Happy 50th Emily Watson!!
Saturday, January 14, 2017 at 7:00PM 
Chris here, wishing a happy 50th birthday to one of our most underserved contemporary actresses, Emily Watson!
And around this time she’s also celebrating her 20th anniversary for her first Oscar nomination for her debut in Breaking the Waves, a performance that time simply doesn’t diminish...
Watson’s Bess was something of the prototypical Lars von Trier sinner-saint leading lady, but also remains the best. Her performance still blisters, as ferociously alive in her sorrow as she is in her joy, with an electric stare that reveals Bess’s soul while seizing ours. It’s an exhilarating pairing of actress and director, a duet through immense pain that is still defined by its compassion.
She followed quickly with a second Oscar nomination for Hilary and Jackie, but she should have received her third for Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love. We remember the film more for Adam Sandler’s enraged Barry, but it’s Watson’s light but equally brilliant touch as Lena that makes the romance work. Part of what calms Barry is how she can chuckle in the face the world’s cruelty and absurdity, and it’s all there in Watson’s cheeky half-smiles and longing eyes. Watson’s biggest insight is how Lena is similarly at ease to Barry’s eccentricities, suggesting an anxiety that’s been soothed by this romantic pairing.
Even though she hasn’t had as many auteur pairings of late, she has never stopped working. But Watson is so much more than the wives and mothers she frequently plays. That signature piercing gaze has always been put to use - Watson can still size up her costars with the slightest gesture or look. One wonders what the likes of Nicole Holofcener or Lisa Cholodenko could do with her talents - her wryness and understated delivery still one of her more underutilized attributes. This year, she’ll be seen in On Chesil Beach and the Eistein miniseries Genius.
Happy 50th Emily Watson!!
Reader Comments (24)
i wonder if the existence of emma watson annoys her
she was my best supporting actress of 2001 for gosford park
I still can't believe that someone cast her as Adam Sandler's lover in a PTA movie. That only happens once in a blue moon.
i wonder if the existence of emma watson annoys her?
she was my best supporting actress of 2001 for 'gosford park'
Never been a great fan, but I will always be grateful to her for Bess <3
So criminally underrated in Gosford Park!
chofer -- Gosford Park has a lot of good performances in it, so it's easy for me to forget or overlook some of them.
I just hope she breaks free from the stoic-mother-in-period-piece-type she's been trapped in for the last ten years. Belle, Testament of Youth, The Theory of Everything, War Horse, The Book Thief...
I think she's been doing a lot of interesting TV work though, not least the BBC's A Song for Jenny, in which she was terrific.
I really wish some day she gets an Oscar for best actress and Samantha Morton for her supporting actress. I don't know why I usually relate them.
Craver: Actually, that's not even in the top TEN of SANDLER's Schlubby Dude gets a Hot Girl pairings, so you've spared yourself A LOT of Sandler pain. In chronological order: Bridgette Wilson, 1995, Julie Bowen, 1996, Drew Barrymore, 1998 (and 2004 and 2014), Kristy Swanson AND Joey Lauren Adams, 1999, Patricia Arquette, 2000, Winona Ryder and Emily Watson, 2002, Marisa Tomei, 2003, Tea Leoni, 2004, Kate Beckinsale, 2006, Jessica Biel, 2007, Emmanuelle Chriqui, 2008, Leslie Mann (ex-wife, but STILL), 2009, Salma Hayek, 2010 (and 2013), Minka Kelly, Jennifer Aniston, Brooklyn Dekker AND Katie Holmes, all 2011, the first 3 of those in ONE MOVIE, Eva Amurri Martino/Susan Sarandon, 2012, Rosemarie DeWitt, 2014, Michelle Monaghan and Julia Jones, 2015 and Kathryn Hahn, 2016. Where would Emily Watson rank in that, in a physical attractiveness sense? #15? #20? #24?
@par: LOL, ya I tink pple tend mix up the two esp they r both British
Her Bess is unanimously the most powerful performance of 1996
@nadir You're not alone! I don't confuse them for one another, but I do often think of one when the other comes up. Both deserve more than what they've been given lately.
I want to cry just looking at stills from Breaking the Waves, she/it are SO good.
I love McDormand, but Watson's turn in Breaking The Waves was the best performance of the 90's and one of the best ever. She should have won that Oscar.
Her performance in Breaking The Waves is one of the greatest ever captured on screen. To think that she was a last minute replacement for Helena Bonham Carter.
I just love this woman. She should have won for Breaking the Waves and should have received a nomination for Angela's Ashes (1999). It was a difficult year, though. She is one of several British actresses who should have an Oscar on their mantle. Chief among them Julie Walters.
@denny: TV awards calendars are not regular, but Song for Jenny aired the same year as The Dresser, for which she received at least one nomantion. Maybe she was eligible for both and The Dresser prevailed.
She's mesmerizing in Cradle Will Rock, an underrated gem.
I actually think she should've won for Hilary & Jackie, though a win for Breaking the Waves would've been equally as deserved. Too bad she hasn't had any real opportunities since then, and probably never will again.
Breaking The Waves is probably the greatest debut performance in history (even if Brenda Blethyn gets my win).
My favourite Emily Watson performances not already mentioned?
The Proposition (my god, devastating)
Synecdoche, New York (second only to Wiest in "getting" this material and its tone)
She works pretty regularly on UK TV and is something of a star (always leading role vehicles) with a recent BAFTA win for Appropriate Adult
She should have won for Breaking the Waves
Fargo is a genius piece of work but McDormand's performance just doesn't compare to the genius Watson displays in Breaking the Waves.
I loved her in Appropriate Adult. Had it been a motion picture there's another breathtaking performance you give people Oscars for.
Happy Birthday!
I can't believe she's 50. She is all-time great in "Breaking the Waves" of course, which coincidentally is #50 in my favorite movies list :D https://javieraldabalde.wordpress.com/2017/01/03/movie-countdown-50-breaking-the-waves-1996/
Can't wait to see more from her.
I would have loved to see Sarah Miles and Emily Watson play a mother and daughter. Beyond the physical resemblance, they've had strikingly similar careers in many respects - a lot of daring, edgy projects on the margins, interspersed with a few brief flirtations with mainstream success. Dare I hope it could still happen?
Josh R - Watson will undoubtedly continue to work and no doubt transition back to film (leading roles that is) in her 60s and 70s. She's British!
She was the only reason that I endured sitting through War Horse.
She really needs yearly work like Cate Blanchett.
This was lovely, Chris!
I want to see her and Blanchett in the same movie