Love Actually fans are left gobsmacked after discovering Emma Thompson’s famous lookalike soap star sister

Fans of the number one Christmas film Love Actually have been left gobsmacked upon discovering that star Emma Thompson has a famous soap actress for a sister.

Emma plays Karen in the festive film, and stars in one of the saddest sub plots of the film when she realises her husband Harry, played by the late Alan Rickman, is having an affair. 

However, the actress also has a famous Olivier Award-winning sister who is best known for her role in EastEnders. 

Sophie Thompson, who has an uncanny physical resemblance to Emma, played Stella Crawford in the BBC soap from 2006 to 2007. 

Her character was the villainous fiancée of Phil Mitchell  where she was embroiled in some dark storylines including secretly abusing Phil’s son Ben.

Stella met her dramatic end on her wedding day with Phil after the truth about how she had been abusing Ben was revealed. 

Emma plays Karen in the festive film, and stars in one of the saddest sub plots of the film when she realises her husband Harry, played by the late Alan Rickman, is having an affair

Stella then attempted to flee while being chased by Phil and in a dramatic turn of events Stella died after jumping off a roof. 

EastEnders enthusiasts were gobsmacked to discover the family ties between Emma and Sophie as they took to a Facebook fan page to share their shock. 

They wrote: ‘Didn’t realise Sophie (Stella) was Emma’s sister’; ‘ ‘I didn’t know either until the other day…..’; ‘Well I was today old when I learnt they were sisters. Great actors.’;

‘No way!’; ‘Sophie was in Harry Potter. Didn’t realize she was Emma Thompson sister.’; ‘Every day you learn something new!. I didn’t realise Emma and Sophie were sisters !’

And EastEnders isn’t the only soap Sophie has starred in after she also played the quirky clairvoyant Rosemary in Coronation Street back in 2018. 

Discussing joining the Weatherfield soap on Good Morning Britain back in 2018, Sophie confessed: ‘Soap is such an extraordinary thing as you have to get on a bus that’s moving at quite a speed so it’s such a strange sensation.’

Comparing the experience to joining motorway traffic she joked: ;It’s like a curious merge, and I always find merging on the motorway quite discombobulating and that merge in work terms is also discombobulating although they’re all so welcoming there, but it’s strange, there’s no getting away from it.’

Sophie has also starred in several romantic comedies including Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Sophie Thompson, who has an uncanny physical resemblance to Emma, played Stella Crawford in EastEnders from 2006 to 2007 (pictured)

Stella met her dramatic end on her wedding day with Phil after the truth about how she had been abusing Ben was revealed

Sophie previously admitted that there is no rivalry between herself and Emma for acting roles, she said: ‘People assume there is this rivalry, but there isn’t. It wouldn’t occur to me to compare myself to her, nor her to me’

EastEnders enthusiasts were gobsmacked to discover the family ties between Emma and Sophie as they took to a Facebook fan page to share their shock

Sophie has also starred in several romantic comedies including Four Weddings and a Funeral (pictured with David Haig) 

She played Mafalda Hopkirk in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One, joining her sister for the JK Rowling series where Emma played Professor Trelawney.

Sophie previously admitted that there is no rivalry between herself and Emma for acting roles, telling The Daily Mail: ‘People assume there is this rivalry, but there isn’t. It wouldn’t occur to me to compare myself to her, nor her to me.’ 

Back in 2022 Sophie detailed her cosy life residing in an ‘attic in east London,’ a far cry from her siblings trio of homes.

She admitted that while Emma is used to donning glamorous gowns on the red carpet, she prefers to pick up her clothes in charity shops.

She told The Daily Mail’s Richard Eden: ‘[My home] is an attic in the East End of London and it’s full of colour.

‘I always say to my mates, ‘I’m in the eyrie’, which is usually used to describe a bird’s nest.

‘I have to keep it tidy as it’s pretty small. I used to live in a big, ramshackle house with a kitchen.’

She added: ‘My money is mostly spent in cheese shops and charity shops. I get my whole wardrobe from the charity shop.’