Kristin Scott Thomas

Dame Kristin Ann Scott Thomas (born 24 May 1960) is a British actress. A five-time BAFTA Award and Olivier Award nominee, she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and the Olivier Award for Best Actress in 2008 for the Royal Court revival of The Seagull. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in The English Patient (1996).

Scott Thomas made her film debut in Under the Cherry Moon (1986), and won the Evening Standard Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer for A Handful of Dust (1988). Her work includes Bitter Moon (1992), Mission: Impossible (1996), The Horse Whisperer (1998), Gosford Park (2001), The Valet (2006), and Tell No One (2007). She won the European Film Award for Best Actress for Philippe Claudel's I've Loved You So Long (2008). Her other films include Leaving (2009), Love Crime (2010), Sarah's Key (2010), Nowhere Boy (2010), The Woman in the Fifth (2011), Only God Forgives (2013), Darkest Hour (2017), and Tomb Raider (2018). On television, she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for her guest appearance in the second season of the comedy series Fleabag (2019), and has starred in the Apple TV+ spy series Slow Horses since 2022.

She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2003 Birthday Honours and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to drama. She was named a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by the French government in 2005.

Early life

Scott Thomas was born in Redruth, Cornwall. Her mother, Deborah (née Hurlbatt), was brought up in Hong Kong and Africa, and studied drama before marrying Kristin's father, Lieutenant Commander Simon Scott Thomas, a pilot in the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm 893 Squadron, who died in a flying accident on a de Havilland Sea Vixen when Kristin was aged five. She has three siblings, including Serena Scott Thomas. She is the niece of Admiral Sir Richard Thomas (a former Black Rod), the granddaughter of William Scott Thomas (who commanded during World War II) and the great-great-niece of the polar explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott.

The childhood home of Scott Thomas was in Trent, near Sherborne, Dorset, England. Her mother remarried another Royal Navy pilot, Lieutenant Commander Simon Idiens (of Simon's Sircus aerobatic team flying Sea Vixens), who also died in a flying accident whilst flying a Phantom FG1 from RNAS Yeovilton off the North coast of Cornwall in January 1972. Scott Thomas was educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College and St Antony's Leweston in Sherborne, Dorset.

On leaving school in 1978, she moved to Hampstead, London, and worked in a department store. She began training to become a drama teacher at the Central School of Speech and Drama, enrolling on a BEd in Speech and Drama. During her time at the school, she requested to switch degree courses to acting but was refused. After a year at Central, speaking French fluently, she decided to move to Paris to work as an au pair, and studied acting at the Template:Ill (ENSATT). When she was 25, she was cast as Mary Sharon in the film Under the Cherry Moon (1986).

Career

File:Kristin Scott Thomas Cannes.jpg

Scott Thomas at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival

Kristin Scott Thomas's acting career garnered early attention when she was cast as Mary Sharon in Under 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 of Evelyn Waugh's A Handful of Dust (1988), winning her the Evening Standard British Film Award for the most promising newcomer. This was followed by roles opposite Hugh Grant in Bitter Moon and Four Weddings and a Funeral where she won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress.

In 1994, she starred in the Romanian–French film An Unforgettable Summer, in which she played Marie-Thérèse Von Debretsy. Rather than learn Romanian for the part, she read her lines phonetically. She had all the lines translated into French, which she speaks fluently, so she knew what she was saying. In an interview for Gloucester Citizen on 22 March 2015, she cited An Unforgettable Summer as one of the films that she is most proud of alongside The English Patient and Only God Forgives.

In the 1996 film The 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 as The Horse Whisperer with Robert Redford and Random 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 of Racine's Bérénice, and appeared on-screen as Lady Sylvia McCordle in Robert Altman's Gosford Park. This started a critically acclaimed second career on stage, in which she has received four nominations for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress, including one win, for her performance of Arkadina in a London West End production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull. She reprised the role in New York in September 2008. In summer 2014, Scott Thomas returned to London's West End to star as Emma in Harold Pinter's Betrayal at the Comedy Theatre. The revival was directed by Ian Rickson. Her husband was played by Ben Miles and the love triangle was completed by Douglas Henshall. In January 2013, she starred in another Pinter play, Old Times, again directed by Ian Rickson. In 2014, she appeared at The Old Vic in the title role of Sophocles's Electra.

Scott Thomas has also acted in French films. In 2006, she played the role of Hélène, in French, in Ne le dis à personne (Tell No One), by French director Guillaume Canet. In 2008, Scott Thomas received many accolades for her performance in Il y a longtemps que je t'aime (I've Loved You So Long), including BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress. In 2009 she played the role of a wife who leaves her husband for another man in Leaving.

In Sarah's Key (2010) – the story of the Vel' 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 include Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire and Ormond, mother of Henry VIII's second wife Anne, in The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), the role of a fashion magazine creator and editor in the film Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009), and as a love interest of George Duroy (played by Robert Pattinson) in the 2012 film Bel Ami, based on the 1885 Maupassant novel.

She was also seen in The Woman in the Fifth (2011), a film adaption of Douglas Kennedy's novel of the same name, Lasse Hallström's Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011), Ralph Fiennes's The Invisible Woman (2013), Philippe Claudel's Before the Winter Chill (2013), and in Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives, which premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In 2014, she voiced the narration of Kay Summersby, General Eisenhower's driver, in the documentary series D-Day Sacrifice. She appeared in Israel Horovitz's My Old Lady (2014) and Suite Française, the 2015 film adaptation of Irène Némirovsky's World War II novel directed by Saul Dibb.

In 2017 she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the 71st British Academy Film Awards for portraying Clementine Churchill in Joe Wright's Darkest Hour. In May 2017, it was reported that Scott Thomas had signed on to star as BMW heiress Susanne Klatten in the thriller Paramour, directed by Alexandra-Therese Keining.

In 2020, Scott Thomas played Mrs. Danvers in director Ben Wheatley's adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's Gothic romance Rebecca, with Armie Hammer and Lily James. Also that year, she appeared in the BBC television remake of Alan Bennett's monologue series, Talking Heads, playing the role of Celia in the episode "Hand of God".

In April 2022, Scott Thomas starred in the British spy thriller series Slow Horses, based on the Slough House series of novels by Mick 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, starring Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller, Emily Beecham, and Freida Pinto.

Personal life

From 1987 until 2005, she was married to French obstetrician François Olivennes, with whom she has three children.

Scott Thomas brought up her children in Paris and has said she sometimes considers herself more French than British. During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show on 2 December 2022, Scott Thomas said she was living in London.

In September 2024, Scott Thomas married John Micklethwait, the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News, after a five-year romance.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	Charly	Marie	Short film
1986	Under the Cherry Moon	Mary Sharon	Template:Unbulleted list
1987	Agent trouble	Julie
1988	Lounge Chair	Marie
		Brenda Last	Evening Standard British Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer
1989	Force majeure	Katia
	Bille en tête	Clara	Also released as Headstrong
1990		Marie Forestier
		Sabine
1991	Valentino! I Love You		Short film
	Aux yeux du monde		French language film
1992	Bitter Moon	Fiona
1994	Four Weddings and a Funeral	Fiona	Template:Unbulleted list
		Marie-Thérèse von Debretsy
1995	En mai, fais ce qu'il te plaît	Martine
		Alfred Hitchcock's assistant
	Angels & Insects	Matty Crompton	Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actress
	Richard III	Lady Anne of Lancaster
		Mary-Jane Cooper	(The title refers to the Camp des Milles)
		Caroline
	Plaisir d'offrir		Short film
1996	Mission: Impossible	Sarah Davies
	Souvenir	Ann
	Microcosmos	Narrator	English version
		Katharine Clifton	Template:Unbulleted list
1997	Amour et confusions	Sarah
1998		Annie MacLean
	Sweet Revenge	Imogen Staxton-Billing
1999	Random Hearts	Kay Chandler
2000	Up at the Villa	Mary Panton
2001	Play	First Woman	Short film
	Life as a House	Robin Monroe
	Gosford Park	Sylvia McCordle	Template:Unbulleted list
2003	Small Cuts	Béatrice	French language film
2004	Arsène Lupin	Joséphine, comtesse de Cagliostro
2005	Man to Man	Elena van den Ende
	Chromophobia	Iona Aylesbury
	Keeping Mum	Gloria Goodfellow	Nominated – London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Actress of the Year
2006		Christine Levasseur	French language film
	Tell No One	Hélène Perkins
2007		Lynn Lockner
		Stelmaria (voice)
2008	I've Loved You So Long	Juliette	Template:Unbulleted list
		Lady Elizabeth Boleyn
	2 Alone in Paris	L'antiquaire
	Easy Virtue	Mrs. Whittaker	Template:Unbulleted list
	Largo Winch	Ann Fergusson
2009	Confessions of a Shopaholic	Alette Naylor
2009	Leaving	Suzanne	Evening Standard British Film Awards 2011 Best Actress Nominated – César Award for Best Actress Nominated – Globe de Cristal Award for Best Actress French language film
	Nowhere Boy	Mimi Smith	Template:Unbulleted list
2010	Love Crime	Christine
	Sarah's Key	Julia Jarmond	Lumière Award for Best Actress Globe de Cristal Award for Best Actress Nominated – César Award for Best Actress
	In Your Hands	Anna Cooper	French language film
2011	Salmon Fishing in the Yemen	Patricia Maxwell
		Margit Kadar
2012	Bel Ami	Virginie Walters
	Looking for Hortense	Iva Delusi	French language film
	In the House	Jeanne Germain
2013	Only God Forgives	Crystal
	Before the Winter Chill	Lucie	French language film
		Frances Ternan
2014	My Old Lady	Chloé Girard
	Suite Française	Madame Angellier
2017		Janet	Template:Unbulleted list
	Darkest Hour	Clementine Churchill	Template:Unbulleted list
2018	Tomb Raider	Ana Miller
	Au bout des doigts	Countess Elizabeth Buckingham
2019	Military Wives	Kate
2020	Final Set	Judith
	Rebecca	Mrs. Danvers
2022	Two Tickets to Greece (Les Cyclades)	Bijou
2023	My Mother's Wedding	Diana	Also director and screenwriter

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984		—	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		Thérèse Mangeot
1989		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

Theatre

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
2011	Betrayal	Emma	Comedy Theatre, London Nominated – Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress
2013	Old Times	Kate/Anna	Harold Pinter Theatre, London Nominated – Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress
2014	Electra	Electra	The Old Vic, London Nominated – Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress
2015	The Audience	Queen Elizabeth II	Apollo Theatre, London
2023	Lyonesse	Elaine	Harold Pinter Theatre, London

Honours

National

• File:Order of the British Empire (Civil) Ribbon.png Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (OBE, 14 June 2003; DBE, 31 December 2014).

Foreigns

• File:Legion Honneur Chevalier ribbon.svg Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honour (French Republic, 27 May 2005).

External links

• Template:Trim/ Template:PAGENAMEBASE at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidata
• Template:First word Template:PAGENAMEBASE at the Internet Broadway DatabaseTemplate:EditAtWikidataTemplate:WikidataCheck
• Ryan Gilbey, "The three stages of Kristin", interview, The Guardian, 27 July 2007
• Louise France, "I'm 47. Unlike most actresses I don't lie about my age" Interview, The Guardian, 3 February 2008
• Betrayal, "Comedy Theatre Review", The Telegraph, 17 June 2011
• Betrayal – Review, "Comedy Theatre London", The Guardian, 17 June 2011
• First Night: Betrayal, "Comedy Theatre London", The Independent, 17 June 2011
• My Grandparents' War: Kristin Scott Thomas, PBS, 17 May 2022