TRISTRAM HUNT
TV historian, former MP and director of the V&A Museum
HOW lovely to see my old friend Olivia “Collie” Colman stand up in front of Hollywood’s A-list brandishing an Oscar for Best Actress. Her role as Queen Anne in the hit history film The Favourite wowed critics for its depth of emotion, pitch perfect comedy timing, and disturbing, dark energy.
The Vanity Fair afterparties and film industry accolades are a long way from the dank and dreary rehearsal rooms of Cambridge, where I first knew her.
In the early 90s, Collie was studying to be a teacher at Cambridge University, where we were both involved in The Footlights comedy group. Looking back, it was a pretty stellar collection of talent: Rob Webb and David Mitchell; Daniel Mazer and Sacha Baron Cohen, who would create Ali G and Borat; and many other aspiring thespians.
But right from the start, Collie stood out for her humility, dead-pan comedy poise, and theatrical range.
I had the privilege very briefly to direct her in one Footlights show, and her brilliance was obvious. Perhaps Collie’s one weakness was a tendency to find the jokes far too funny, which resulted in lots of corpsing on stage.
Yet her strength was the ability to be as compelling in tragedy as comedy, grand ensembles as well as intimate productions. And always displaying her humour, graciousness and sheer delight in the stage.
Since then, I have watched her progress with much admiration, not least in Broadchurch, which rightly brought her national acclaim for the intensity of her performance.
Historians are delighted that she has revived interest in the early 18th century. Politicians celebrate the continuing strength of British “soft power” in film, theatre and literature.
And old friends of Collie’s feel a warm glow in reflecting on how far this young actress from Norwich has come, and how her spontaneous, joyous response to her fame suggests how little she has changed. BY CHRISTOPHER BUCKTIN SHE was once a struggling actress who took a job as a cleaner to make ends meet.
But now Olivia Colman is expected to bank more than £25million after winning the Best Actress Oscar.
Experts reckon Olivia’s Academy Award, for her portrayal of Queen Anne in The Favourite, places her in a “new strata” in Hollywood and paves the way for big money roles.
But in a year where she won three Baftas and two Golden Globes, Olivia, 45, was not expecting to pick up the most prestigious prize of all and had not even written a speech.
Asked how much was prepared, she replied, “none of it”, adding winning is “not an every day occurrence”.
She admitted having “no idea” how she is feeling following the win. The actress added: “Next year I’ll be able to put it into words but I don’t know what to do with myself at the moment.” Olivia did manage to string some words together on stage, admitting the experience of winning was “genuinely quite stressful”, adding: “This is hilarious. I’ve got an Oscar.”
Backstage, Olivia, married to Ed Sinclair for 18 years, said she would be sleeping with her gong.
Asked where she would put it, she replied: “In bed with me, between me and my husband. He doesn’t know yet. He won’t mind.” Olivia is mum to three children, aged 13, 11 and three, and she said she hoped they were watching on TV because they were staying in LA at her agent’s home.
Laughing about the long break between her youngest and the other two, she said: “There was a gap. I had to persuade my husband for a few years to have it. I am saying too much.” THE mother of murdered toddler James Bulger has spoken of her relief after a movie about her son’s death failed to win an Oscar.
The film Detainment dramatises police interviews with Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, who were 10 when they murdered two-year-old James in Liverpool in 1993. His When asked what her character Queen Anne would say of her award, she joked: “Have some cake. I am going to find some blue cake, eat too much and be sick. If you have seen the film, it makes sense. It wasn’t just a weird thing to say.” Olivia, also star of Netflix series The Crown, piled on two-and-a-half stone to play the sweet-toothed 18th mum Denise Fergus, 51, was angry at not being consulted over the film, which was up for best live action short. She said: “I’m so made up ... can’t tell you how relieved I am.”
Israeli director Guy Nattiv won with Skin, starring Jamie Bell and Vera Farmiga, about a neo-Nazi who turns his back on his gang. ANGER Denise Fergus