Olivia Colman Biography

Sarah Caroline Olivia Colman (born 30 January 1974) is an English actress. She has won three BAFTA Awards, three BIFA Awards, one Golden Globe Award, and has been nominated twice for an Emmy Award.

Colman first came to prominence for her supporting role as Sophie Chapman in the Channel 4 comedy series Peep Show (2003-2015). Her other TV comedy roles include Green Wing (2004-2006), Beautiful People (2008-2009), Rev. (2010-2014) and Twenty Twelve (2011-2012). She also played various roles in That Mitchell and Webb Look (2006-2008), alongside her Peep Show co-stars David Mitchell and Robert Webb. Colman's move to drama saw her receive critical acclaim for her performance in Paddy Considine's film Tyrannosaur (2011). Her other film roles include PC Doris Thatcher in Hot Fuzz (2007), Carol Thatcher in The Iron Lady (2011), Queen Elizabeth in Hyde Park on Hudson (2012), Bethan Maguire in Locke (2013), Margaret Lea in The Thirteenth Tale (2013), and the Hotel Manager in The Lobster (2015).

A three-time BAFTA TV Award winner, she won Best Female Comedy Performance for Twenty Twelve and Best Supporting Actress for Accused in 2013, before winning Best Actress in 2014 for her role as DS Ellie Miller in the ITV crime series Broadchurch. Colman was also nominated for the International Emmy Award for Best Actress for Broadchurch. For her performance in the AMC/BBC miniseries The Night Manager, she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie.

Early life

Colman was born in north Norfolk, to a nurse mother and a chartered surveyor father. She was educated at two independent schools, Norwich High School for Girls in Norwich and Gresham's School in Holt. Her first role was Jean Brodie in a school production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie at age 16. She then realised acting was what she wanted to do.

Colman went on to spend a term studying primary teaching at Homerton College, Cambridge. During this time, at the age of 20, she attended the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School which she graduated from in 1999 and also auditioned for the Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club and first met future co-stars David Mitchell and Robert Webb, as well as Peter Serafinowicz.

Career

Television and radio

Colman has appeared in roles in numerous BBC, ITV and Channel 4 television programmes, such as Bruiser, People Like Us, Look Around You, Black Books, The Office, The Time of Your Life and provided the voice-over for Five's poll for Britain's Funniest Comedy Character. She regularly features in BBC Radio 4 comedies, such as Concrete Cow, Think the Unthinkable, The House of Milton Jones and Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. She is also the voice of Minka, the Polish secretary in the Radio 4 comedy Hut 33, set in a fictional codebreaking hut of the real-life Bletchley Park during World War II. Colman appeared as Bev, alongside Mark Burdis as Kev, in a series of television adverts for AA car insurance. She provided voices for the Andrex "be kind to your behind" adverts and Glade fragrance adverts, where her character is a gorilla.

She has worked with the comedians Mitchell and Webb on several projects. Colman met the duo when they were all students at Cambridge University. She has appeared with them in numerous TV and radio series, such as radio's That Mitchell and Webb Sound, and the television version That Mitchell and Webb Look. She decided to leave the programme after her agent suggested that she was becoming too closely associated with their work and needed to widen her horizons: a decision that was made "with tears". She continued to appear on Peep Show until 2015.

In October and November 2008, Colman appeared in the BBC sitcom Beautiful People, based on the life of Simon Doonan, as Debbie Doonan, Simon's mother. She also made a guest appearance in Skins, in the episode "Naomi" as Naomi's mother Gina. In 2010, Colman took a leading role as Alex Smallbone, the wife of an inner city vicar, in the BBC sitcom Rev. Also in 2010, she guest starred in "The Eleventh Hour" episode of Doctor Who, Matt Smith's debut as the Eleventh Doctor. In 2011, Colman appeared in the BBC drama Exile, written by Danny Brocklehurst and starring John Simm and Jim Broadbent. From 2011 to 2012, she played Sally Owen, the love-lorn secretary to Hugh Bonneville's character Ian Fletcher, in Twenty Twelve, a comedy series about planning for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

In 2013, Colman began playing DS Ellie Miller in ITV's Broadchurch. The crime drama series is set in the fictional Dorset town of Broadchurch, and follows the residents of a tight-knit community after a young boy is killed under suspicious circumstances. She was nominated for an International Emmy Award for Best Actress and won a BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for her performance. Also in 2013, she starred as Margaret Lea, opposite Vanessa Redgrave, in the BBC television film The Thirteenth Tale. In 2016, Colman received praise for her performance as Angela Burr in the AMC/BBC miniseries The Night Manager, for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and won a Golden Globe Award. That same year, she starred as Deborah Flowers in the Channel 4 black comedy series Flowers.

She will provide the voice of Strawberry in the upcoming Netflix/BBC animated miniseries Watership Down.

Film

Colman's film credits include naturist Joanna Roberts in the 2006 mockumentary film Confetti - a role she described as "the worst experience of my life", Alice in the 2007 comedy Grow Your Own, and PC Doris Thatcher in the 2007 action comedy Hot Fuzz. Colman played a lead role in Paddy Considine's first two films, the short Dog Altogether (2007), and his feature directorial debut Tyrannosaur (2011). For her role in the latter, she won the BIFA Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film and the Empire Award for Best Actress.

Colman played Carol Thatcher in the 2011 Academy Award-winning drama film The Iron Lady, with Meryl Streep and Jim Broadbent, for which she was awarded the London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Actress of the Year. She then starred in Yorgos Lanthimos' 2015 absurdist dystopian film The Lobster with Rachel Weisz and Colin Farrell, for which she was nominated for the London Film Critics' Circle Award for Supporting Actress of the Year and won the BIFA Award for Best Supporting Actress. She has been cast as Queen Anne in Lanthimos' upcoming film The Favourite, opposite Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz.

Personal life

Colman met her future husband, Ed Sinclair, then a third-year law student who had become disillusioned with law and preferred to write, in a production of Alan Ayckbourn's Table Manners (from the Norman Conquests trilogy) at Footlights. Colman fell in love with Sinclair at first sight, adding that she thought, "There's the bloke I'm going to marry." She has also said, "My husband and I were very lucky. We met when we had nothing and we loved each other then. So we were all right. We were 20 and he was also an actor. If you meet at that age then you are fine. For me, it was thunderbolts straight away." Crediting Sinclair for helping her get through tough times, Colman has said that "[Sinclair] was gorgeous, the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen," suggesting that the feeling was not instantly mutual. She added, "I stuck with him and made him realise he could only be happy with me. I still feel like I'm punching above my weight." Colman and Sinclair married in August 2001 and have three children together.

Since 2013, Colman has been a judge on the panel of the Norwich Film Festival.

Charitable work and activism

In 2013, Colman presented two awards at the Mind Media Awards, which celebrate accurate, responsible and sensitive portrayals of mental health across all areas of the media. Colman believes that "the media industry has huge influence and with that comes a responsibility to contest the stigma that sadly still exists, through accurate representation." Colman has spoken openly to the Big Issue about her experience of post-natal depression after the birth of her first child.

Inspired by her research for the film Tyrannosaur, in 2014, Colman became the patron of the UK charity Tender, which uses theatre and the arts to educate young people about how to prevent violence and sexual abuse. Colman says that domestic violence prevention can make a real difference in the lives of young people. Other charity work included participating in the Alzheimer's Society's Holkham Hall Memory Walk in September 2013. Colman's great-grandmother suffered from dementia and her mother was involved in running a nursing home for sufferers. Colman has also added her voice to charity campaigns for Marie Curie Daffodil Day (care for the terminally ill) and Anthony Nolan (blood cancer), a charity which Colman says helped a friend of hers.

In August 2014, Colman was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September 2014's referendum on the issue.

In December 2014, Colman was involved in a radio documentary about the plight of women in Afghanistan on behalf of Amnesty International for the BBC. Several women who told their stories to journalist Lyse Doucet were unable to appear because their lives might have been at risk. Colman read their stories as part of the documentary. In response to the work, Colman warned that the UK must not abandon Afghan women to the Taliban. She said, "Being a teacher, a doctor, a politician - these are important jobs but they shouldn't be dangerous ones. The brave women whose words I've voiced risk so much to educate, to care and to shape the future of their country. Women like these are the hope for Afghanistan's future and the UK must not abandon them to the Taliban now."

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Terkel in Trouble	Terkel's Mother	Voice; English dub
2005	Zemanovaload	TV Producer
	One Day	Ian's Mother	Short film
2006	Confetti	Joanna Roberts
2007	Hot Fuzz	PC Doris Thatcher
	Grow Your Own	Alice
	I Could Never Be Your Woman	Hairdresser
	Dog Altogether	Anita	Short film
2009	Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee	Olivia
2011	Tyrannosaur	Hannah
	Arrietty	Homily	Voice; UK dub
	The Iron Lady	Carol Thatcher
2012	Hyde Park on Hudson	Queen Elizabeth
2013	I Give It a Year	Linda
	Locke	Bethan Maguire
2014	Cuban Fury	Sam Garrett
	Pudsey the Dog: The Movie	Nelly the Horse	Voice
	Thomas & Friends: Tale of the Brave	Marion	Voice; English dub
2015	The Lobster	Hotel Manager
	Thomas & Friends: Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure	Marion	Voice; English dub
	London Road	Julie
2017	Murder on the Orient Express	Hildegarde Schmidt	Post-production
2018	The Favourite	Queen Anne	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Bruiser	Various characters	6 episodes
2001	The Mitchell and Webb Situation	Various characters	5 episodes
	People Like Us	Pamela Eliot	Episode: "The Vicar"
	Mr Charity	Distressed Mother	Episode: "Nice to Feed You"
	Comedy Lab	Linda	Episode: "Daydream Believers: Brand New Beamer"
2002	Rescue Me	Paula	Episode 1.4
	Holby City	Kim Prebble	Episode: "New Hearts, Old Scores"
	The Office	Helena	Episode: "Interview"
2003	Gash	Various characters	3 episodes
	Eyes Down	Mandy Foster	Episode: "Stars in Their Eyes"
	The Strategic Humour Initiative	Various characters	TV film
2003-2015	Peep Show	Sophie Chapman	32 episodes
2004	Black Books	Tanya	Episode: "Elephants and Hens"
	Swiss Toni	Linda Byron	Episode: "Troubleshooter"
	NY-LON	Lucy	Episode: "Something About Family"
	Coming Up	Receptionist	Episode: "The Baader Meinhoff Gang Show"
2004-2006	Green Wing	Harriet Schulenburg	18 episodes
2005	Angell's Hell	Belinda	TV film
	Look Around You	Pam Bachelor	6 episodes
	The Robinsons	Connie	Episode 1.3
	Murder in Suburbia	Ellie	Episode: "Golden Oldies"
	ShakespeaRe-Told	Ursula	Episode: "Much Ado About Nothing"
2006-2008	That Mitchell and Webb Look	Various characters	13 episodes
2007	The Grey Man	Linda Dodds	TV film
	The Time of Your Life	Amanda	6 episodes
2008	Love Soup	Penny	Episode: "Integrated Logistics"
	Hancock and Joan	Marion	TV film
	Consuming Passion	Janet Bottomley / Violetta Kiss	TV film
2008-2009	Beautiful People	Debbie Doonan	12 episodes
2009	Skins	Gina Campbell	Episode: "Naomi"
	Midsomer Murders	Bernice	Episode: "Small Mercies"
	Mister Eleven	Beth Paley	2 episodes
2010	Doctor Who	Mother	Episode: "The Eleventh Hour"
2010-2014	Rev	Alex Smallbone	19 episodes
2011	Exile	Nancy Ronstadt	3 episodes
2011-2012	Twenty Twelve	Sally Owen	10 episodes
2012	Accused	Sue Brown	Epidode: "Mo and Sue's Story"
	Bad Sugar	Joan Cauldwell	TV film
2013-2017	Broadchurch	DS Ellie Miller	24 episodes
2013	The Suspicions of Mr Whicher: The Murder In Angel Lane	Susan Spencer	TV film
	Run	Carol	2 episodes
	The Thirteenth Tale	Margaret Lea	TV film
	The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot	Herself	TV film
2014	Big Ballet	Narrator	3 episodes
	The 7.39	Maggie Matthews	2 episodes
	W1A	Sally Owen	Episode 1.4
	The Secrets	Pippa	Episode: "The Dilemma"
	Mr. Sloane	Janet Sloane	6 episodes
	This is Jinsy	Joan Jenkins	Episode: "The Golden Woggle"
2014-present	Thomas & Friends	Marion	Voice; 8 episodes
2016	Drunk History	Ethel Le Neve	Episode 2.7
	The Night Manager	Angela Burr	6 episodes
	Flowers	Deborah Flowers	6 episodes
	Fleabag	Stepmother	4 episodes
	We're Going on a Bear Hunt	Mum	Voice; television short
2017	Inside Dior	Narrator	2 episodes
	Watership Down	Strawberry	Voice; In-production

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Theatre
2009	England People Very Nice	Philippa	Olivier Theatre, London
2012	Hay Fever	Myra Arundel	Nol Coward Theatre, London
2017	Mosquitoes	Jenny	Royal National Theatre, London

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2008	British Comedy Awards	Best TV Comedy Actress	Peep Show
2011	Sundance Film Festival	World Cinema Special Jury Prize for Breakout Performance	Tyrannosaur
	British Independent Film Awards	Best Actress
	Chicago International Film Festival	Silver Hugo Award for Best Actress
	Empire Awards	Best Actress
	Evening Standard British Film Awards	Best Actress
	London Film Critics' Circle Awards	British Actress of the Year
	Satellite Awards	Best Actress - Motion Picture
	Voices Festival of Independent European Cinema	Best Acting Prize
	London Film Critics' Circle Awards	British Actress of the Year	The Iron Lady
2012	British Independent Film Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Hyde Park on Hudson
	Royal Television Society	Best Actress	Accused
	British Comedy Awards	Best TV Comedy Actress	Rev.
			Twenty Twelve
	British Academy Television Awards	Best Female Comedy Performance
2013
		Best Supporting Actress	Accused
	Satellite Awards	Best Actress in a Television Series - Drama	Broadchurch
	Royal Television Society	Best Actress
	Crime Thriller Awards	Best Leading Actress
2014	British Academy Television Awards	Best Actress
	Broadcasting Press Guild	Best Actress
	Monte-Carlo Television Festival	Outstanding Actress in a Miniseries
	National Television Awards	Best TV Detective
	International Emmy Awards	Best Actress
2015	TV Choice Awards	Best Actress
	British Independent Film Awards	Best Supporting Actress	The Lobster
	Evening Standard British Film Awards	Award for Comedy
	London Film Critics' Circle Awards	Supporting Actress of the Year
	British Academy Television Awards	Best Female Comedy Performance	Rev.
2016	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie	The Night Manager
	Gold Derby Awards	Best Movie/Miniseries Supporting Actress
	Online Film & Television Association Awards	Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture or Limited Series
2017	Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film
	Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film
	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries
	Gracie Awards	Actress in a Leading Role - Made for TV Movie or Limited Series
	British Academy Television Awards	Best Female Comedy Performance	Fleabag