A Masterclass with Emily Watson, one of the most distinguished British actresses of her generation, was held at the Bosnian Cultural Center in Sarajevo. The conversation was moderated by British producer Andy Paterson, a longtime collaborator of Watson’s, and the conversation was an opportunity to talk about growing up, theatre, family, and acting.
Watson was born in London in 1967. She studied English at the University of Bristol before training as an actress at Drama Studio London. She began her professional career in theatre and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1992. It was theatre, she said, that first showed her she could step beyond the limitations of the world in which she had grown up.
She describes her childhood as relatively “restrained and limited.” She did not grow up watching television, so books became her escape and a way of discovering a far larger world. Her family history also shaped her strong sense of justice, as her parents belonged to the generation of children who grew up during the war.
“Acting saved me. It really saved me.”, said Watson. “It allowed me to step outside everything that was limiting me, to create my own life and explore different kinds of human nature. That is why acting was never simply a profession for me. It was a way of finding myself.”
Her first professional engagement was in a play performed in a pub, where she met her husband Jack Waters. Her breakthrough came with her film debut as Bess McNeill in Lars von Trier’s Breaking the Waves. That demanding performance brought her the European Film Award and nominations for an Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA. At film sets, she received a lot of help from her co-star Stellan Skarsgård, who told her to just surrender in front of the camera. Another Academy Award nomination followed for her portrayal of cellist Jacqueline du Pré in Hilary and Jackie.
Speaking about the Oscars, however, she stressed that she does not regard major film awards as a measure of artistic merit, as she thinks there is a lot of commercial interest in that world. That, she said, is precisely why the Sarajevo Film Festival holds a special place for her.
“Here I feel something much purer. Art, film and the people who make it are at the centre. There is a genuine love of cinema, a dialogue between filmmakers and audiences, and a sense of community. Sarajevo reminds me why we make films in the first place.”
Watson also spoke about the challenge of balancing the demands of an acting career with family life. Motherhood, she said, changed her perspective, while acting allowed her an unusual kind of balance: complete commitment to the work while she is doing it, followed by the possibility of returning to her own life.
Her career reflects the breadth of that approach. She has appeared in films including Gosford Park, Punch-Drunk Love, War Horse, The Theory of Everything, and Chornobyl. For Small Things Like These, she won the Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance at the Berlinale. At the Sarajevo Film Festival, Emily Watson is serving as President of the Jury of the Competition Programme – Feature Film, and she received the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo for her outstanding contribution to the art of cinema.
From a girl who found an escape from a limited world in books to a world-acclaimed actress built between a need for freedom and a sense of responsibility. For her, art is a space where, through playing others, one can discover their own life.
