Kristin Scott Thomas biography

Synopsis

Profile

Actress. Born May 24, 1960 in Redruth, England. The daughter of a Royal Navy pilot who died in an air crash when she was five, Scott Thomas was sent to Cheltenham Ladies College but left at age 16. She enrolled in the teacher training program at London's Central School of Speech and Drama, eventually switching to drama. Frustrated by her acting prospects in London, she moved to Paris where she began to pursue her career in earnest.

She enrolled in L'Ecole Nationale des Arts et Techniques de Theatres, and took on small roles on stage, in television and in French films. In 1988, she landed her first lead in an English film, playing a cool-blooded aristocrat in A Handful of Dust. But it wasn't until her role as Hugh Grant's sardonic pal Fiona in 1994's sleeper hit Four Weddings and a Funeral that the actress gained international attention.

Two years later, Scott Thomas stepped into the spotlight again when she earned an Oscar nod for her role in the widely acclaimed The English Patient. The notice earned her two big-budget romantic leads: opposite Robert Redford in 1998's The Horse Whisperer and with Harrison Ford in Random Hearts the following year. In 2001, she gave a strong performances as a disillusioned ex-wife in Life As a House with Kevin Kline. That same year, she served up another stellar performance as the uppity Lady Sylvia McCordle in the widely acclaimed Gosford Park.

Her starring turn in the french film I've Loved You So Long (2008) brought her rave reviews. In the film, she played a woman who tries to rebuild her life after spending time in prison. Scott Thomas also had a supporting role as Lady Elizabeth Boleyn in the historical drama The Other Boleyn Girl (2008). Moving on to lighter fare, she appeared in the 2009 comedy Confessions of a Shopaholic, starring Isla Fischer.

Now divorced, Scott Thomas was once married to French obstetrician Francois Olivennes. The couple has three children together: Hannah, Joseph, and George.

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