Born January 30, 1974 in Norfolk, England, Sarah Caroline Colman, known professionally as Olivia Colman, is the daughter of a nurse mother and chartered surveyor father.
Privately schooled, Colman’s first acting assignment was in a school production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. She made her professional acting debut in 2000 in the British comedy sketch show, Buster. She married husband ed Sinclair in 2001 with whom she has three children who turned 19, 17, and 9, respectively in August, 2024..
Colman continued to work on TV and in the occasional film, mostly in small roles until 2004’s Green Wing, another sketch show, which kept her employed through 2006. In 2007, she had her first important role on screen in Hot Fuzz, her first film with Paddy Considine who later directed her in 2011’s Tyrannosaur, for which they both received awards. In the meantime, it was back to supporting roles including a standout one in a 2009 episode of Midsomer Murders.
In 2011, she went toe-to-toe with Meryl Streep as her mother in The Iron Lady for which she won the London Film Critics Circle Award for Best British Actress of the Year in conjunction with her charity shop worker in Tyrannosaur. In 2012, she starred as Queen Elizabeth (later Queen Mother Elizabeth) alongside Samuel West as Bertie (George VI) in Hyde Park on Hudson documenting the king and queen’s 1939 visit with President and Mrs. Roosevelt played by Bill Murray and Laura Linney.
Colman received her first major award from U.S. critics for her portrayal of the hotel manager in Yorgos Lanthimos’ 2015 film, The Lobster. Three years later, she would win numerous awards, including an Oscar, for playing Queen Anne in Lanthimos’ The Favourite. In the meantime, she played the part of Judi Dench’s companion in Kenneth Branagh’s remake of Murder on the Orient Express with Branagh as Hercule Poirot. Only Dench, in the role that Wendy Hiller played in Sidney Lumet’s 1974 version, received any kind of awards recognition.
From 2019-2020, Colman had one of her greatest successes as the middle-aged Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown, succeeding Claire Foy who played the monarch in her earlier years, and preceding Imelda Staunton who played her in later years for which she received an Emmy.
Colman was again the recipient of awards recognition including an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress as Anthony Hopkins’ daughter in 2020’s The Father. Neither awards recognition nor box-office support was given 2021’s Mothering Sunday despite a distinguished cast that included in addition to Colman, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, and Glenda Jackson in her first film in thirty years. The same year’s Lost Daughter was a different story, earning Colman her third Oscar nomination, her second for a lead performance. Jessie Buckley was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress for playing the younger version of Colman’s character.
2022’s Empire of Light was a highly anticipated film for which many expected Colman to receive a fourth Oscar nomination, but the film was a major flop, earning just one Oscar nomination for its cinematography. In 2023, she had supporting roles in Barbie, Wicked Little Letters, and Wonka. Next up is 2024’s Paddington in Peru.
Olivia Colman is still going strong at 50.
ESSENTIAL FILMS
THE LOBSTER (2015), directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Taking place in the dystopian near future, this darkly hilarious romantic drama was nominated for an Oscar for its cleverly constructed screenplay. It fared better with numerous U.K. awards groups including Best Actor for Colin Farrell as a recently divorced architect, Best Supporting Actor for Ben Whishaw as a curiously limping man, and Best Supporting Actress for Colman as the manager of hotel where single people are sent to find a romantic partner in 45 days or be changed into an animal of their choice. The lobster is Farrell’s choice. Rachel Weitz co-starred as Farrell’s potential romantic partner.
THE FAVOURITE (2018), directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
The title of the film refers to Emma Stone who elbows Rachel Weitz out of the way to become the favorite of Queen Anne, played by Colman. Set in 1704, the film never mentions Anne husband, King George of Denmark, who didn’t die until 1708 or their children, all of whom predeceased her. The elaborately produced historical drama is categorized as a comedy and it is to an extent, but it’s also a deeply affecting drama. Weisz’s character, Sarah Churchill was the antecedent of both Winston Churchill and Princess Diana. Colman won a Best Actress Oscar as the depressed queen while Stone and Weisz, whose roles were larger, were nominated in support.
THE CROWN (2019-2020), directed by various directors
Colman and Tobias Menzies were Elizabeth and Phillip during the third and fourth years of the six-year series, from the turbulent 60s through the 80s. Topics ranged from the death of Winston Churchill to the moon landing to the rise and fall of Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson). Privately it covered everything from the sexual escapades of Princess Margaret (Helena Bonham Carter) to the romance and marriage of Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor) and Princess Diana (Emma Corrin) to their breakup involving Camilla Parker Bowes (Emerald Fennell). Colman was nominated for an Emmy for both seasons, winning in her second year.
THE FATHER (2020), directed by Florian Zeller
Anthony Hopkins won a surprise second Best Actor as a man losing his grip on reality as he battles dementia. No longer able to distinguish what is really going on from what he imagines, Hopkins gave the performance of his life at the age of 83. A small, but superb supporting cast led by Colman in an Oscar nominated performance as his exasperated daughter, play characters he alternately recognizes and doesn’t. Colman’s character is called Anne. Rufus Sewell plays her husband, Paul. The other two principal players, Mark Gatiss and Olivia Williams, are billed simply as the man and the woman.
THE LOST DAUGHTER (2021), directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal
Filmed on a Greek island in the midst of the covid-19 crisis, this intriguing character study provides Colman with her third Oscar nomination, her second in a led role, as a woman confronting both the activity around her and her troubled past. Jessie Buckley received a nomination as Best Supporting Actress for playing Colman’s character in the film’s flashback sequences. Gyllenhaal was also nominated for her adapted screenplay. The outstanding supporting cast includes Dakota Johnson, Ed Harris, Peter Sarsgaard (Gyllenhaal’s husband), Dagmara Dominczyk, Jack Farthing, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and Paul Mescal in his film debut.
OLIVIA COLMAN AND OSCAR
The Favourite (2018) – Oscar – Best Actress
The Father (2020) – nominated – Best Supporting Actress
The Lost Daughter (2021) – nominated – Best Actress
