Kristin Scott Thomas

Dame Kristin Ann Scott Thomas born 24 May 1960 is a British actress A fivetime 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 Claudels Ive Loved You So Long 2008 Her other films include Leaving 2009 Love Crime 2010 Sarahs 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 dhonneur by the French government in 2005 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 Kristins father Lieutenant Commander Simon Scott Thomas a pilot in the Royal Navys 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 HMS Impulsive during World War II and the greatgreatniece 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 Simons 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 Antonys 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 pair2 and studied acting at the École Nationale supérieure des arts et techniques du théâtre ENSATT When she was 25 she was cast as Mary Sharon in the film Under the Cherry Moon 1986