Editing Emma Thompson (section)

==Reception and acting style==
Thompson is regarded to be among the best actresses of her generation<ref name="Ingersoll2012">{{cite book |last=Ingersoll |first=Earl G. |title=Filming Forster: The Challenges of Adapting E.M. Forster's Novels for the Screen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oW6ivEXkrQ0C&pg=PA242 |date=16 February 2012 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-1-61147-518-0 |page=242 |access-date=27 February 2016 |archive-date=3 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703070535/http://books.google.com/books?id=oW6ivEXkrQ0C&pg=PA242 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Sands">{{cite web |first=Sarah |last=Sands |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/sarah-sands/sarah-sands-emma-thompson-is-the-true-lady-of-brideshead-951675.html |title=Sarah Sands: Emma Thompson is the true lady of Brideshead |work=The Independent |date=5 October 2008 |access-date=27 March 2014 |archive-date=9 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151209010845/http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/sarah-sands/sarah-sands-emma-thompson-is-the-true-lady-of-brideshead-951675.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and one of Britain's most recognisable actresses, held in high regard within Hollywood.<ref>{{cite news |first=David |last=Gritten |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/10470328/Emma-Thompson-Why-I-despair-of-pressure-to-be-model-thin.html |title=Emma Thompson: Why I despair of pressure to be model-thin |work=The Telegraph |date=23 November 2013 |access-date=27 March 2014 |archive-date=9 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140509192717/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/10470328/Emma-Thompson-Why-I-despair-of-pressure-to-be-model-thin.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="why">{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/why-are-they-famous-emma-thompson-1131847.html |title=Why Are They Famous?: Emma Thompson |work=The Independent |date=12 December 1999 |access-date=27 March 2014 |archive-date=8 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208174202/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/why-are-they-famous-emma-thompson-1131847.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Early in her career she was closely associated with her first husband, Kenneth Branagh. The public warmed to her after the separation, and she became one of the key actresses of the 1990s.<ref name="why"/><ref>{{cite web |last=Sexton |first=Timothy|url=http://voices.yahoo.com/the-best-actress-1990s-emma-thompson-284969.html?cat=40 |title=The Best Actress of the 1990s: Emma Thompson |website=Yahoo! |date=20 April 2007 |access-date=30 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407104925/http://voices.yahoo.com/the-best-actress-1990s-emma-thompson-284969.html?cat=40 |archive-date=7 April 2014}}</ref> Her status has continued to grow; in 2008, journalist [[Sarah Sands]] stated that Thompson has improved with age and experience,<ref name="Sands"/> and [[Mark Kermode]] said of her performances, "There is something about her which is&nbsp;— you just trust her. You just think 'I'm in proper hands here.'&nbsp;... She's up there with the great, I mean really great, British female performers".<ref name="kermode"/>

{{Quote box
|bgcolor=#E0E6F8
 |quote = "I am an instinctive actress. I don't have technique because I never learnt any. I do the cerebral bit before I start. Then I just let it be. I allow whatever rises to rise naturally. You are tricking your subconscious. I work from the inside out."
 |source = &nbsp;– Thompson on her approach to acting<ref name="kellaway"/>
 |width = 20%
 |align = right
}}

Thompson is particularly known for playing reticent women,<ref name="rd">{{cite web |url=http://www.readersdigest.co.za/interview%20with%20emma%20thompson |title=Interview with Emma Thompson |work=Reader's Digest (South Africa) |date=18 December 2009 |access-date=30 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926095914/http://www.readersdigest.co.za/interview%20with%20emma%20thompson |archive-date=26 September 2013}}</ref> and Sands describes her as "the best actress of our times on suffering borne with poignant dignity".<ref name="Sands"/> According to Kate Kellaway of ''[[The Guardian]]'', she specialises in playing "a good woman in a frock".<ref name="kellaway">{{cite web |first=Kate |last=Kellaway |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/oct/16/features.review1 |title=Warts'n'all |work=The Guardian |date=16 October 2005 |access-date=30 March 2014 |archive-date=9 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409095748/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/oct/16/features.review1 |url-status=live }}</ref> She also plays many haughty characters, with a "bracing, nanny-like demeanour",<ref name="Thorpe">{{cite news |first=Vanessa |last=Thorpe |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2014/mar/22/emma-thompson-profile-a-lister-effie |title=Emma Thompson: the A-lister who sets her own rules |newspaper=The Observer |date=22 March 2014 |access-date=27 March 2014 |archive-date=27 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327001951/http://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2014/mar/22/emma-thompson-profile-a-lister-effie |url-status=live }}</ref> but she is noted for her ability to win the empathy of audiences.<ref name="queen"/><ref name="rd"/> Thompson belongs to a group of highly decorated British actresses including [[Judi Dench]], [[Kate Winslet]] and [[Helena Bonham Carter]] who are known for appearing in "[[heritage film]]s" and typically showing "restraint, rendering emotions through intellect rather than feelings, and a sense of irony, which demonstrates the heroine's superior understanding".<ref name="Hollinger2006">{{cite book |last=Hollinger |first=Karen |title=The Actress: Hollywood Acting and the Female Star |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=89W0QMDjA7gC&pg=PA62 |year=2006 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-97792-0 |page=62 |access-date=27 February 2016 |archive-date=3 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703065415/http://books.google.com/books?id=89W0QMDjA7gC&pg=PA62 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Mazierska2007">{{cite book |last=Mazierska |first=Ewa |title=Polish Postcommunist Cinema: From Pavement Level |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fEaaNtRd9T8C&pg=PA85 |year=2007 |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=978-3-03910-529-8 |page=85 |access-date=27 February 2016 |archive-date=3 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703065342/http://books.google.com/books?id=fEaaNtRd9T8C&pg=PA85 |url-status=live }}</ref> Projecting a typically "British image",<ref name="why"/> Thompson's often dogmatic and tight-jawed manner has also been compared to that of [[Maggie Smith]].<ref name="Gilbert"/>

With a background in comedy, Thompson's performances are typically delivered with an ironic touch. Ang Lee, director of ''Sense and Sensibility'', stated that Thompson's comedic approach may be her greatest asset as an actress, remarking, "Emma is an extremely funny lady. Like Austen, she's laughing at her own culture while she's a part of it."<ref name="Gilbert">{{cite news |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8355641.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611100655/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8355641.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 June 2014 |first=Matthew |last=Gilbert |title=Emma and sensibility Thompson, says the director of her Jane Austen adaptation, "is an extremely funny lady. Like Austen, she's laughing at her own culture while she's a part of it." |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=10 December 1995 |access-date=27 March 2014}}</ref> Thompson has stated that the "most moving things are often also funny, in life and in art" which is present in her film work.<ref name="bafta interview"/> She often brings her real personality to her roles, and Kellaway believes that her lack of conventional beauty contributes to her likeability as an actress.<ref name="Sands"/><ref name="kellaway"/>
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