I will try not to descend into giddy fanboy mode a la another of her biggest champions, Radio 4 film critic Mark Kermode here with this blog today, but I am just going to come out and say it: Emma Thompson is possibly one of my most favourite women ever. Mad, beautiful, incredibly funny and clever, she is a woman of extraordinary talents.
The winner of an Academy Award for both acting and screenplay writing, an accompolished actress at home in both comedy and more serious roles who makes even the most terrible film enjoyable, a woman who has re-imagined literary greats from Jane Austen and Beatrix Potter, and who has played roles as iconic as Nanny McPhee, P.L Travers and of course, that’s before we’ve even got onto possibly her best role, playing Karen, the spurned, Joni Mitchell loving housewife alongside the late great Alan Rickman in Love Actually. Oh, and her late father, Eric, also wrote and narrated possibly one of my most favourite children’s TV shows ever.
So you can imagine how the news from Buckingham Palace today that she has been awarded a Damehood by The Queen in her Birthday Honours was greeted by me. Chiefly, with the words ‘It’s about bloody time’. I feel my mere words alone can’t do justice to my appreciation of Ms. Thompson – or rather, Dame Thompson as we should rightfully now call her (to be honest, I’ve been calling her that for years, this just makes it more official).
With this in mind, this blog is presenting to you some YouTube videos of her throughout the years which I think explain better my adoration. Enjoy, and be more Emma. Be more nefarious.
HER SCOTTISH HOLIDAY INTRUDER STORY
“So there was this huge policeman at the door, and I come down and I’m all ‘Hellooo’. And he goes ‘Oh I’m so sorry to disturb you, you’re very difficult to find’, and I say ‘Hmm, yes, that’s the idea…”
HER ANIMAL IMPRESSIONS ON ELLEN
“Twit twoo! That’s how we would write it in our English language that you clearly don’t share…”
HER ACCEPTANCE SPEECH ON WINNING THE GOLDEN GLOBE FOR BEST SCREENPLAY FOR ‘SENSE AND SENSIBILITY’ IN 1996
Actually written as if it was Jane Austen attending the ‘Golden Spheres’ ceremony. AMAZING. Particularly when she thanks ‘Mr Pat Doyle, a composer and a Scot, who displayed the kind of wild behaviour one has come to expect from that race.’
HER GENERAL BRILLIANCE IN THIS MOMENT AT THE GOLDEN GLOBES, 18 YEARS LATER
‘I just want you to know – this red [points to her shoes]? It’s my blood.’ [She chucks her shoes behind her as she’s handed the golden envelope with the winner’s name, all the while necking a cocktail]
HER READING FESTIVAL MOSH PIT STORY
‘I went there with my 54 year old best mate – and 90,000 TEENAGERS.’
HER ‘INADVERTENT CAMEO IN CLASH OF THE TITANS AS NANNY MCPHEE’ STORY
“You can’t have Zeus talking to Nanny McPhee!”
THIS INTERVIEW WITH MARK KERMODE
We are still so jealous about this. Just saying.
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