Emily Watson
Acting • Born 1967-01-14
Biography
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). 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.
Filmography
78 credits
Breaking the Waves
Movie • 1996
Bess McNeill
Crusade in Jeans
Movie • 2006
Mary Vega
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
Movie • 2004
Anne Sellers
Angela's Ashes
Movie • 1999
Angela McCourt
Corpse Bride
Movie • 2005
Victoria Everglot (voice)
Gosford Park
Movie • 2001
Elsie
Synecdoche, New York
Movie • 2008
Tammy
Cold Souls
Movie • 2009
Claire
Equilibrium
Movie • 2002
Mary O'Brien
Fireflies in the Garden
Movie • 2008
Jane Lawrence
Punch-Drunk Love
Movie • 2002
Lena Leonard
Trixie
Movie • 2000
Trixie Zurbo
Metroland
Movie • 1997
Marion
Cradle Will Rock
Movie • 1999
Olive Stanton
Red Dragon
Movie • 2002
Reba McClane
The Legend of Ochi
Movie • 2025
Dasha
Monster Family 2
Movie • 2021
Emma Wishbone (voice)
Miss Potter
Movie • 2006
Millie Warne
Small Things Like These
Movie • 2024
Sister Mary
Cemetery Junction
Movie • 2010
Mrs. Kendrick
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Movie • 2008
Caroline Gil
Wah-Wah
Movie • 2005
Ruby Compton
Midas Man
Movie • 2024
Queenie Epstein
Separate Lies
Movie • 2005
Anne Manning
The Proposition
Movie • 2005
Martha Stanley
The Boxer
Movie • 1997
Maggie Hamill
Hilary and Jackie
Movie • 1998
Jackie Du Pré
Tranceformer: A Portrait of Lars von Trier
Movie • 1997
A Summer Day's Dream
Movie • 1994
The Luzhin Defence
Movie • 2000
Natalia Katkov
Oranges and Sunshine
Movie • 2010
Margaret Humphreys
The Water Horse
Movie • 2007
Anne MacMorrow
Meerkats 3D
Movie • 2011
Narrator
War Horse
Movie • 2011
Rose Narracott
Within the Whirlwind
Movie • 2009
Evgenia Ginzburg
Anna Karenina
Movie • 2012
Countess Lydia Ivanova
The Mill on the Floss
Movie • 1997
Maggie Tulliver
Belle
Movie • 2013
Lady Mansfield
The Book Thief
Movie • 2013
Rosa Hubermann
Some Girl(s)
Movie • 2013
Lindsay
Little Boy
Movie • 2015
Emma Busbee
The Theory of Everything
Movie • 2014
Beryl Wilde
A Director's Journey: The Making of 'Red Dragon'
Movie • 2003
Self
Testament of Youth
Movie • 2015
Mrs. Brittain
A Royal Night Out
Movie • 2015
Queen Elizabeth
Everest
Movie • 2015
Helen Wilton
Midday Sun
Movie
Sarah
A Song for Jenny
Movie • 2015
Julie Nicholson
Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism
Movie • 2015
Miss Trinklebury
The Dresser
Movie • 2015
Her Ladyship
On Chesil Beach
Movie • 2018
Violet Ponting
Hamnet
Movie • 2025
Mary
Monster Family
Movie • 2017
Emma Wishbone (voice)
The Happy Prince
Movie • 2018
Constance Wilde
King Lear
Movie • 2018
Regan
Weinstein
Movie • 2018
Narrator (voice)
Ballchewer
Movie • 2002
Self
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
Movie • 2017
Chief of Staff Fox
The Making of Gosford Park
Movie • 2002
Self
God's Creatures
Movie • 2022
Aileen O'Hara
Late in Summer
Movie
Fado!
Movie
Steve
Movie • 2025
Jenny
The Early Show
TV • 1999
Self
The Oscars
TV • 1953
Self
Appropriate Adult
TV • 2011
Janet Leach
The Politician's Husband
TV • 2013
Freya Gardner
Fired on Mars
TV • 2023
Sheila (voice)
Performance
TV • 1991
Rosalie
Apple Tree Yard
TV • 2017
Yvonne Carmichael
Genius
TV • 2017
Elsa Einstein
Little Women
TV • 2017
Marmee March
The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe
TV • 2015
Grace McKee
Chernobyl
TV • 2019
Ulana Khomyuk
Dune: Prophecy
TV • 2024
Mother Superior Valya Harkonnen
Too Close
TV • 2021
Dr. Emma Robinson
The Third Day
TV • 2020
Mrs. Martin
Working Shakespeare
TV • 2003