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