OLIVIA COLMAN
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE With her memorable appearances in TV dramas, off-beat comedies and box-office hits, this versatile actress is at the top of her game.
For once, Olivia Colman is being upstaged. We are in the garden of a beautifully dilapidated house in Camberwell where the actress is posing. She looks every bit the Emmy-nominated star she is, except no one is looking at her. Instead, all eyes are on Alfred the cockapoo. Alfred Lord Waggyson, to give him his full title, has been a member of the Colman clan for four years and has clearly picked up some acting skills. When the photographer says ‘turn to the left’, Alfred obliges. When he says ‘look to the camera’, Alfred as good as winks. But then, this dog has learnt from one of the best.
In the past five years, his owner has rocketed to the status of national treasure, and deservedly so. As well as her recent Emmy nomination for her portrayal of a feisty spymaster in the BBC’s adaptation of John le Carré’s novel The Night Manager, Colman won two Baftas in 2013 for Accused and Twenty Twelve, and a third in 2014 for Broadchurch.
Whether she’s playing a frantic mother who forgets her trousers in Green Wing, an endearingly funny vicar’s wife in Rev or a passive-aggressive stepmother in Fleabag, Colman brings an unmatched honesty and authenticity to her characters. But how does she do it? ‘I just feel it,’ she says. ‘I feel sad and then I am sad. My book on acting would be very short.’
Short but effective. Even the stoniest of viewers struggled to keep a dry eye when her Broadchurch character discovered the murderer was her husband. It turns out that Colman couldn’t either. ‘Once I start crying, I can’t stop. I am an emotional person. My nerve endings are quite close to the surface.’ Consequently, she is just as ready to laugh. Her talent for comedy is displayed in Peep Show, Hot Fuzz and Flowers, and she is equally funny in person.
Born in Norwich, Colman auditioned for the Cambridge Footlights while she was training to be a teacher. She immediately felt at home. ‘I found my crowd of little weird people who were not very able to do a normal job.’ This included her future husband, the actor and writer Ed Sinclair. They have lived in Peckham for the past 18 years, ‘before all the trendies arrived’, and have two sons and a daughter.
Her list of favourite things includes sitting on the sofa with her children, getting into bed and builder’s tea. It is this down-to-earth charm that makes it impossible not to love Colman, both off and on screen. She is clearly a joyful person doing something she relishes. ‘I know the stories of actors who are dark and troubled are more interesting to hear about, but most actors are really happy because they get to do all that stuff: have a good shout, have a good cry and go home at the end of the day. It seems like a healthy life to me.’