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Emily Watson extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Emily Watson
Watson at the Orange British Academy Film Awards in London's Royal Opera House, February 2007
Born	14 January 1967 (1967-01-14) (age 43) London, England, UK
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1991 – present
Spouse(s)	Jack Waters (1995-present)

Emily Watson (born 14 January 1967) is an English actress. She made an acclaimed debut film performance in Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves.¹

Contents 1 Personal life 1.1 Charity 2 Career 2.1 Theatrical career 2.2 Film debut 2.3 Subsequent career 2.4 Scriptwriting 2.5 Missed roles 3 Credits 3.1 Feature Films 3.2 Theatre 3.3 Radio 4 References 5 External links

Personal life

Watson was born in Islington, London, England, the daughter of an architect father and an English professor mother. She was brought up as an Anglican.² Watson trained at Drama Studio London and holds a B.A. (1988, English) as well as an M.A. (2003, honorary) from Bristol University. Watson married Jack Waters, whom she had met at the Royal Shakespeare Company, in 1995. Their daughter, Juliet, was born in autumn 2005.³

Charity

Watson is a committed 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.⁴ Receiving her award in the crowded House of Commons, she actively spoke out against the possibility that the Children's Commissioner become a figurehead with little real power.⁵

Career

Theatrical career

Although best known internationally for her film roles, Watson's career began on the stage. Her theatre credits include The Children's Hour (at the Royal National Theatre), Three Sisters, Much Ado about Nothing and The Lady from the Sea.

She has also worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company in such productions as A Jovial Crew, The Taming of the Shrew, All's Well That Ends Well and The Changeling.⁶⁷

In 2002 she took time off from cinema to play two roles in Sam Mendes's repertory productions of Uncle Vanya and Twelfth Night, first at Mendes's Donmar Warehouse in London and later at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Her performance was widely acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic and garnered her an Olivier Award nomination.⁸

Film debut

Watson was virtually unknown until director Lars von Trier chose her to star in his controversial Breaking the Waves after Helena Bonham Carter, dropped out "at the very last minute."⁹ Her performance as Bess McNeill won Watson the Los Angeles, London and New York Critics Circle Awards, the US National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress, and ultimately an Oscar nomination.¹

Subsequent career

Watson came to public notice again in another controversial role, as cellist Jacqueline du Pré in Hilary and Jackie, for which she learned to play the cello, and received another Oscar nomination. She also played a leading role in Cradle Will Rock, a story of a theatre show in the 1930s, directed by Tim Robbins. Though she won the title role of Frank McCourt's mother in the adaptation of his memoir, Angela's Ashes, the film underperformed. In 2001, she appeared alongside John Turturro in The Luzhin Defence and in Robert Altman's ensemble piece Gosford Park.¹⁰ The following year, she starred as Reba McClane in the adaptation of Thomas Harris's The Silence of the Lambs prequel, Red Dragon, as the romantic interest of Adam Sandler in Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love, and in the sci-fi action thriller Equilibrium alongside Christian Bale.

In 2004, Watson received a Golden Globe nomination for her role as Peter Sellers's first wife, Anne Howe, in the HBO movie The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. 2005 saw Watson starring in four films: Wah-Wah, Richard E. Grant's autobiographical directorial debut; Separate Lies, directed by Gosford Park writer Julian Fellowes; Tim Burton's animated film Corpse Bride, alongside Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter; and Nick Cave's Australian-set western, The Proposition. In 2006, she took a supporting role in Miss Potter, a biopic of children's author Beatrix Potter from Babe director Chris Noonan, with Ewan McGregor and Renée Zellweger, and also in an adaptation of Thea Beckman's children's novel Crusade in Jeans. In 2007, she appeared in The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, an adaptation of the Dick King-Smith children's novel about the origin of the Loch Ness Monster.¹¹¹²

Watson starred with Julia Roberts and Carrie-Anne Moss in Fireflies in the Garden,¹³ and appears in the film Cold Souls, from first-time director Sophie Barthes.¹⁴ She also starred in screenwriter Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut, Synecdoche, New York¹⁵ and Within the Whirlwind, a biopic of Russian poetess Evgenia Ginzburg, from Luzhin Defence director Marleen Gorris.¹⁶ She is slated to appear in Fellini Black and White, as Giulietta Massina, the wife of film director Frederico Fellini. The film depicts a trip the director made to receive an award and also stars Antonio Banderas, Liv Tyler, Laurence Fishburne and Peter Dinklage.¹⁷

Scriptwriting

In 2007, Mood Indigo, a script written by Watson and her husband, was optioned by Capitol Films. The film is a love story set during World War II and concerns a young woman who falls in love with a pilot.¹⁸

Missed roles

Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet wrote the character Amélie for Watson to play (Amélie was originally named Emily) but she eventually turned the role down due to difficulties speaking French and a desire not to be away from home. The role went on to make an international star of Audrey Tautou.¹⁹ She was also the first choice to play Elizabeth I in Shekhar Kapur's film Elizabeth, the role that won Cate Blanchett an Academy Award nomination.²⁰ She was also intended to be the lead in Miss Potter, but ended up with a supporting role.

Credits

Feature Films

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1994	A Summer Day's Dream	Rosalie	TV
1996	Breaking the Waves	Bess McNeill	Bodil Award for Best Actress European Film Award for Best Actress Evening Standard British Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival President Award for Best Actress London Film Critics' Award for Best British Newcomer of the Year Los Angeles Film Critics Association’s New Generation Award National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress Robert Award for Best Actress Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actress Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated - Chlotrudis Award for Best Actress Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama Nominated – London Film Critics' Award for Best British Actress of the Year Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
1997	Metroland	Marion
	The Mill on the Floss	Maggie Tulliver	TV
	The Boxer	Maggie
1998	Hilary and Jackie	Jackie	British Independent Film Award for Best Actress London Film Critics' Award for Best British Actress of the Year also for Angela's Ashes Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actress Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated - Chlotrudis Award for Best Actress Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama Nominated - Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
1999	Cradle Will Rock	Olive Stanton	Nominated – London Film Critics' Award for Best British Supporting Actress of the Year
	Angela's Ashes	Angela McCourt	London Film Critics' Award for Best British Actress of the Year also for Hilary and Jackie Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated – IFTA Award for Best Actress
2000	Trixie	Trixie Zurbo
	The Luzhin Defence	Natalia Katkov	Nominated - British Independent Film Award for Best Actress Nominated – London Film Critics' Award for Best British Actress of the Year
2001	Gosford Park	Elsie	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cast Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast Satellite Award for Best Cast – Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated - European Film Awards Audience Award for Best Actress Nominated — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
2002	Punch-Drunk Love	Lena Leonard	Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss shared with Adam Sandler
	Red Dragon	Reba McClane	London Film Critics' Award for Best British Supporting Actress of the Year Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated – Empire Award for Best Actress
	Equilibrium	Mary O’Brien
2004	Boo, Zino and the Snurks	Alanta	Voice Only
	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	Anne Sellars	Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
2005	Separate Lies	Anne Manning	Nominated – London Film Critics' Award for Best British Actress of the Year
	Wah-Wah	Ruby Compton	Nominated - British Independent Film Award for Best Actress
	Corpse Bride	Victoria Everglot	Voice Only
	The Proposition	Martha Stanley	Nominated – IF Award for Best Actress Nominated – London Film Critics' Award for Best British Supporting Actress of the Year
2006	Miss Potter	Millie Warne
	Crusade in Jeans	Mary Vega
2007	The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep	Anne MacMorrow
2008	Fireflies in the Garden	Jane Lawrence
	The Memory Keeper's Daughter	Caroline Gil	TV
	Synecdoche, New York	Tammy	Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast Independent Spirit Award's Robert Altman Award
2009	Cold Souls	Claire	Nominated - Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast
	Within the Whirlwind	Evgenia Ginzburg
2010	Cemetery Junction	Mrs. Kendrick	post-production

Theatre

• School for Mothers and The Mistake (double-bill of one-act plays), White Bear Theatre, London, 1991
• All's Well That Ends Well (Royal Shakespeare Company, Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon 1992, later Pit Theatre, London, 1993) as Marianna
• The Taming of the Shrew (Royal Shakespeare Company, Barbican Theatre, London, 1993) as Mrs. Ruth Banks-Ellis
• The Changeling (Royal Shakespeare Company, Pit Theatre, 1993)
• A Jovial Crew (Royal Shakespeare Company, Pit Theatre, 1993) as Amie
• The Lady from the Sea (Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, London, 1994) as Hilde Wangel
• The Children's Hour (Lyttelton Theatre, London, 1994) as Mary Tilford
• Three Sisters (Out of Joint, 1995)
• Othello (1996, theatre)
• Twelfth Night/ Uncle Vanya (Donmar Warehouse, 2002/ BAM, 2003)

Radio

• The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (1994, radio)
• Wuthering Heights (1995, radio series)

References

External links

• Emily Watson at the Internet Movie Database
• Premiere Magazine: Emily Watson Q&A and podcast
• Emily Watson at the Edinburgh Festival
• Emily Watson at Film Bug