Olivia Colman

Biography

Sarah Caroline Sinclair CBE (née Colman; born 30 January 1974), known professionally as Olivia Colman, is an English actress. Known for her comedic and dramatic roles in film and television, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Emmy Awards, three British Academy Television Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards.

A graduate of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Colman's breakthrough came in the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show (2003–2015). Her other comedic roles on television include Green Wing (2004–2006), That Mitchell and Webb Look (2006–2008), Beautiful People (2008–2009), Rev.

 (2010–2014), Flowers (2016–2018), and Fleabag (2016–2019). Colman received the BAFTA Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for the comedy programme Twenty Twelve (2011–2012) and Best Supporting Actress for the crime programme Accused (2012).

She was acclaimed for her performance in the ITV crime-drama series Broadchurch (2013–2017), for which she received a British Academy Television Award for Best Actress. Colman also appeared in the BBC One thriller miniseries The Night Manager (2016), for which she received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film. 

She played Queen Elizabeth II from 2019 to 2020 in the Netflix period-drama series The Crown, for which she received a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Other television roles include Les Misérables (2019), Landscapers (2021), and Heartstopper (2022–present).

For her portrayal of Anne, Queen of Great Britain in the period black-comedy film The Favourite (2018), Colman won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She received additional Academy Award nominations for her performances in The Father (2020) and The Lost Daughter (2021).

 Other notable film credits include Hot Fuzz (2007), Tyrannosaur (2011), The Iron Lady (2011), Hyde Park on Hudson (2012), Locke (2013), The Lobster (2015), Murder on the Orient Express (2017), The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021), Empire of Light (2022), and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022).

Colman was born in Norwich on 30 January 1974, the daughter of nurse Mary (née Leakey) and chartered surveyor Keith Colman. She was privately educated at Norwich High School for Girls and Gresham's School in Holt, Norfolk. Colman's first role was Jean Brodie in a school production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie at age 16.

 She cites her mother's interrupted career as a ballet dancer as an inspiration to pursue acting professionally. Colman spent a term studying primary education at Homerton College, Cambridge before studying drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, from which she graduated in 1999.

 During her time at Cambridge, she appeared in the Channel 4 series The Word in 1995 under her nickname "Colly", auditioned for the Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, and met future co-stars David Mitchell and Robert Webb.