Dame Emma Thompson loved playing a 'real female heroine'

Dame Emma Thompson relished playing a "real female heroine" in The Dead of Winter.

The 66-year-old actress stars in the new action-thriller film, and Emma - who plays a widowed woman who finds herself in the middle of a kidnapping plot - has explained what drew her to the project.

During a conversation at the Locarno Film Festival, Emma shared: "We seem to be telling an awful lot of stories about the super rich or about the dark side of human nature, and this woman’s life, this ordinary humble life, is so beautiful and so rich.

"She’s able to say: ‘I’m able to let it go to let someone else find herself.’ It’s a story of her love."

Emma confessed to being a big fan of her on-screen character, suggesting that she's an outlier in the movie business.

She said: "30 years ago, when I was starting out, I had this woman’s group. My first question to them was: ‘Who’s the female hero?’ I was still identifying with Marlon Brando and I wasn’t happy about it.

"This woman is a real female heroine because she doesn’t say: ‘You should be afraid because I have certain skills.’ I mean, she can sew, she’s been formed by weather and lived in close proximity with nature. She knows that she can mess people up by freezing their stuff."

Emma stars in the movie alongside Laurel Marsden, Judy Greer and Marc Menchaca, as well as her real-life daughter Gaia Wise, who plays her younger self.

And Emma relished the experience of spending quality time with her co-stars.

She shared: "We went on long walks before we started and talked about what [this couple’s] life would have been like. What they’d have eaten, what games they played and what their conversations were.

"Gaia plays her in the ‘full of love’ bit of her life – I was in the ‘my life is over, and I got to say goodbye’ piece. She’s grieving and something distracts her, and then she’s back to where she started. It’s such a beautiful circle."

Emma is set to receive the Leopard Club Award at the Locarno Film Festival, and the event organisers have already heaped praise on the acclaimed actress.

The organisers said in a statement: "She is the only person in the history of the Academy Awards to have won for both acting and screenwriting. Thompson’s willingness to take risks with her roles has meant that she has remained a vital force on stage and screen for four decades, a testament to the depth of affection multiple generations of fans hold for her."