Emma Thompson to star in political family drama ‘Years & Years’

Image: Tobias Schwarz/AFP via AFP Relaxnews

HBO, the BBC and French channel Canal+ have teamed up to distribute “Years & Years”, a limited series about a famous celebrity who becomes a powerful politician.

Emma Thompson, who won an Oscar for her performance in 1995’s Jane Austen adaptation “Sense and Sensibility”, will play a leading role in a British family drama that takes place against a political backdrop.

The actress will play the role of Vivienne Rook, a celebrity and politician known for her controversial opinions.

Described as entertainer, rebel, and trickster as well as a divisive political figure, Rook appears to be in power for at least some of the time the 2019 series takes place. It follows the fortunes of the Lyon family over a 15-year period as they deal with political, technological and economic uncertainties visited upon them and the nation as a whole.

Family members include financial advisor Stephen (Rory Kinnear, “Skyfall”) and his driven accountant wife Celeste (T’Nia Miller, BBC comedy thriller “Witless”), Stephen’s brother Daniel, a housing officer (Russell Tovey, “Quantico”), crafty sister Edith (Jessica Hynes, “Bridget Jones’s Baby”), pregnant Rosie (Ruth Madeley, “Cold Feet”) and matriarch Muriel (Anne Reid, “Bleak House”).

The state of the nation drama was written by Russell T. Davies of “Doctor Who” and “A Very English Scandal”.

Thompson won her two Golden Globes and Oscar awards for “Howards End” and “Sense and Sensibility” in the early to mid-1990s. More recently she has featured in “Bridget Jones’s Baby”, Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” remake, “The Meyerowitz Stories” and “Johnny English Strikes Again.”

Her upcoming projects include 2019’s “Men in Black”, 2020’s “The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle” and coming-of-age reinvention movie “How to Build a Girl”. KM

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