At this point, it goes without saying that Dame Emma Thompson is a bona fide national treasure.
The multi-talented actor has been an essential player in the world of British film and television for almost four decades, and in that time has received two Academy Awards, two Golden Globes, three Baftas and an Emmy for her outstanding work.
But while her performances in films like Howards End, Sense And Sensibility, Love Actually, Nanny McPhee and Good Luck To You, Leo Grande have all earned her plaudits, she’s also made headlines for her work off-screen too.
To put it mildly, the British star seems like an absolute hoot, and gives off the impression that she’s the friendliest and most fun star in the biz (oh what we’d give to go on a night out with her).
Here are just some of our favourite moments that underline Dame Emma as true icon...
When she danced like nobody was watching at Adele
Dame Emma was having the time of her life at An Audience With Adele at the London Palladium in 2021.
Clearly a big fan of Rolling In The Deep, the award-winning star jumped to her feet to dance her heart out – and was quick to encourage others to do so, too.
Iconic behaviour, truly.
When she rocked up in trainers to get her damehood
Dame Emma stepped out in box fresh white trainers to collect her damehood from Prince William at Buckingham Palace in 2018.
Of course, the internet was immediately sent into a frenzy.
She later addressed her eccentric footwear during an appearance on the My Dad Wrote a Porno podcast and joked: “They were posh trainers.”
Dame Emma also later revealed on The Ellen Show that Prince William twice “stabbed” her in the nipple while attaching her award.
“I’m pretty low slung these days, so both times it hurt”, she said. “I made a very loud and inappropriate noise in Buckingham Palace.”
When she came to the rescue at the coronation after a fellow guest had a coughing fit
Television personality Gyles Brandreth revealed that Dame Emma had leapt to the assistance of a fellow coronation guest when they began having a “coughing fit” during the ceremony.
Following the service at Westminster Abbey, he recalled how the Love Actually star had pulled out a cough sweet from her handbag and passed it down the rows to help relieve the unfortunate moment during one of the ceremony’s musical interludes.
When she spotted the photographers at the coronation
Brilliant stuff.
When she was totally in awe of her husband Greg Wise during his time on Strictly
Dame Emma showed up for her hubby Greg Wise during his Strictly stint in 2021 – and she couldn’t hold back her pride.
When she jokingly packed her husband condoms for Strictly
No one could have been less bothered by the supposed Strictly “curse” than Dame Emma, who jokingly sent her husband Greg off with some condoms.
“I have put a packet of Durex into Greg’s good luck card. Just two. But you don’t know, do you?” she joked at the time.
“They haven’t got time for a lot of shagging, I hope, they’ll be so exhausted.”
When she committed to the bit when presenting a Golden Globes award
Dame Emma was nothing short of hilarious when she presented the best screenplay award at the Golden Globes in 2014.
During her appearance, she rocked up on stage barefoot with a martini in one hand and her heels in the other… before quickly realising she didn’t have the envelope with the winner in.
When she revealed herself to be Austin Butler’s biggest fan girl
It’s a well-known fact that no one admires Austin Butler’s performance in Elvis more than Dame Emma does. Just watch the video above if you don’t believe us.
When she named a certain A-lister as her favourite on-screen kiss
Dame Emma got candid about her best on-screen kiss during an interview on BBC Radio 1 in 2019, and revealed Meryl Streep is a “very good snogger”.
“I had to snog her in Angels in America and she was method about it,” she recalled.
“There was no stone unturned, my God, that’s for sure... ‘Blimey, what is she doing here? Mining for jewels?’.”
When she pointed out how women are underrepresented on late-night talk shows
Never one to mince her words, Dame Emma was acutely aware that life did not imitate fiction when it came to her film Late Night, where she played a talk show host in the US.
During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2019, she said the movie was “basically science fiction” given the bleak reality of men dominating the genre of shows.
When she tried to get a waiter his job back after he was fired
Dame Emma also once tried to get a waiter unfired after he asked to take a selfie with her and her celeb guests.
Four years ago, a waiter spotted the star her famous friends dining at the restaurant he was working at and allegedly broke the establishment’s protocol to ask if he could grab a photo.
While Dame Emma politely declined and the man got back to work, he was later suspended until further notice.
According to The Times, this prompted a “horrified” Dame Emma to call the restaurant to urge them to reverse the decision.
When she honestly revealed that she doesn’t love watching Love Actually
While it’s one of the most loved Christmas films, Dame Emma feels no pleasure sitting down to watch Love Actually.
“You just think… I don’t think I was very well paid for that, and that was that terrible trailer with the loo that really stank… these are the things that you remember,” she told Jimmy Fallon on rewatching herself in her past on-screen roles.
Can you blame her?
When she revealed she was once mistaken for a naked 50-year-old man
A shameless Dame Emma recounted how she was once confused for a naked middle-aged man during a hysterical appearance on The Graham Norton Show.
She revealed that she would often walk naked from her sheep field to her house after enjoying some time in a sauna, but on one occasion a passerby had thought she was a male intruder and called the police.
When her un-Trunchbull-esque ways proved to be troublesome behind the scenes of Matilda
Dame Emma’s Matilda co-star Amanda Weir shared last year: “When I did see her in the [prosthetics], it was a bit scary.
“But I knew that when she [opened her arms], I could come in and give her a hug. I knew that under all the makeup, there was Emma.”
The two-time Oscar winner agreed: “Matthew [Warchus, the film’s director] got very annoyed with me for doing that. He said, ‘The children are supposed to be frightened of you and hate you. Stop hugging them’.”
When she turned down a date from Donald Trump
Never one to shy away from telling great stories on chat shows, Dame Emma also once shared that she turned down a date with Donald Trump after he managed to get her direct line to her trailer.
“I just said I’d get back to him,” she said, prompting laughter and applause from the audience.
The many, many times she’s committed herself to fighting climate change
Dame Emma is a keen environmentalist and has regularly showed up to march at various climate change protests over the years.
Speaking to Sky News about why she attended a march in 2019, she simply answered “because I’m a human being and have children”.
“You should all be equally concerned about this, this is our planet and we’re in deep grave danger,” she added.
When she had a hoot at Paris Fashion Week
And finally, as recently as July 2023, Dame Emma brought the fun at the at the Giorgio Armani Privé show on Tuesday at Paris Fashion Week.
Proving she doesn’t take herself too seriously, the Oscar winner playfully posed for photos and had a good old laugh with her daughter, Gaia Wise and her celebrity friends.