Kristin Scott Thomas | |
|---|---|
 Scott Thomas in 2017 | |
| Born | Kristin Ann Scott Thomas (1960-05-24)24 May 1960 (age 65) |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom • France |
| Alma mater | Royal Central School of Speech and Drama |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Serena Scott Thomas (sister) |
Dame Kristin Ann Scott Thomas[1] (born 24 May 1960) is a British actress.[2] A five-timeBAFTA Award andOlivier Award nominee, she won theBAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role forFour Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and theOlivier Award for Best Actress in 2008 for theRoyal Court revival ofThe Seagull. She was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Actress inThe English Patient (1996).
Scott Thomas made her film debut inUnder the Cherry Moon (1986),[3] and won theEvening Standard Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer forA Handful of Dust (1988). Her work includesBitter Moon (1992),Mission: Impossible (1996),The Horse Whisperer (1998),Gosford Park (2001),The Valet (2006), andTell No One (2007). She won theEuropean Film Award for Best Actress forPhilippe Claudel'sI've Loved You So Long (2008). Her other films includeLeaving (2009),Love Crime (2010),Sarah's Key (2010),Nowhere Boy (2010),The Woman in the Fifth (2011),Only God Forgives (2013),Darkest Hour (2017), andTomb Raider (2018). On television, she was nominated for aPrimetime Emmy Award for her guest appearance in the second season of the comedy seriesFleabag (2019), and has starred in theApple TV+ spy seriesSlow Horses since 2022.
She was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2003 Birthday Honours andDame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to drama.[4][5] She was named aChevalier of the Légion d'honneur by the French government in 2005.[6][7]
Scott Thomas was born inRedruth, Cornwall. Her mother, Deborah (née Hurlbatt), was brought up in Hong Kong and Africa, and studied drama before marrying Kristin's father,[8]Lieutenant Commander Simon Scott Thomas, a pilot in theRoyal Navy'sFleet Air Arm 893 Squadron, who died in a flying accident on ade Havilland Sea Vixen when Kristin was aged five.[9] She has three siblings, includingSerena Scott Thomas. She is the niece ofAdmiral Sir Richard Thomas (a formerBlack Rod),[10] the granddaughter of William Scott Thomas (who commandedHMS Impulsive during World War II) and the great-great-niece of the polar explorer CaptainRobert Falcon Scott.[citation needed]
The childhood home of Scott Thomas was inTrent, nearSherborne, Dorset, England. Her mother remarried anotherRoyal Navy pilot, Lieutenant Commander Simon Idiens (ofSimon's Sircus aerobatic team flyingSea Vixens), who also died in a flying accident whilst flying aPhantom FG1 from RNAS Yeovilton off the North coast of Cornwall in January 1972. Scott Thomas was educated atCheltenham Ladies' College andSt Antony's Leweston inSherborne, Dorset.
On leaving school in 1978,[11] she moved toHampstead, London, and worked in a department store. She began training to become a drama teacher at theCentral School of Speech and Drama, enrolling on a BEd in Speech and Drama.[12] During her time at the school, she requested to switch degree courses to acting but was refused.[13] After a year at Central, speaking French fluently, she decided to move to Paris to work as an au pair,[2] and studied acting at theÉcole Nationale supérieure des arts et techniques du théâtre [fr] (ENSATT). When she was 25, she was cast as Mary Sharon in the filmUnder the Cherry Moon (1986).
Kristin Scott Thomas's acting career garnered early attention when she was cast as Mary Sharon inUnder the Cherry Moon, released in 1986, the first but widely panned film directed by and starring the already well-known musical artist,Prince. Her breakthrough role was playing Brenda Last in an adaptation ofEvelyn Waugh'sA Handful of Dust (1988), winning her theEvening Standard British Film Award for the most promising newcomer. This was followed by roles oppositeHugh Grant inBitter Moon andFour Weddings and a Funeral where she won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress.
In 1994, she starred in the Romanian–French filmAn Unforgettable Summer, in which she played Marie-Thérèse Von Debretsy. Rather than learn Romanian for the part, she read her lines phonetically.[14] She had all the lines translated into French, which she speaks fluently, so she knew what she was saying.[15] In an interview forGloucester Citizen on 22 March 2015, she citedAn Unforgettable Summer as one of the films that she is most proud of alongsideThe English Patient andOnly God Forgives.[16]
In the 1996 filmThe English Patient, her role as Katharine Clifton gained her Golden Globe and Oscar nominations as well as critical acclaim. This was followed by a brief period working in Hollywood on films such asThe Horse Whisperer with Robert Redford andRandom Hearts with Harrison Ford. However, growing disillusioned with Hollywood, she took a year off to give birth to her third child.
She returned to the stage in 2003 when she played the title role in a French theatre production ofRacine'sBérénice, and appeared on-screen as Lady Sylvia McCordle in Robert Altman'sGosford Park. This started a critically acclaimed second career on stage, in which she has received four nominations for aLaurence Olivier Award for Best Actress, including one win, for her performance of Arkadina in aLondon West End production ofAnton Chekhov'sThe Seagull.[17] She reprised the role in New York in September 2008.[18] In summer 2014, Scott Thomas returned toLondon's West End to star as Emma inHarold Pinter'sBetrayal at theComedy Theatre. The revival was directed byIan Rickson. Her husband was played byBen Miles and the love triangle was completed byDouglas Henshall. In January 2013, she starred in another Pinter play,Old Times, again directed by Ian Rickson. In 2014, she appeared atThe Old Vic in the title role ofSophocles'sElectra.
Scott Thomas has also acted in French films. In 2006, she played the role of Hélène, in French, inNe le dis à personne (Tell No One), by French directorGuillaume Canet. In 2008, Scott Thomas received many accolades for her performance inIl y a longtemps que je t'aime (I've Loved You So Long), includingBAFTA andGolden Globe nominations for Best Actress. In 2009 she played the role of a wife who leaves her husband for another man inLeaving.
InSarah's Key (2010) – the story of theVel' d'Hiv Roundup – Scott Thomas starred as an American journalist in Paris who discovers that the flat her husband is renovating for them was once the home of an evicted Jewish family. Other roles includeElizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire and Ormond, mother ofHenry VIII's second wifeAnne, inThe Other Boleyn Girl (2008), the role of afashion magazine creator and editor in the filmConfessions of a Shopaholic (2009), and as a love interest of George Duroy (played byRobert Pattinson) in the 2012 filmBel Ami, based on the 1885Maupassantnovel.[19]
She was also seen inThe Woman in the Fifth (2011), a film adaption ofDouglas Kennedy's novel of the same name,Lasse Hallström'sSalmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011),Ralph Fiennes'sThe Invisible Woman (2013),Philippe Claudel'sBefore the Winter Chill (2013), and inNicolas Winding Refn'sOnly God Forgives, which premiered at the 2013Cannes Film Festival. In 2014, she voiced the narration ofKay Summersby, General Eisenhower's driver, in the documentary seriesD-Day Sacrifice. She appeared inIsrael Horovitz'sMy Old Lady (2014) andSuite Française, the 2015 film adaptation ofIrène Némirovsky's World War II novel directed bySaul Dibb.
In 2017 she was nominated for theBAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the71st British Academy Film Awards for portrayingClementine Churchill inJoe Wright'sDarkest Hour. In May 2017, it was reported that Scott Thomas had signed on to star asBMW heiressSusanne Klatten in the thrillerParamour, directed byAlexandra-Therese Keining.[20][21]
In 2020, Scott Thomas playedMrs. Danvers in directorBen Wheatley'sadaptation ofDaphne du Maurier's Gothic romanceRebecca, withArmie Hammer andLily James.[22] Also that year, she appeared in the BBC television remake ofAlan Bennett's monologue series,Talking Heads, playing the role of Celia in the episode "Hand of God".[23]
In April 2022, Scott Thomas starred in the British spy thriller seriesSlow Horses, based on the Slough House series of novels byMick Herron. She appeared as Diana Taverner, Deputy Director General of MI5. Premiering on Apple TV+, the series was renewed in January 2024 for a fifth season.
In June 2022, Thomas began filming on her directorial debut,My Mother's Wedding, starringScarlett Johansson,Sienna Miller,Emily Beecham, andFreida Pinto.[24][25]
From 1987 until 2005, she was married to French obstetricianFrançois Olivennes, with whom she has three children.
Scott Thomas brought up her children in Paris[2] and has said she sometimes considers herself more French than British.[26] During an appearance onThe Graham Norton Show on 2 December 2022, Scott Thomas said she was living in London.
In September 2024, Scott Thomas marriedJohn Micklethwait, theeditor-in-chief ofBloomberg News, after a five-year romance.[27]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Les enquêtes du commissaire Maigret | — | Episode: "L'Ami d'enfance de Maigret" |
| Mistral's Daughter | Nancy | Miniseries; 3 episodes | |
| 1987 | Sentiments | Nathalie | Episode: "La tricheuse" |
| Sentimental Journey | Bettina | Television film | |
| 1988 | The Tenth Man | Thérèse Mangeot | |
| 1989 | The Endless Game | Caroline | Miniseries; 2 episodes |
| 1990 | Spymaker: The Secret Life of Ian Fleming | Leda St Gabriel | Television film |
| Framed | Kate | ||
| 1991 | Titmuss Regained | Jenny Sidonia | Miniseries; 3 episodes |
| 1992 | Look at It This Way | Victoria Rolfe | |
| Weep No More, My Lady | Elisabeth | Television film | |
| 1993 | Body & Soul | Sister Gabriel / Anna | Miniseries; 6 episodes |
| 1995 | Belle Époque | Alice Avellano | Miniseries; 3 episodes |
| 1996 | Gulliver's Travels | Immortal Gatekeeper | Miniseries; episode 2 |
| 2003 | Absolutely Fabulous | Plum Berkeley | Episode: "Book Clubbin'" |
| 2019 | One Red Nose Day and a Wedding | Fiona | Television short |
| Fleabag | Belinda Friers | Series 2, episode 3 Nominated –Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series | |
| 2020 | Talking Heads | Celia | Episode: "The Hand of God" |
| 2022–present | Slow Horses | Diana Taverner | Main cast |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | La Lune déclinante sur 4 ou 5 personnes qui dansent | Festival de Semur en Auxois | |
| 1984 | Terre étrangère | Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers | |
| 1984 | Naïves Hirondelles | Festival d'Avignon | |
| 1985 | Yes, peut-être | In a field in Burgundy | |
| 2001 | Bérénice | Festival de Perpignan and Festival d'Avignon + national tour | |
| 2003 | Three Sisters | Masha | Playhouse Theatre, London Nominated –Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress |
| 2005–06 | As You Desire Me | Elma | Playhouse Theatre, London |
| 2007 | The Seagull | Arkadina | Royal Court Theatre, London Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress |
| 2008 | Walter Kerr Theatre, New York[30] | ||
| 2011 | Betrayal | Emma[31] | Comedy Theatre, London Nominated –Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress |
| 2013 | Old Times | Kate/Anna[32] | Harold Pinter Theatre, London Nominated –Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress |
| 2014 | Electra | Electra[33] | The Old Vic, London Nominated –Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress |
| 2015 | The Audience | Queen Elizabeth II[34] | Apollo Theatre, London |
| 2023 | Lyonesse | Elaine | Harold Pinter Theatre, London |
Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honour (French Republic, 27/05/2005).[37]
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