From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Serena Harriet Scott Thomas (born 21 September 1961) is an English actress. Scott Thomas was born in Nether Compton, Dorset. Her mother, Deborah (née Hurlbatt), was raised in Hong Kong and Africa, and studied drama before marrying Scott Thomas' father. Her father, Lieutenant Commander Simon Scott Thomas, was a pilot for the British Royal Navy who died in a flying accident in 1964. She is the younger sister of actress Kristin Scott Thomas, the niece of Admiral Sir Richard Thomas (who was Black Rod in the House of Lords), and a more distant grand niece of Capt. Robert F. Scott, the ill-fated explorer who lost the race to the South Pole. Her last name is an amalgam of the last names of those two families. The Scott Thomases also trace their lineage to the 2nd Earl of Godolphin, the owner o...