
Tranceformer: A Portrait of Lars von Trier (1997)
Actor
Within the Whirlwind (2009)
as Evgenia Ginzburg
Metroland (1998)
as Marion
Some Girl(s) (2013)
as Lindsay
The Clockmaker’s Secret: Lost in Spindlewood (—)
as The Keeper of the Keys
Holly Noel: The Winter Ball (Christmas 3) (—)
as ( Host )
A Summer Day's Dream (1994)
Actor
Inside Look: Hamnet (2025)
as Self (archive footage)
Weinstein (2018)
as Narrator (voice)
Late in Summer (—)
Actor
A Christmas Child (—)
as Emily Watson ( Self/Narrator )
London Fog: A Ruby Gale Mystery (—)
as (The Detective)
Midday Sun (—)
as Sarah
Blossoms and Blood (2003)
as Lena Leonard