Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
80
Gender
Female
Birthday
January 14, 1967 (59 years old)
Place of Birth
Islington, London, England, UK
Also Known As
Emily Anita Watson
Emily Margaret Watson
Emily Watson
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.
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.
Known For
Acting
—
Midday Sun
as
Sarah
—
Late in Summer
—
Fado!
2025
Hamnet
as
Mary
2025
Steve
as
Jenny
2025
The Legend of Ochi
as
Dasha
2024
Dune: Prophecy - Behind the Scenes
as
Self
2024
Dune: Prophecy
as
Mother Superior Valya Harkonnen
14 episode
s
2024
Small Things Like These
as
Sister Mary
2024
Midas Man
as
Queenie Epstein
2023
Fired on Mars
as
Sheila (voice)
2 episode
s
2022
God's Creatures
as
Aileen O'Hara
2021
Monster Family 2
as
Emma Wishbone (voice)
2021
Too Close
as
Dr. Emma Robinson
3 episode
s
2020
The Third Day
as
Mrs. Martin
6 episode
s
2019
Chernobyl
as
Ulana Khomyuk
5 episode
s
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
Little Women
as
Marmee March
3 episode
s
2017
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
as
Chief of Staff Fox
2017
Monster Family
as
Emma Wishbone (voice)
2017
Genius
as
Elsa Einstein
10 episode
s
2017
Apple Tree Yard
as
Yvonne Carmichael
4 episode
s
2015
The Dresser
as
Her Ladyship
2015
Everest
as
Helen Wilton
2015
A Song for Jenny
as
Julie Nicholson
2015
The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe
as
Grace McKee
2 episode
s
2015
A Royal Night Out
as
Queen Elizabeth
2015
Little Boy
as
Emma Busbee
2015
Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism
as
Miss Trinklebury
2015
Testament of Youth
as
Mrs. Brittain
2014
The Theory of Everything
as
Beryl Wilde
2013
The Book Thief
as
Rosa Hubermann
2013
Some Girl(s)
as
Lindsay
2013
Belle
as
Lady Mansfield
2013
The Politician's Husband
as
Freya Gardner
3 episode
s
2012
Anna Karenina
as
Countess Lydia Ivanova
2011
War Horse
as
Rose Narracott
2011
Meerkats 3D
as
Narrator
2011
Appropriate Adult
as
Janet Leach
2 episode
s
2010
Oranges and Sunshine
as
Margaret Humphreys
2010
Cemetery Junction
as
Mrs. Kendrick
2009
Within the Whirlwind
as
Evgenia Ginzburg
2009
Cold Souls
as
Claire
2008
Synecdoche, New York
as
Tammy
2008
Fireflies in the Garden
as
Jane Lawrence
2008
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
as
Caroline Gil
2007
The Water Horse
as
Anne MacMorrow
2006
Miss Potter
as
Millie Warne
2006
Crusade in Jeans
as
Mary Vega
2005
The Proposition
as
Martha Stanley
2005
Separate Lies
as
Anne Manning
2005
Corpse Bride
as
Victoria Everglot (voice)
2005
Wah-Wah
as
Ruby Compton
2004
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
as
Anne Sellers
2003
Working Shakespeare
5 episode
s
2003
A Director's Journey: The Making of 'Red Dragon'
as
Self
2002
Equilibrium
as
Mary O'Brien
2002
Ballchewer
as
Self
2002
Punch-Drunk Love
as
Lena Leonard
2002
Red Dragon
as
Reba McClane
2002
The Making of Gosford Park
as
Self
2001
Gosford Park
as
Elsie
2000
The Luzhin Defence
as
Natalia Katkov
2000
Trixie
as
Trixie Zurbo
1999
Angela's Ashes
as
Angela McCourt
1999
Cradle Will Rock
as
Olive Stanton
1999
The Early Show
as
Self
1 episode
1998
Hilary and Jackie
as
Jackie Du Pré
1998
In Doctor von Trier's Laboratory: Back to the Magic of Cinema
as
Self
1997
The Boxer
as
Maggie Hamill
1997
Tranceformer: A Portrait of Lars von Trier
1997
The Mill on the Floss
as
Maggie Tulliver
1997
Metroland
as
Marion
1996
Breaking the Waves
as
Bess McNeill
1994
A Summer Day's Dream
1991
Performance
as
Rosalie
1 episode
1953
The Oscars
as
Self
2 episode
s
