Whether it was that Joni Mitchell scene in Love Actually, or the prophecy-making Professor Trelawney in Harry Potter, or even the magical sitter in Nanny McPhee, Emma Thompson has well and truly won our hearts.
The 63-year-old British actor has a legendary portfolio of iconic films dating back to the early 1980s, but that can be easy to forget when her work continues to get better and better. In 2022, Thompson’s face is literally everywhere—that’s largely due to her latest film, Good Luck To You, Leo Grande where she plays a 60-something widower who has a kind of sexual awakening after hiring a young sex worker.
It marked the first time Thompson has been naked on screen—but instead of her sex scenes coming across as frivolous, glamorised and unrealistic as tired film narratives would have it, Thompson used the experience to show what sex can and should be like, no matter what stage of life you’re at
“[Consent] is eroticised,” she explained to the Washington Post.
“Every time he says, ‘Is this okay?’ and Nancy says, ‘Yes,’ the ‘yes’ is such an erotic act. It’s so beautiful to watch and feel. You feel these characters more than watch them.”
Thompson has also made headlines for her incredible onscreen transformation into the scary Miss Trunchbull in Netflix’s upcoming musical adaptation, Matilda. The photos alone are enough to prove Thompson is the screen chameleon of our time.
So, to pay homage to this screen queen—and to remind you that she was just as iconic on the red carpet three decades ago, we take a look back at some of Emma Thompson’s best moments away from the screen over the years.
