Kristin Scott Thomas, a film and theater actress acclaimed by critics for her roles in The English Patient and Four Weddings and a Funeral, discusses her directorial debut, a deeply personal project.

Photography JASON HETHERINGTON Styling NATASHA WRAY

Kristin Scott Thomas knows what it means to have a commanding stage presence. It is thanks to this quality that, after a four-decade career in film, television, and theater, the 65-year-old Oscar-nominated actress is more in demand today than ever before. She plays ruthless British secret service agent Diana Taverner in Apple TV+'s hit spy thriller Slow Horses, which returns for a fifth season in September. And before heading off to shoot a French film this fall, she will celebrate the release of her most personal project: My Mother's Wedding, a star-studded film inspired by her childhood in England, which also marks her directorial debut.
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&ldquo;The true parts of the story are the most incredible,&rdquo; Scott Thomas tells L'OFFICIEL from her home in the UK. &ldquo;Because something catastrophic happened to me as a child &mdash; not once, but twice.&rdquo; The dramatic events really seem like something out of a movie: her father Simon, a Royal Navy pilot, died in a plane crash shortly before her sixth birthday; her mother Deborah married another Royal Air Force pilot, Scott Thomas's father's friend, also named Simon, who died in the same tragic accident five years later. &ldquo;I was in pain, but I had nowhere to put it,&rdquo; recalls the actress, the eldest of five children. &ldquo;In those dark years between the 60s and 70s, there was no therapy. You didn't talk about it. The next day, you went to school and pretended nothing had happened.&rdquo;
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Although she later sought therapy, Scott Thomas always viewed her &ldquo;intimate knowledge of loss&rdquo; as a given &mdash; something she refused to allow to define her life from an early age. &ldquo;I didn't have a tragic childhood,&rdquo; she clarifies. &ldquo;There were tragic events in it.&rdquo; At the age of 18, she moved to Paris &mdash; she now has dual British and French citizenship &mdash; and began studying acting. Her grief seems to have become the &ldquo;battery&rdquo; that fueled a career full of critically acclaimed dramatic roles in both film (The English Patient) and theater (The Seagull). &ldquo;It's very useful for an actress to be able to make the audience understand and share deep pain,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I was also very good at keeping things inside. I think that's why I ended up playing so many characters with secrets.&rdquo;
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The first time she spoke publicly about her family history was when she starred in the romantic musical Under the Cherry Moon (1986) with Prince. During her first live television interview, the journalist &mdash; &ldquo;a man with a cigarette and a hoarse voice&rdquo; &mdash; addressed her condescendingly. &ldquo;He said, &lsquo;Tell me, little Christine, what does your dad think about you starring in a movie with Prince?&rsquo;&rdquo; she recalls. "I was furious and replied, 'Oh, I don't know &mdash; he died when I was five, then my mom remarried, and he died when I was eleven. That shut him up.&ldquo; That unexpected revelation then led to a series of further questions. &rdquo;Every interview I gave, that story came up,&ldquo; she says. &rdquo;It became my calling card &mdash; and I got tired of other people always telling it."
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This cathartic project finally gave Scott Thomas the opportunity to regain control of her narrative once and for all. Discovering that her younger brothers and sisters had no memories of their father, she teamed up with animator Reza Riahi to turn her childhood memories into animated short films. This gave rise to My Mother's Wedding, which includes the same sequences in which Scott Thomas plays the matriarch Diana Frost Mansen Lovegrav. The film explores the unresolved grief of Diana's three adult daughters. &ldquo;These women were affected by the same events but dealt with them differently,&rdquo; explains Scott Thomas. &ldquo;They are all emotionally distraught and, having idealized their fathers, have difficulty accepting the fact that their mother is getting married for the third time.&rdquo;
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For the role of Diana's eldest daughter, Royal Navy Captain Catherine, Scott Thomas wanted Scarlett Johansson, who had already played her daughter in The Horse Whisperer (1998) and The Other Boleyn Girl (2008). &ldquo;Scarlett is a character actress in a star's body,&rdquo; says Scott Thomas. &ldquo;She's really part of the team, and I think we appreciate each other's &lsquo;roll up your sleeves&rsquo; approach.&rdquo; Johansson didn't hesitate to accept the role. &ldquo;I was thrilled to see Christine as a director, especially because it was such a personal project,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;When I read the script, I was captivated. It reminded me of a Merchant-Ivory film: the internal conflicts, the humor, the intimacy. Its specificity really struck me.&rdquo;
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The fact that Scott Thomas directed the film was an added incentive. &ldquo;She's an amazing actress, and it was inspiring for me to be able to count on her perspective,&rdquo; says Johansson. "From a creative standpoint, when an actor is directed by another actor, there's a valuable understanding that develops: you speak the same language.&ldquo; For the two of them, already connected by previous collaborations, the language was even more immediate. &rdquo;We had that communication that comes with people you've worked with before and who share your method," Johansson explains. &ldquo;I think it was a natural role for Kristin: it was a pleasure to be directed by her.&rdquo;
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Sienna Miller, who plays Diana's middle daughter, actress Victoria, shares the same enthusiasm. &ldquo;Kristin worked with passion and focus,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;She has a keen intuition for directing actors, being an accomplished performer herself. I've always admired her &mdash; the opportunity to play her daughter and share the stage with her was wonderful.&rdquo; Scott Thomas never considered anyone else for the role. &ldquo;I have to say I wrote it for Sienna,&rdquo; she admits. &ldquo;I knew she would understand, and she did.&rdquo;
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The trio of sisters is completed by Emily Beecham as Georgina's youngest daughter, a nurse. Freida Pinto also enriches the cast with her charming appearance. &ldquo;What I enjoyed most about directing was guiding these outstanding actresses,&rdquo; says Scott Thomas. &ldquo;It was like being handed the keys to a Ferrari: a privilege to have people on set who can act with such talent, using your words.&rdquo; On screen, the tension between mother and daughters is palpable. &ldquo;Essentially, she's telling them that they're still children, in love with their fathers,&rdquo; observes Scott Thomas. &ldquo;But sooner or later, we have to separate from our parents. And mothers have a private life too &mdash; and we shouldn't feel uncomfortable about that.&rdquo;

Twice married and mother of three, Scott Thomas found love in an unexpected place while writing the screenplay for My Mother's Wedding in collaboration with John Micklethwait, director of Bloomberg News. They fell in love during the creative process and married in 2024. &ldquo;A real romantic comedy,&rdquo; says Scott Thomas (who is no stranger to the genre: she won a BAFTA for her role alongside Hugh Grant in Four Weddings and a Funeral, 1994).
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&ldquo;I would say I'm quite romantic, although I hate to admit it; I prefer to appear rational.&rdquo; Another confession comes when she recalls her early years of motherhood. &ldquo;I was quite a distant mother,&rdquo; says Scott Thomas, who had children with her ex-husband Fran&ccedil;ois Olivenna. &ldquo;Partly because of the type of work I did. I traveled a lot, and the anxiety of separation... I can't even think about it, it's too painful.&rdquo; Now, however, everything has changed. "I feel much closer to my children now than when they were little. I have three wonderful, remarkable adults in my life whom I love with all my heart &mdash; and grandchildren who, dare I say, are even better."
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This maternal sensitivity is present in My Mother's Wedding, but it clearly distinguishes Scott Thomas from the other Diana she plays in Slow Horses. &ldquo;Maybe it's like the good fairy and the evil fairy: Diana Taverner is the wicked witch, while Diana Lovegrove is a kind of saint,&rdquo; she says. When fans recognize her from her first role, &ldquo;they're always a little intimidated, expecting me to explode &mdash; because Diana Taverner is really scary.&rdquo; But the role is pure pleasure for her. &ldquo;I love the &lsquo;game&rsquo; part,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;That's why I love working with Gary [Oldman]: he's so payful.&rdquo;
As the deputy director general of MI5, Scott Thomas's character is anything but relaxed. &ldquo;Even Diana's style is extremely rigid &mdash; not a hair out of place,&rdquo; she says. In real life, however, she embraces fashion enthusiastically, as when she modeled for Miu Miu's fall/winter 2024 collection. &ldquo;Being used to show clothes was humiliating &mdash; and I don't like to use that word,&rdquo; she admits. &ldquo;But suddenly no one cared about K.S.T. anymore &mdash; only Miu Miu mattered. It was one of the most liberating experiences of my life.&rdquo;

HAIR Louis Byrne @ PREMIER HAIR AND MAKEUP MAKEUP Adam De Cruz @ ONE REPRESENTS MANICURE Claudine Cook PHOTO ASSISTANT Benny Johnson STYLING ASSISTANT Charlie Edwards

Kristin Scott Thomas and her directorial debut with the film My Mother's Wedding

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