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| Emily Watson |
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“People think of me as such a serious actress, but I find myself behaving like a gadabout."
| Date of Birth: January 14, 1967 |
| Birthplace: Islington, London, England |
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| Emily Watson burst onto the scene in 1996 with her Oscar-nominated performance in Breaking the Waves. She has since starred in Angela’s Ashes (1999), Gosford Park (2001), Red Dragon (2002), and The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004). |
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| Emily has overcome extraordinary odds to become a Hollywood star. Rejected by two different drama schools, Emily was a 29-year-old welfare recipient when Lars von Trier cast her in Breaking the Waves in 1996. Her exceptional performance as Bess McNeill has since been named among Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time. |
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Emily Watson was born January 14, 1967, in Islington, London, England. A self-described “dutiful child,” she spent her early years honing her powerful imagination. “I didn't have a television,” she says. “I read a lot of books and developed a good sense of storytelling. I was happy as well, and I think that helped. The more secure you feel, the more unbalanced you can let yourself become."
Emily’s love of storytelling eventually led her to Bristol University where she completed a degree in English literature. Although academia came easily to her, acting was another matter altogether and Emily was rejected twice when she tried to enroll in theater school. Undeterred, she spent the next three years waitressing and performing in local theater productions before she was finally admitted to the prestigious London Drama Studio as a student.
Emily’s fierce determination paid off and by 1992 she was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company -- the legendary theater troupe that counts Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench and Ben Kingsley among its alumni. It was there that Emily also met Jack Waters, a fellow actor and her future husband. The couple officially tied the knot in 2005.
Emily’s position within the company led to subsequent stage work throughout London, including her critically acclaimed role as Mary in a 1994 revival of The Children’s Hour. In fact, Danish director Lars von Trier was so impressed with her performance that he cast her in his controversial film Breaking the Waves (1996).
It proved to be a remarkable break for the promising young actress. Emily’s portrayal of a sexually promiscuous Scottish bride won her a coveted Best Actress nomination from the Academy Awards, as well as Best Actress honors from the European Film Academy, the National Society of Film Critics and the New York Film Critics Circle. It also gave Emily her first taste of being a celebrity. "It was a bit of a baptism of fire, because I had never done any press before,” she recalls. “I had never done a single interview in my life. I had never made a film before, I just knew nothing.”
Getting roles after that proved to be a cinch as Emily appeared in three films in 1997 including Metroland, The Mill on the Floss and The Boxer, co-starring Academy Award-winner Daniel Day-Lewis.
emily watson’s second oscar nod
1998 proved to be another career year as Emily picked up her second Academy Award nomination for Hilary and Jackie, a moving biopic about renowned cellist Jacqueline du Pré. By now an established veteran, Emily stretched her wings the following year with roles in Tim Robbins’ political drama Cradle Will Rock and the film version of Frank McCourt’s best-selling novel, Angela’s Ashes.
Emily returned to prominence again in 2001 in Gosford Park, an enchanting ensemble comedy conceived and directed by Robert Altman. She then did something no critic on the face of the planet could have predicted: She starred in a film with Adam Sandler. Make no mistake about it, however, 2002’s Punch-Drunk Love was miles away from The Waterboy and Happy Gilmore. Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, this surprisingly dark film captivated audiences thanks to the magnetic chemistry between its two stars. “I learned a lot from Adam -- he just opens the door and sees what falls through,” she says. “He‘s very instinctive. We had a certain type of chemistry together where we both felt to each other that we were kind of exotic creatures from another planet.”
Emily capped off the year with appearances in Equilibrium and the Hannibal Lecter prequel, Red Dragon.
Emily spent the next three years splitting her time between the theater and the big screen, appearing in films such as The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004), The Proposition (2005), Corpse Bride (2005), Separate Lies (2005), and Richard E. Grant’s writing and directorial debut, Wah-Wah (2005). “When Richard called to ask if I would read his script I said, ‘Yes, of course,’ but with some dread -- so many actors try to write and it’s crap,” she recalls. Luckily, Grant’s story about his privileged boyhood in Swaziland proved to be a winner and audiences subsequently fell in love with Emily’s portrayal of Grant’s brash American stepmother.
2005 was also a big year on a personal front as Emily and Jack welcomed their daughter Juliet into the world. |
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© Jeff Vespa
WireImage.com |
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