"Emma Thompson"

Episode of SmartLess · June 29, 2026 · 58 min

Emma Thompson talks with the SmartLess hosts about fame, her comedy roots, Harry Potter, Sense and Sensibility, Sondheim, boredom, and British food.

Summary

Actress and screenwriter Emma Thompson joined Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes from her North London office during a heat wave. After the hosts' opening banter about directing notes and the Stanley Cup, Thompson joked that she keeps her Oscars in the lavatory, attributed the heat to climate change, and teased Americans' obsession with ice. The group discussed fan encounters and selfies; Thompson recounted a woman in Harry's Bar in Venice who mistook her for a Barneys shoe saleswoman.

Thompson described her start in the Cambridge Footlights with Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry and her early ambition to be a comedian like Lily Tomlin. She discussed playing Sybil Trelawney in the Harry Potter films, noting she spent only about 30 days on them, and her film Alone in Berlin, saying she was fascinated by the unhealed traumas the world wars left in Britain. She described her Down Cemetery Road character as liberating because she was unapologetic, arguing that women should not be solely responsible for being accommodating.

Thompson talked about her theatrical parents, raising her daughter with limited screens, and the value of boredom, which Bateman echoed while Arnett said he is never bored. She recalled performing Sweeney Todd with the New York Philharmonic, criticized snobbery between acting forms, and said Sondheim is harder than Shakespeare. She explained that a feminist sketch about sexual ignorance led Lindsay Doran to ask her to adapt Sense and Sensibility, and mentioned a Nanny McPhee stage musical headed to the West End and her role in The Sheep Detective. The conversation closed with black pudding, haggis, her love of Scotland and London, and a joking pitch for an England travel show.

Chapters

1:26
Opening banter and hockey
The hosts joke about directing notes, Will's walk and the Stanley Cup before Will introduces Emma Thompson.
5:30
Awards, heat wave and ice
Thompson explains where she keeps her awards, describes London's heat wave and mocks the American love of ice.
11:52
Fans, selfies and Barneys
The group discusses fan interactions and selfies, and Thompson tells of being mistaken for a Barneys shoe saleswoman.
19:27
Footlights and comedy roots
Thompson describes her sketch comedy beginnings with Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry and her admiration for Lily Tomlin.
21:32
Harry Potter and choosing roles
Thompson discusses Professor Trelawney, big character choices, rehearsal in film, children as audience, and Alone in Berlin.
29:31
Down Cemetery Road and postwar childhood
Thompson discusses her unapologetic character in Down Cemetery Road, growing up in postwar London, and her parents' backgrounds.
35:36
Screens, boredom and Sean's theater start
The group discusses children's screen time and the virtues of boredom, and Sean recalls his start in school theater.
40:45
Sweeney Todd and Sondheim
Thompson recalls performing Sweeney Todd with the New York Philharmonic and compares Sondheim with Shakespeare.
43:55
Writing Sense and Sensibility and Nanny McPhee
Thompson explains how a feminist sketch led to adapting Jane Austen and describes the Nanny McPhee musical.
48:12
The Sheep Detective and British food
Thompson discusses The Sheep Detective, then explains black pudding and haggis and her love of Scotland and London.
53:39
Wrap-up and post-interview
The hosts pitch a travel show, say goodbye, and reflect on Thompson's career and their interviewing.

Key points

What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.

Emma Thompson
Thompson said she keeps her Oscars in the lavatory to keep them in their place.
“The Oscars are in the lavatory because that just keeps them in their place”
Listen from 6:55 · Fame
Emma Thompson
Thompson said London theaters lack air conditioning because Britain has not yet adapted to climate change.
“Because we've never needed it before, and we haven't adapted yet to climate change”
Listen from 11:47 · Climate change
Jason Bateman
Bateman argued that Thompson is treated as a respected actor rather than a celebrity, whose sightings cause a frenzy.
“She's a respected actor as opposed to a celebrity. You see a celebrity out, it's like a giraffe has escaped the zoo”
Listen from 12:19 · Fame
Emma Thompson
Thompson said that on the rare occasions she declines a selfie, fans have taken it well and understood.
“every time I have said no, and it's quite rare, people have taken it so well because they seem completely to understand”
Listen from 15:12 · Fame
Emma Thompson
Thompson noted she spent only about 30 days on the Harry Potter films, despite how much people associate her with them.
“i've spent about 30 days on harry potter in my whole life you know so it's kind of a strange thing to talk about”
Listen from 22:55 · Harry Potter film series
Will Arnett
Arnett described his character in a recent Tony Gilroy project as a down-on-his-luck retired rocker whose brother is played by Pedro Pascal.
“He's sort of like a retired rocker and he's sort of down on his luck. And Pedro Pascal comes in, and he's my brother”
Listen from 24:19
Emma Thompson
Thompson said she considers children the sacred audience for whom artists must do their best work.
“I always consider children to be the sacred audience. They're the people we need to make the best of our work for”
Listen from 26:15
Emma Thompson
Thompson said she is fascinated by both world wars because they left unhealed traumas in the UK.
“I'm kind of slightly obsessed with both wars, actually, because I think they left traumas in our country, in the UK, that have never really been healed or addressed”
Listen from 27:45 · Alone in Berlin (2016 film)
Emma Thompson
Thompson argued that being accommodating and emollient should not be expected only of women, which made her unapologetic character liberating to play.
“I think that whilst there is a place for that in both sexes, it is not appropriate for for it to be just women who do that”
Listen from 32:04 · Down Cemetery Road (TV series)
Emma Thompson
Thompson said she and her partner told their daughter the television was broken, and she believed it for years.
“We told my daughter the television was broken, which she believed for at least eight years”
Listen from 36:10 · Boredom
Jason Bateman
Bateman argued that true relaxation sits next to boredom and that his children's generation does not understand its value.
“I really feel like true relaxation lives somewhere next door to boredom”
Listen from 37:35 · Boredom
Will Arnett
Arnett said he never feels bored, even when simply sitting.
“I'm never bored. Like even if I'm just sitting there, I don't know why. I never feel bored”
Listen from 38:10 · Boredom
Sean Hayes
Hayes said the physical and mental repetition of theater is something performers eventually outgrow because of the endurance it demands.
“the repetition on your body and your brain is something you kind of have no choice but to outgrow because of the endurance”
Listen from 40:24
Emma Thompson
Thompson rejected snobbery that ranks theater, film and television acting, saying a good actor is good in any medium.
“If you're a good actor, you're a good actor, you're a good actor, whatever you're doing. I love that. I can't bear all that snobbery”
Listen from 42:29 · Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Emma Thompson
Thompson said Sondheim is harder to perform than Shakespeare, whom she called reliable and easy.
“I would say harder, yeah. Harder than Shakespeare. Shakespeare makes it easy for us”
Listen from 43:45 · Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Emma Thompson
Thompson explained that a feminist comedy sketch about women's sexual ignorance led to her being asked to adapt Jane Austen.
“So the sketch was about sexual ignorance. So it's a feminist sketch about the fact that women weren't allowed to know about sex”
Listen from 44:22 · Sense and Sensibility (1995 film)
Linked moment · 46:54Skip to 46:54 using a listen link in the info box.
Emma Thompson Prediction · due Dec 2027
Thompson said a Nanny McPhee stage musical, ten years in the writing, will open in the West End next year.
“we've spent 10 years writing the musical of that, which is coming into the West End next year”
Listen from 46:54 · Nanny McPhee
Emma Thompson
Thompson attributed dishes like haggis and black pudding to poverty and not wasting any part of an animal, noting Scotland was very poor until recently.
“because don't forget, it's really quite recent that the country's, I suppose Scotland in particular, was poor, very poor until recently”
Listen from 51:42 · British cuisine

People

In the conversation

Will ArnettCanadian-American actor and comedian, co-host of SmartLess
Jason BatemanAmerican actor and director, co-host of SmartLess
Sean HayesAmerican actor and comedian, co-host of SmartLess
Emma ThompsonBritish actress and screenwriter, two-time Academy Award winner

Discussed

Hugh LaurieBritish actor and comedian who performed with Thompson in Footlights
Stephen FryBritish comedian and writer who performed with Thompson in Footlights
Lily TomlinAmerican comedian whom Thompson cited as an inspiration
Jane WagnerAmerican writer of The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe
Hans FalladaGerman author of the novel Alone in Berlin
Mick HerronBritish novelist behind Slow Horses and Down Cemetery Road
Stephen SondheimAmerican musical theater composer
Bryn TerfelWelsh bass-baritone who starred opposite Thompson in Sweeney Todd
Lindsay DoranHollywood producer who asked Thompson to adapt Sense and Sensibility
Ang LeeDirector of Sense and Sensibility
Jane AustenEnglish novelist who wrote Sense and Sensibility
Gary ClarkSongwriter composing the Nanny McPhee musical
Craig MazinScreenwriter of Chernobyl and The Sheep Detective
Hugh JackmanAustralian actor starring in The Sheep Detective
Tony GilroyDirector Will Arnett worked with on a recent project
Pedro PascalActor who plays Will Arnett's brother in the Tony Gilroy project

Topics

From the publisher

Have you been working on your faces in the mirror all morning? It’s Emma Thompson. Barney’s, Boredom, and Haggis. “Get in the ice, you’re gonna love it!” On an all-new SmartLess.

Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 29, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.

Categories: Film Interviews·Comedy Interviews·TV & Film