Kristin Scott Thomas Opens Up About Grief, Creativity, and Her Directorial Debut My Mother’s Wedding
Dame Kristin Scott Thomas may hold one of Britain’s highest honors, but her heart lies somewhere between London and Paris. “My blood is English, but my culture is French,” she says—an identity reflected in her effortlessly bilingual film career, from Darkest Hour to I’ve Loved You So Long, with many of her French films shown at London’s Cine Lumière—a “little slice of Paris,” as she calls it.
Now back in London for her role as the deputy director of MI5 in Apple TV+’s Slow Horses, Thomas reflects on the emotional journey that led to her directorial debut, My Mother’s Wedding—a story seeded in childhood tragedy.
“When I was five, my father was killed. My mother remarried, and tragically, he too died five years later,” she shares. Both men were Royal Navy pilots who died in eerily similar training accidents. The loss left a void Thomas carried for decades. “As a young woman, I often felt something was missing—a piece of the puzzle I never had.”
That emotional absence became the foundation for her first film as director. My Mother’s Wedding, starring Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller, and Emily Beecham, explores how three daughters each cope with the emotional legacies left by the loss of a father—or stepfather—as their mother prepares to remarry.
Thomas’ personal history is interwoven throughout the film. As a girl, she wrote stories imagining an ordinary family life—something she never experienced. “A mommy and a daddy and two children, just doing ordinary things.” Those imaginary sketches have now evolved into a screenplay and a cinematic reflection of memory, grief, and hope.
Though long known for her poised, often chilly characters, Thomas reveals that early in her career she struggled to express emotional vulnerability. “I think it was Sydney Pollack—or maybe Robert Redford—who told me, ‘Be generous. Forget what you’re trying to defend.’ It took years for that to sink in.”
And yet, today, she’s far from the shy child who moved from base to base. Whether starring opposite Robert Redford (The Horse Whisperer), Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible), or earning an Oscar nomination for The English Patient, Thomas has evolved from wallflower to powerhouse.
At 65, she’s also found joy in her role as a grandmother and still finds humor in everyday moments. Recalling the time she encouraged her kids to watch her in Under the Cherry Moon, she laughs: “When I got back, they weren’t exactly polite about it.”
Still, her younger fans now recognize her from action blockbusters rather than art-house classics. “They’ve all seen Mission: Impossible, but they don’t know Gosford Park or Four Weddings. They don’t know I speak French, or make all these murkier films!”
Her love for the stage remains intact—she won an Olivier Award for The Seagull and later took it to Broadway. But directing has offered something new. “The joy, satisfaction, and exhaustion from filmmaking as a director—it’s extraordinary.”
And though she doesn’t always stop to smell the roses, she’s still touched by the kindness of strangers. “A lady came up to me the other day and said, ‘I know you hate this, but…’ And I said, ‘I don’t hate this at all! Keep it coming!’”
🎬 My Mother’s Wedding opens in theaters August 8
📺 Watch Kristin Scott Thomas in Slow Horses on Apple TV+
