Inside Emma Thompson's life – soap star sister, tragic loss and co-star romances

Film icon Dame Emma Thompson has played many interesting and magical characters on screen – but her life off-screen has been just as interesting too.

The star, who turns 63 years old on April 15, is one of the country’s most famous actresses – playing roles including Professor Trelawny in the Harry Potter film series and The Baroness in Cruella.

Off-screen she also helped to introduce two huge comedy stars to one another, as well as forming an off-screen romance with one of her Sense and Sensibility co-stars.

That’s not all, as Emma is not the only famous star from her family – and it seems that a talent for performance certainly runs in the Thompson genes.

To celebrate Emma Thompson’s birthday, Daily Star takes a look at the actresses’ incredible life and career.

Famous family

A talent for performance and writing certainly ran in Emma Thompson’s family, as her parents were also famous stars too.

Her mother is the Scottish actress Phyllida Law, who starred in TV series and productions including Dixon of Dock Green, Rumpole Of The Bailey, the original theatre production of La Cage Aux Folles and film Much Ado About Nothing, alongside her daughter Emma.

Meanwhile her father Eric Thompson was the writer and narrator of children’s TV classic The Magic Roundabout, before his tragic death aged just 52 years old in 1982.

That’s not all, as Emma’s sister Sophie is also an actress, winning the 1999 Olivier Award for Best Actress in the revival of musical Into The Woods.

Sophie also played Stella Crawford in EastEnders from 2006-2007 and Rosemary Piper in Coronation Street in 2018, as well as appearing in films Four Weddings and a Funeral and Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part One.

Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie bond

Emma Thompson attended Cambridge University in 1977, where she studied for a degree in English and joined the famous Footlights comedy group – which had previously seen actors including The Pythons join their troupe.

It was here that she formed a close bond with another star of stage and screen – Stephen Fry – with Emma playing a vital role in his future by introducing him to friend and collaborator Hugh Laurie.

Emma also dated Hugh Laurie for a period of time and despite their break-up, are very close friends, with Emma saying to The Guardian that he is “very loveable” adding, “He is one of those rare people who manages to be lugubriously sexy, like a well-hung eel.”

Together the trio landed their first acting roles together, appearing in the touring production of Not The Nine O’Clock News and TV comedy series There’s Nothing To Worry About.

Their close bond has remained throughout the decades, with Hugh Laurie gushing about Emma during his Hollywood Walk of Fame induction in 2010, saying: “She said talented things, she wore talented clothes, she rode a talented bicycle, she made talented spaghetti.

“She is a truly remarkable person, a very good friend, and I could not be prouder.”

Co-star romance

In 1987, Emma landed a leading role in the TV miniseries Fortunes Of War, where she met future husband Kenneth Branagh.

The two formed a close professional and personal relationship, appearing alongside one another in theatre productions including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, while Kenneth directed her in his award winning film adaption of Henry V.

The couple later married in 1989, but divorced six years later in 1995, citing their work schedules as a reason for their split.

Although rumours circulated that Kenneth’s meeting with Helena Bonham Carter on the set of his film Frankenstein contributed to Kenneth and Emma’s divorce, Emma Thompson addressed this in an interview with The Sunday Times, saying that it was “all water under the bridge”.

“You can’t hold on to anything like that. It’s pointless.

“I haven’t got the energy for it. Helena and I made our peace years and years ago,” adding “She’s a wonderful woman, Helena.”

All three actors have since appeared in the Harry Potter series in different films, with Branagh playing Gilderoy Lockheart in second film The Chamber of Secrets, and Emma Thompson and Helena Bonham Carter playing Professor Trawleney and Bellatrix Lestrange respectively in subsequent films.

Hollywood fame and tragic loss

Emma Thompson has since become one of Britain’s most famous actresses, appearing in hit blockbuster films including Sense and Sensibility opposite Hugh Grant, mini series Angels in America and family film Nanny McPhee.

Most recently, she also played a leading role in 2021’s hit Disney live action film Cruella.

She also worked with her close friend Alan Rickman on multiple occasions, including most famously playing his wife in 2003’s Love Actually, where Emma discovers that her husband is having a romance with a colleague in his office – a scene that still angers viewers nearly 20 years later.

They had previously worked together on 1995’s Sense and Sensibility and film Judas Kiss, with the actors forming a close friendship off-screen.

Alan Rickman also directed Emma Thompson and her mother Phyllida Law in the 1997 film The Winter Guest, as well as starring opposite her in the Harry Potter film series as Severus Snape.

However on January 14 2016, Alan Rickman died from cancer at the age of 69 – with Emma paying tribute to her friend in The New York Times saying: “Alan was my friend and so this is hard to write because I have just kissed him goodbye.

“What I remember most in this moment of painful leave-taking is his humour, intelligence, wisdom, and kindness. His capacity to fell you with a look or lift you with a word.”

She added: “He was the ultimate ally. In life, art and politics. I trusted him absolutely.

“He was, above all things, a rare and unique human being and we shall not see his like again.”

Greg Wise marriage and family life

While working on film Sense and Sensibility, Emma Thompson met her husband Greg Wise – but has since revealed that they did not instantly end up together as Greg was dating her co-star Kate Winslet.

Speaking on The Graham Norton Show, Emma explained: “Before he did the job, he went to see a friend of his who was a bit witchy and she said he would meet his future partner on the film.

“He assumed it wasn’t me because I was married and quite lot older than him so he thought it might be Kate.”

She added: “He took her to Glastonbury, and she was so bored, and he thought, ‘This isn’t going to work, who can it be?”

“Then things happened that probably shouldn’t have happened, and it’s been 25 years in May.”

The couple dated shortly afterwards and married in 2003, welcoming daughter Gaia in 1999, and adopting son, Tindyebwa Agaba.

Her family were also in attendance when Emma Thompson was awarded a Damehood in 2018, for her services and contribution to drama.

Emma has since spoken about her Damehood in an interview with Seth Meyes, jokingly saying: “Yes. Dame Commander of the British Empire. I’ve become much more commanding since it happened.

“I’ve also had every seat I sit on just made slightly taller. It’s subtle, so people are lifting their heads slightly more toward me than they did before, but they’re not quite sure why.”

Emma was also in the audience to support husband Greg when he participated in the 2021 series of Strictly Come Dancing, alongside professional dance partner Karen Hauer.

Addressing the Strictly ‘curse’, she jokingly told The Sun: “I am worried about the Strictly curse, very much so. I have put a packet of Durex into Greg’s good luck card. Just two.”

Greg was later the third contestant to be eliminated, but during his time on the show he paid tribute to his sister Clare who died of cancer in 2016, with a disco inspired dance – saying in an emotional video before the performance: “I think my sister would be absolutely thrilled that I’m doing this because of her.”

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk