Kristin Scott Thomas

Kristin Scott Thomas is an English actress, born in Redruth, Cornwall. She was nominated for "Worst New Star" in the 1986 Golden Raspberry Awards (and lost).She subsequently recovered to obtain a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for "The English Patient" (1996). She speaks French fluently, as she has studied acting at the École Nationale des Arts et Technique de Théâtre, in Paris. She was previously married to a French doctor, and she has lived in France since she was 19 years old. Both her father and step-father were pilots in the Royal Navy and both died in flying accidents. She is the older sister of the actress Serena Scott Thomas. Kristin Scott Thomas was given an OBE in the 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours list and was also awarded the Legion d'Honneur by the French government in 2005. She has also played in many TV movies and as an actress in the theatre.

In the British motoring program Top Gear she is used as a point of reference of "good taste". During the Cool Wall segment of the program, presenter Jeremy Clarkson rates a car's coolness based mostly on what he thinks Kristin Scott Thomas's level of distaste for it would be. Generally, cars that are flashy or obscene are considered Uncool or Seriously Uncool (e.g. supercars), while cars that are innovative or unusual are considered Cool or Sub-Zero (e.g. most super-minis). The only real exceptions to the Kristin Scott Thomas rule are Aston Martins and cars that the presenters themselves own, which are usually automatically placed in the Sub-Zero (or better) and Seriously Uncool sections respectively.