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)
Hamnet (2025)
as Mary
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
as Chief of Staff Fox
War Horse (2011)
as Rose Narracott
The Book Thief (2013)
as Rosa Hubermann
Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
as Lena Leonard
Equilibrium (2002)
as Mary O'Brien
The Theory of Everything (2014)
as Beryl Wilde
Everest (2015)
as Helen Wilton
The Legend of Ochi (2025)
as Dasha
Anna Karenina (2012)
as Countess Lydia Ivanova
Gosford Park (2001)
as Elsie
Miss Potter (2006)
as Millie Warne
The Water Horse (2007)
as Anne MacMorrow
Monster Family (2017)
as Emma Wishbone (voice)
Monster Family 2 (2021)
as Emma Wishbone (voice)
Breaking the Waves (1996)
as Bess McNeill
Small Things Like These (2024)
as Sister Mary
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
as Tammy
Angela's Ashes (1999)
as Angela McCourt
The Proposition (2005)
as Martha Stanley
Steve (2025)
as Jenny
On Chesil Beach (2018)
as Violet Ponting
Belle (2013)
as Lady Mansfield
The Boxer (1997)
as Maggie Hamill
Little Boy (2015)
as Emma Busbee
King Lear (2018)
as Regan
Inside Look: Hamnet (2025)
as Self (archive footage)
The Dresser (2015)
as Her Ladyship
Cradle Will Rock (1999)
as Olive Stanton
A Royal Night Out (2015)
as Queen Elizabeth
The Happy Prince (2018)
as Constance Wilde
Testament of Youth (2015)
as Mrs. Brittain
Cemetery Junction (2010)
as Mrs. Kendrick
Separate Lies (2005)
as Anne Manning
Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism (2015)
as Miss Trinklebury
Hilary and Jackie (1998)
as Jackie du Pré
Red Dragon (2002)
as Reba McClane
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)
as Anne Sellers
Fireflies in the Garden (2008)
as Jane Lawrence
God's Creatures (2022)
as Aileen O'Hara
Midas Man (2024)
as Queenie Epstein
The Luzhin Defence (2000)
as Natalia Katkov
Cold Souls (2009)
as Claire
Trixie (2000)
as Trixie Zurbo
The Memory Keeper's Daughter (2008)
as Caroline Gil
Crusade in Jeans (2006)
as Mary Vega
Amri (—)
as Marie Antoinette Gottesman
Wah-Wah (2005)
as Ruby Compton
Metroland (1998)
as Marion
Oranges and Sunshine (2010)
as Margaret Humphreys
Ballchewer (2002)
as Self
The Making of Gosford Park (2002)
as Self
A Summer Day's Dream (1994)
Actor
Weinstein (2018)
as Narrator (voice)
The Mill on the Floss (1997)
as Maggie Tulliver
Some Girl(s) (2013)
as Lindsay
A Song for Jenny (2015)
as Julie Nicholson
Within the Whirlwind (2009)
as Evgenia Ginzburg
A Director's Journey: The Making of 'Red Dragon' (2003)
as Self
Fado! (—)
Actor
Tranceformer: A Portrait of Lars von Trier (1997)
Actor
In Doctor von Trier's Laboratory: Back to the Magic of Cinema (1998)
as Self
London Fog: A Ruby Gale Mystery (—)
as (The Detective)
Late in Summer (—)
Actor
Meerkats 3D (2011)
as Narrator
RSC Meets USA: Working Shakespeare (—)
as Self
The Clockmaker’s Secret: Lost in Spindlewood (—)
as The Keeper of the Keys
A Christmas Child (—)
as Emily Watson ( Self/Narrator )
Holly Noel: The Winter Ball (Christmas 3) (—)
as ( Host )
Midday Sun (—)
as Sarah