Kristin Scott Thomas is an English actress known for her varied roles on stage and screen. She has received various accolades for her performances including a Actor Award, a BAFTA Award, a Critics' Choice Award, and Olivier Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, three César Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2003 and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2015 for services to drama
Thomas had her breakthrough role in the British film A Handful of Dust (1988) earning the Evening Standard British Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer. She played Fiona, a woman with an unrequited crush in the Mike Newell directed romantic comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) earning the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Thomas gained acclaim for her portrayal of Katharine Clifton an Englishwoman who embarks in a passionate affair during World War II in the Anthony Minghella directed historical romance epic The English Patient (1996). Her performance earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and the Actor Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role. She played an elegant yet unsatisfied wife of a wealthy industrialist in the Robert Altman murder-mystery Gosford Park (2001) earning the Actor Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
She played a former prison inmate who tries to rebuild her life in the Philippe Claudel directed drama I've Loved You So Long (2008) for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the César Award for Best Actress, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. She portrayed Mimi Smith in the British biographical drama Nowhere Boy (2009) for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. For her role as an American journalist living in Paris in the drama Sarah's Key (2010) she won the Lumière Award for Best Actress and was nominated for the César Award for Best Actress. She portrayed Clementine Churchill in the Joe Wright directed historical drama Darkest Hour (2017) for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
On television, she had a guest role in the BBC One comedy-drama series Fleabag (2019) she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. She played ruthless MI5 agent in the Apple TV+ spy series Slow Horses (2022–) earning an Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series. On stage, she portrayed Irina Arkadina, a fading actress in the West End production of the Anton Chekov play The Seagull (2007) for which she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress. She was further Olivier-nominated for her roles in Chekov's Three Sisters (2003), Harold Pinter's Betrayal (2011) and Old Times (2013), and the Sophocles play Electra (2014).
Major associations Academy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 1996 Best Actress The English Patient
Actor Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 1996 Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture The English Patient Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role 2001 Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture Gosford Park 2024 Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Slow Horses
BAFTA Awards Year Category Nominated work Result British Academy Film Awards 1994 Best Actress in a Supporting Role Four Weddings and a Funeral 1996 Best Actress in a Leading Role The English Patient 2008 I've Loved You So Long 2009 Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nowhere Boy 2017 Darkest Hour
Critics' Choice Awards Year Category Nominated work Result Critics' Choice Movie Awards 2001 Best Cast Gosford Park
Emmy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result Primetime Emmy Awards 2019 Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Fleabag
Golden Globe Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 1996 Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama The English Patient 2008 I've Loved You So Long
Laurence Olivier Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2003 Best Actress Three Sisters 2007 The Seagull 2011 Betrayal 2013 Old Times 2014 Electra
Miscellaneous awards Organizations Year Award Category Result British Independent Film Awards 2008 Best Supporting Actress Easy Virtue 2009 Nowhere Boy César Awards 2008 Best Actress I've Loved You So Long 2009 Leaving 2010 Sarah's Key European Film Award 2008 Best Actress I've Loved You So Long Evening Standard British Film Awards 1988 Most Promising Newcomer 1994 Best Actress Four Weddings and a Funeral 1995 Angels & Insects 2010 Leaving 2017 Florida Film Critics Circle 2001 Best Cast Gosford Park Globe de Cristal Award 2009 Best Actress Sarah's Key Golden Raspberry Award 1986 Worst Supporting Actress Under the Cherry Moon Worst New Star Irish Film & Television Awards 2008 Best Actress I've Loved You So Long London Film Critics' Circle 2005 British Actress of the Year Keeping Mum 2008 I've Loved You So Long British Supporting Actress of the Year Easy Virtue 2009 British Supporting Actress of the Year Nowhere Boy Lumière Awards 2010 Best Actress Sarah's Key National Board of Review 1996 Best Supporting Actress North Texas Film Critics Association 2017 Best Supporting Actress Darkest Hour Phoenix Film Critics Society 2001 Best Cast Gosford Park 2009 Best Supporting Actress Nowhere Boy Satellite Awards 1996 Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama 2001 Special Achievement – Ensemble Cast Gosford Park 2008 Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama I've Loved You So Long 2009 Best Supporting Actress – Motion PictureNowhere Boy St. Louis Film Critics Association 2017 Best Supporting ActressDarkest Hour
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