Not only is Emma Thompson a supporter of environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion in real life, she’ll be playing one in a satirical short film, too. The two-time Oscar winner is set to portray an environmentalist and high-ranking Extinction Rebellion member in “Extinction.” Variety broke the news.
The Jack Cooper Stimpson-directed project will reportedly include footage from Extinction Rebellion’s protests in London. Thompson herself has participated in the group’s demonstrations, which call for action on climate change. This past weekend the “Late Night” star addressed crowds from Extinction Rebellion’s pink boat, which was docked, so to speak, in Oxford Circus.
“Extinction” will see Thompson’s character landing a meeting with a senior government official. “She and the Conservative Party lawmaker lock horns as protests and disruption take place outside,” Variety hints.
“We knew that this issue was very much in [Thompson’s] wheelhouse and that she was in support of Extinction Rebellion,” Stimpson said. “The character she’s playing was written for her, so we sent her the script and got a very quick and resounding response of, ‘Yes, I’m in, I’ve even got the costume.’”
Production on “Extinction” will kick off this week in London. The short will be completed in late May or early June, and is expected to make the festival rounds and be released online. Although it’s not being made for Extinction Rebellion, “Extinction” does have the group’s blessing and its themes are in support of the movement. Extinction Rebellion will also receive a portion of any profits made by the short.
“Extinction” is just Thompson’s latest foray into high-profile activism. In February she exited Skydance’s upcoming animation feature “Luck” to protest the studio’s hiring of John Lasseter, who left Pixar amid multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. Thompson penned an open letter to Skydance explaining her decision. “It feels very odd to me that you and your company would consider hiring someone with Mr. Lasseter’s pattern of misconduct given the present climate in which people with the kind of power that you have can reasonably be expected to step up to the plate,” she wrote. “If a man has been touching women inappropriately for decades, why would a woman want to work for him if the only reason he’s not touching them inappropriately now is that it says in his contract that he must behave ‘professionally’?”
You can catch Thompson next in Nisha Ganatra and Mindy Kaling’s “Late Night,” out June 7. The hit Sundance comedy tells the story of a veteran late-night host (Thompson) who hires her first female writer (Kaling). Thompson will also appear in holiday rom-com “Last Christmas” (November 8) and the film adaptation of Caitlin Moran’s coming-of-age story “How to Build a Girl,” which is expected to open later this year. Thompson co-wrote the former with Bryony Kimmings.
Thompson’s recent credits include “Missing Link,” a TV adaptation of “King Lear,” and “The Children Act.” She won an Academy Award for her leading role in “Howards End” and another for writing “Sense and Sensibility.”
