(born 14 January 1967) is an English actress. She made an acclaimed debut film performance in Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves.
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. 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.
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. 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.
She is also one of the patrons of the London children's charity Scene & Heard
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.
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.
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." 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.
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. 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.
Watson starred with Julia Roberts and Carrie-Anne Moss in Fireflies in the Garden, and appears in the film Cold Souls, from first-time director Sophie Barthes. She also starred in screenwriter Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut, Synecdoche, New York and Within the Whirlwind, a biopic of Russian poetess Evgenia Ginzburg, from Luzhin Defence director Marleen Gorris. She is slated to appear in Fellini Black and White, as Giulietta Massina, the wife of film director Federico 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.
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.
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. 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. She was also intended to be the lead in Miss Potter, but ended up with a supporting role.
Credits
Film
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–Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
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 Sellers 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
(source:wikipedia)
..jpg)
