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 i...
Known For
Complete Filmography

Hamnet
2025
as Mary Shakespeare
Agnes Shakespeare – the wife of the world's most famous writer – struggles to come to terms with the loss of her only son, Hamnet.

Steve
2025
Traces a pivotal 24 hours in the life of Steve, a headteacher of a last-chance reform school who struggles to keep his students in line, while also gr...

The Legend of Ochi
2025
as Dasha
In a remote village on the island of Carpathia, a shy farm girl named Yuri is raised to fear an elusive animal species known as ochi. But when Yuri di...

Small Things Like These
2024
as Sister Mary
In 1985, while working as a coal merchant to support his family, Bill Furlong discovers disturbing secrets kept by the local convent and uncovers trut...

Midas Man
2024
as Queenie Epstein
When Brian Epstein set foot in the Cavern Club in November 1961 to watch The Beatles perform, he saw something no one else could – a glimmer of gold. ...

God's Creatures
2022
as Aileen O'Hara
In a windswept fishing village, a mother is torn between protecting her beloved son and her own sense of right and wrong. A lie she tells for him rips...

Monster Family 2
2021
as Emma Wishbone (voice)
To free Baba Yaga and Renfield from the clutches of Monster Hunter Mila Starr, the Wishbone Family once more transforms into a Vampire, Frankenstein's...

King Lear
2018
as Regan
An aging King invites disaster, when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters, and rejects his loving and honest one.

The Happy Prince
2018
as Constance Wilde
In 1895, Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was the most famous writer in London, and Bosie Douglas, son of the notorious Marquess of Queensberry, was his lover....

Weinstein
2018
as Narrator (voice)
Harvey Weinstein was once one of the most successful producers in Hollywood history, but beneath the glitz and glamour, there was a dark story of thre...

On Chesil Beach
2018
as Violet Ponting
In 1962 England, a young couple finds their idyllic romance colliding with issues of sexual freedom and societal pressure, leading to an awkward and f...

Kingsman: The Golden Circle
2017
as Chief of Staff Fox
When an attack on the Kingsman headquarters takes place and a new villain rises, Eggsy and Merlin are forced to work together with the American agency...

Monster Family
2017
as Emma Wishbone (voice)
The Wishbone family are far from happy. In an attempt to reconnect as a family, they plan a fun night out. However, the plan backfires when they are c...

The Dresser
2015
as Her Ladyship
One fateful night in a small English regional theatre during World War II a troupe of touring actors stage a production of Shakespeares King Lear. Bom...

Everest
2015
as Helen Wilton
Inspired by the incredible events surrounding a treacherous attempt to reach the summit of the world's highest mountain, "Everest" documents the awe-i...

A Song for Jenny
2015
as Julie Nicholson
A Song For Jenny is the true story of Julie Nicholson's response to her daughter Jenny’s murder in the July 7th bombing at Edgware Road tube station. ...

A Royal Night Out
2015
as Queen Elizabeth
The re-imagining of VE Day in 1945, when Princess Elizabeth and her sister, Margaret were allowed out from Buckingham Palace for the night to join in ...

Little Boy
2015
as Emma Busbee
An eight-year-old boy is willing to do whatever it takes to end World War II so he can bring his father home. The story reveals the indescribable love...

Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism
2015
as Miss Trinklebury
An orphan who practices hypnosis faces off against a bank robber who wants her book on the art form.

Testament of Youth
2015
as Mrs. Brittain
Testament of Youth is a powerful story of love, war and remembrance, based on the First World War memoir by Vera Brittain, which has become the classi...

The Theory of Everything
2014
as Beryl Wilde
The Theory of Everything is the extraordinary story of one of the world’s greatest living minds, the renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who fall...

The Book Thief
2013
as Rosa Hubermann
While subjected to the horrors of WWII Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. Under the stairs in her home...

Some Girl(s)
2013
as Lindsay
On the eve of his wedding, a successful writer travels around the country to meet up with ex-lovers in an attempt to make amends for his wrongdoings.

Belle
2013
as Lady Mansfield
Dido Elizabeth Bell, the illegitimate, mixed-race daughter of a Royal Navy admiral, plays an important role in the campaign to abolish slavery in Engl...

Anna Karenina
2012
as Countess Lydia Ivanova
In Imperial Russia, Anna, the wife of the officer Karenin, goes to Moscow to visit her brother. On the way, she meets the charming cavalry officer Vro...

War Horse
2011
as Rose Narracott
On the brink of the First World War, Albert's beloved horse Joey is sold to the Cavalry by his father. Against the backdrop of the Great War, Joey beg...

Meerkats 3D
2011
as Narrator
Narrated by Oscar-nominated actress Emily Watson, MEERKATS 3D takes audiences on a journey with a family of meerkats as they cope with the twists and ...

Oranges and Sunshine
2010
as Margaret Humphreys
The story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, who uncovers one of the most significant social scandals in recent times – the force...

Cemetery Junction
2010
as Mrs. Kendrick
In 1970s England, three blue-collar friends spend their days joking, drinking, fighting and chasing girls. Freddie wants to leave their working-class ...

Within the Whirlwind
2009
as Evgenia Ginzburg
During Stalin's reign of terror, Evgenia Ginzburg, a literature professor, was sent to 10 years hard labor in a gulag in Siberia. Having lost everythi...

Cold Souls
2009
as Claire
Paul is agonising over his interpretation of 'Uncle Vanya' and, paralysed by anxiety, stumbles upon a solution via a New Yorker article about a high-t...

Synecdoche, New York
2008
as Tammy
A theater director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as ...

Fireflies in the Garden
2008
as Jane Lawrence
The semi-autobiographical story centers on the complexities of love and commitment in a family torn apart when faced with an unexpected tragedy.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter
2008
as Caroline Gil
During a blizzard in 1964, Dr. David Henry delivers his son Paul with the help of nurse Caroline. But when Henry realizes his wife is also carrying a ...

The Water Horse
2007
as Anne MacMorrow
A lonely boy discovers a mysterious egg that hatches a sea creature of Scottish legend.

Miss Potter
2006
as Millie Warne
Beatrix Potter, the author of the beloved children's book "The Tale of Peter Rabbit", struggles for love, happiness and success.

Crusade in Jeans
2006
as Mary Vega
Dolf a 15 year old boy is sent back in time by a timemachine. Accidentally he is sent back to the Middle Ages. He is rescued by children who are part ...

The Proposition
2005
as Martha Stanley
In 1880s Australia, a lawman offers renegade Charlie Burns a difficult choice. In order to save his younger brother from the gallows, Charlie must hun...

Separate Lies
2005
as Anne Manning
Following a traffic accident, things take a turn when the victim's identity is revealed.

Corpse Bride
2005
as Victoria Everglot (voice)
In a 19th-century European village, a young man about to be married is whisked away to the underworld and wed to a mysterious corpse bride, while his ...

Wah-Wah
2005
as Ruby Compton
Set at the end of the 1960s, as Swaziland is about to receive independence from United Kingdom, the film follows the young Ralph Compton, at 12, throu...

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
2004
as Anne Sellers
The turbulent personal and professional life of actor Peter Sellers (1925-1980), from his beginnings as a comic performer on BBC Radio to his huge suc...

A Director's Journey: The Making of 'Red Dragon'
2003
as Self
This documentary follows director Brett Ratner through nearly every stage of production for the film Red Dragon (2002).

Equilibrium
2002
as Mary O'Brien
In a dystopian future, a totalitarian regime maintains peace by subduing the populace with a drug, and displays of emotion are punishable by death. A ...

Ballchewer
2002
A short film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Part of Adam Sandler's 'Meatball Series'. Shot during the filming of 'Punch-Drunk Love'.

Punch-Drunk Love
2002
as Lena Leonard
A socially awkward and volatile small business owner meets the love of his life after being threatened by a gang of scammers.

Red Dragon
2002
as Reba McClane
Former FBI Agent Will Graham, who was once almost killed by the savage Hannibal 'The Cannibal' Lecter, now has no choice but to face him again, as it ...

The Making of 'Gosford Park'
2002
as Self
A documentary giving film fans a behind-the-scenes look at the making this Robert Altman film about a murder at an English country estate. Includes in...

Gosford Park
2001
as Elsie
In 1930s England, a group of pretentious rich and famous gather together for a weekend of relaxation at a hunting resort. But when a murder occurs, ea...

The Luzhin Defence
2000
as Natalia Katkov
Based upon the novel by Vladimir Nabokov, a chess grandmaster travels to Italy in the 1920s to play in a tournament and falls in love.

Trixie
2000
as Trixie Zurbo
Passed over at work and numbed after she witnesses a colleague's murder, security guard Trixie Zurbo takes a relatively easy job at a lakefront casino...

Angela's Ashes
1999
as Angela McCourt
An Irish Catholic family returns to 1930s Limerick after a child's death in America. The unemployed I.R.A. veteran father struggles with poverty, prej...

Cradle Will Rock
1999
as Olive Stanton
A true story of politics and art in the 1930s USA, centered around a leftist musical drama and attempts to stop its production.

Hilary and Jackie
1998
as Jackie Du Pré
The tragic story of world-renowned cellist Jacqueline du Pré, as told from the point of view of her sister, flautist Hilary du Pré-Finzi.

The Boxer
1997
as Maggie Hamill
Nineteen-year-old Danny Flynn is imprisoned for his involvement with the I.R.A. in Belfast. He leaves behind his family and his sixteen-year-old girlf...

Tranceformer: A Portrait of Lars von Trier
1997
A portrait of Denmark's most acclaimed and controversial director, Lars von Trier. A meeting with von Trier on a private level as well as with his fil...

The Mill on the Floss
1997
as Maggie Tulliver
Lawyer Wakem takes the mill on the river Floss away from Edward Tulliver (whose ancestors have owned it for 300 years) and becomes the worst enemy of ...

Metroland
1997
as Marion
In late-1970s suburban London, Chris and Marion have settled into a comfortable yet all-too-predictable middle-class existence. Chris receives an unex...

Breaking the Waves
1996
as Bess McNeill
In a small and conservative Scottish village, a woman's paralytic husband convinces her to have extramarital intercourse so she can tell him about it ...
A Summer Day's Dream
1994
Adaptation of the play by J B Priestley. After a nuclear war, the nations have combined to set up a World Government. An old man who lives quietly in ...
Midday Sun
N/A
as Sarah
Couple Dan and Sarah, living out their dream in paradisal Spain, come to grief when their visiting son is accidentally killed. A stranger offers to av...

33 Liberty Lane
N/A
A story of four women who join forces to start a phone-sex company.
Late in Summer
N/A
Set in rural Cornwall, the romantic drama will chart a brief encounter between a lonely farmer’s wife and a Black American GI that leads to first love...
Fado!
N/A
The film follows Linda (Watson), a crossword enthusiast, choral society member, wife and mother of two, and her music lecturer husband, Jim (Grant), w...