Emma Thompson Says Women Should Still Be Allowed to Cry In Movies

Emma Thompson is one of the most popular actresses in the U.K. She started acting in the 1980s and has appeared in many successful shows and movie.

At age 60, Thompson also got to see how the world has changed over the years, especially in showbiz. For her, some changes have been positive, though she believes that others could still use more improvement.

Most notably, Thompson thinks that women’s roles in the media are still not varied enough for the experiences of women all over the world.

Emma Thompson’s successful career

When she first started acting, Thompson was mostly known for her theater work. From 1984 to 1985, she starred in the West End musical Me and My Girl for 15 months and earned positive reviews.

Afterward, she landed leading roles in the television series Fortunes of War and Tutti Frutti. Thompson ended up winning the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress for both roles.

In the early 1990s, Thompson began earning recognition as a film actress as well. She starred in many hit movies such as Howards End (1992), Much Ado About Nothing (1993), The Remains of the Day (1993), In the Name of the Father (1993), and Sense and Sensibility (1994).

After her success in British cinema, Thompson also started making a name for herself in Hollywood.

In the 2000s and 2010s, she appeared in several movies that did well with the American public, such as Love Actually (2003), Nanny McPhee (2005), Men In Black 3 (2012), Brave (2012), and Saving Mr. Banks (2013), and Beauty and the Beast (2017). Thompson also was known for playing Professor Sybill Trelawney in a few Harry Potter movies.

Emma Thompson thinks that roles for women tend to be in one extreme

Thompson has been acting for quite a long time, so it’s not surprising that she has been able to witness how women’s roles have changed over the years.

In an interview with the New York Times earlier this year, she revealed that earlier in her career, female actresses were often limited to playing the damsel-in-distress type of characters. Things have since gone in the opposite direction, but not necessarily for the better.

“Women now invent the weapons and shoot the weapons and are tough and not allowed to cry,” Thompson explained. “We skipped from being in the kitchen to being in the tank, and there’s nothing in between. So we still have failed to explore and bring to the screen what being a woman is.”

What’s next for Emma Thompson?

Although Thompson is at the age where most people would like to slow things down and prepare for retirement, she is still showing no signs of stopping.

This year alone, Thompson has appeared in several movies, including Late Night, Missing Link, Men In Black: International, and How to Build a Girl. She also starred in the miniseries Years and Years, which ran from May to June 2019.

In November, Thompson will return to the big screen in the film Last Christmas, which she also co-wrote and co-produced. The film stars Emilia Clarke as Kate, an unlucky woman whose life changes after she meets a kind stranger named Tom, who is played by Henry Golding. Thompson plays Kate’s mother, Adelia.

Next year, fans will get to see Thompson lend her voice to the film Dolittle, starring Robert Downey Jr. as Dr. Dolittle, a veterinarian who can speak to animals. Thompson’s character is a macaw that is one of Dr. Dolittle’s “most trusted advisor and confidante.”

Finally, Thompson is currently filming Cruella, in which she plays Cruella de Vil’s enemy, the Baroness. The movie is set to be released in 2021.