Talented, gracious, funny, witty, friendly, hard-worker, intelligent and the list of adjectives to describe Emma Thompson could go on and on. Two Academy Awards (one for her leading role in Howard's End and another for the screenplay based on Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility), three BAFTAs, two Golden Globes, an Emmy, and many film critics awards endorse her almost 30-year-old career in the show business.
Thompson 
is one example of British actor who has been able to have a stable and remarkable career both in her native England and in Hollywood. She has worked with excellent directors such as James Ivory, Ang Lee, Richard Curtis, and marvellous castmates such as Anthony Hopkins, Meryl Streep, Daniel Day Lewis, and Kate Winslet. She has taken part in the famous iconic Harry Potter saga as Professor Sybil Trelawney alongside the elite of the British star system, and can proudly boast her ability to be convincing in both drama and comedy roles. And, let's not forget that Thompson's acting career started in comedy when she was in her 20s at Cambridge as part of the legendary Cambridge Footlights troupe with pals Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Tony Slattery.
Thompson has also distinguished herself as a writer. In addition to her Sense and Sensibility screenplay, she has also adapted for the big screen Christianna Brand's book Nurse Matilda; she is now preparing a new remake of My Fair Lady.
Some people may think that a successful career full of awards and good reviews could make one complacent, but that is not the case with Ms. Thompson, who keeps challenging herself with every new project. When not working, she devotes herself to her family and her humanitarian work with the Refugee Council, Rebuilding Lives, and chairing the Helen Lamber Foundation.
Last year, she focused her attention on the subject of human trafficking, co-directing an art exhibit called Journey, which was shown all around the globe. In a few weeks, she'll return - this time as a producer - to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where in 1981 she and her Cambridge Footlights partners received the very first Perrier Comedy Award, to present the Fair Trade, a thought-provoking play inspired by the testimony of two survivors of the sex slave trade. As you can see, the British actress likes to go deep into subjects that most of us would not dare explore.
.jpg?t=20120527181101)
Article comments
1 - Joan
She is a lovely talented lady -- she and Hugh (and Stephen Fry) are all such renaissance men/women doing so many different things so well! I'm thrilled she is working on My Fair Lady. In an interview some time ago she said she always pictured Hugh Laurie in the role of the Professor and I think he would be amazing!
2 - weaverbird
Thanks for this article. Emma Thompson is an intelligent and honest actor. One of my favourite films, in which she appears with Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Kenneth Branagh, Tony Slattery, Imelda Staunton and Phyllida Law (Emma's actor mother) is "Peter's Friends". Hugh Laurie plays a father trying to get over a tragic loss - brilliant acting. And he plays the piano!