THE REASON OLIVIA COLMAN HAS STOPPED SMILING!
THE REGAL RISE OF OLIVIA COLMAN GOES ON AS SHE MOVES FROM HER ACCLAIMED ROLE AS QUEEN ANNE TO PLAY OUR CURRENT MONARCH
From Peep Show ’s Croydon flatshare to Buckingham Palace, Olivia Colman’s career trajectory is unprecedented. The actress who found fame as Sophie in the cult Channel 4 sitcom with David Mitchell and Robert Webb is now, 16 years later, taking over the throne as Queen Elizabeth II in popular Netflix series The Crown.
Mingling in royal circles is something Olivia is becoming accustomed to. Just last month she received a CBE for services to drama, though rather than the real Queen, the honour was bestowed on her by Princess Anne.
This has been a huge year for Olivia, who bagged a Bafta, an Oscar and a Golden Globe, plus many other awards, for her portrayal of 18th century monarch Queen Anne in The Favourite.
Her Oscar, she says, now takes pride of place in the south London home she shares with husband Ed Sinclair and their three children. She admits: ‘It’s bonkers!
It’s in our sitting room, on the sideboard, and we keep laughing at it.
‘It looks fake, it’s so shiny. And it’s really heavy! I could do some amazing weight lifts.’
Being at the top of her game and in such high demand, Olivia admits she enjoys the privileged position of being able to turn down work in order to maintain some normality for her family.
‘I get homesick. If [filming] isn’t in the school holidays, so we can all go together, I don’t want to do it. I did a little film in Ohio for two weeks, and that was the longest I’ve been away from Ed in 25 years,’ she explains.
But The Crown, it seems, was too good an opportunity to miss, despite it being one of the longest shoots she’s ever done.
Here, the 45-year-old star talks about royal etiquette and how she didn’t turn to Helen Mirren for any tips on playing the Queen…
How old were you when you decided you wanted to become an actress, Olivia?
I was 16 years old when I was in my first school play. I was always so s**tty at everything at school, but I suddenly found something I could do. After that, I really didn’t want to do anything else ever again. And so far, no one’s found me out, so I’ll keep doing it until they go: ‘Hang on, she’s rubbish.’
The Crown writer Peter Morgan also wrote the Helen Mirren movie The Queen. Did you speak to Helen about your royal role? No, but that would’ve been nice, I should have done that. Damn it! No, there isn’t a Rolodex of names that you can call up. [The Queen] is a character we’re all fascinated by and many actors will play her
over the years – and many have already. If I am playing a role where there is a previous version of it, I prefer not to have seen it. That doesn’t help me. I don’t really want to know how other people did it.
The Queen is renowned for her love of corgis. How did you find the dogs on set? The corgis were hilarious. I love dogs, I’ve always had dogs at home. The corgis on set were called Prince and Lily. Prince was very well behaved but Lily was a little bugger. She was hilarious. She would give a naughty look as if to say: ‘No, I’m not going to do that.’ I would always have my pockets full of dog snacks to try to make them like me more.
The Queen loves to ride horses. How are you around horses?
The Favourite was the first time I’d ever touched a horse, and then I had to sit on it. They still terrify me, but I’m in awe of them and I think they are beautiful. They gave me a sofa type horse – something that was very reliable.
What physical challenges did you face in portraying the Queen?
I’m not supposed to smile as much as I do; that was fun. I had to put on a lot of weight for Queen Anne in The Favourite but I had to lose a lot of weight for this. Well, I didn’t have to because everyone was incredibly polite and nice, but I said: ‘I need to lose weight.’ They were very sweet and supportive about it. It would have felt a bit wrong to play Queen Elizabeth
II as the same size as Queen Anne. I probably wouldn’t say yes to putting on weight again for a job, because it’s been very difficult to lose!
How would you describe your experience on the set of The Crown?
It’s been the longest job I’ve ever done, but I would look forward to it every morning. Often, you can do a four week job and it feels like a year – but this is the opposite way around, which is really a good thing, isn’t it? I really enjoyed it.
Helena Bonham Carter used a medium to get her into the role of Princess Margaret. Did you do anything similar to channel Her Majesty?
Helena and I have very different approaches, each to their own. No, I haven’t approached a medium because the Queen is still alive. That would be weird!
The cast were given etiquette lessons to prepare for their royal roles. What did you learn?
No one can start eating until the Queen starts. This queen is very nice, but previous monarchs have eaten very quickly and then stopped, so everyone’s thinking, God, I’ve got to stop eating now because she’s stopped, but I’m starving! Those sessions were really fun and we got a lovely lunch, too.
Why do you think the royal family is still so popular in the UK?
That’s a very difficult question, I don’t know. But I have to say that through doing this job, I have fallen in love with them a little bit. It’s not a job I’d want, however. I think there’s something about tradition that all countries like. Tourists go to each country to see a little bit of what was there before and what’s different from where we all come from.
What do you think of the Queen?
I think the Queen is a rather solid rock for us all, she’s always there. We have all these different prime ministers who come and go; it’s a massive jolt and a massive change every time, but there’s always one person who’s there, which is quite nice, actually.
THE THIRD SERIES OF ‘THE CROWN’ WILL BE AVAILABLE ON NETFLIX FROM NOVEMBER 17
‘i think the queen is a rather solid rock for us all’
‘I PROBABLY WOULDN’T SAY YES TO PUTTING ON WEIGHT AGAIN FOR A JOB’