Olivia Williams
Olivia Haigh Williams (born 26 July 1968) is a British actress who has appeared in British and American films and television.
Olivia Williams | |
|---|---|
Williams in 2014 | |
| Born | Olivia Haigh Williams 26 July 1968 North London, England |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
After studying drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School for two years followed by three years at the Royal Shakespeare Company, her first significant screen role was as Jane Fairfax in the British television film Emma (1996), based on Jane Austen's novel. She made her film debut in 1997's The Postman, followed by Rushmore (1998) and The Sixth Sense (1999). Williams then appeared in several British films, including Lucky Break (2001), The Heart of Me (2002) and An Education (2009). In 2010, she won acclaim for her performance as Ruth Lang in Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer. From 2017 to 2019, she played Emily Silk on the science fiction television series Counterpart. In 2022, Williams portrayed Camilla Parker Bowles in the Netflix historical drama The Crown in its fifth season, a role she is set to reprise in its sixth and final season.
Early life
Williams was born in North London.[1] Both her parents are barristers. Williams was educated at South Hampstead High School, an independent school for girls in Hampstead in north London, followed by Newnham College, Cambridge, from which she graduated with a degree in English literature. She then studied drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School for two years and spent three years at the Royal Shakespeare Company.[2]
Career
After graduation, Williams worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company in both Stratford-upon-Avon and London. In 1995, she toured the United States in a production of Shakespeare's Richard III starring Ian McKellen. Her first significant appearance before the cameras was as Jane Fairfax in the British TV film Emma (1996), based on Jane Austen's 1816 novel.[2]
Williams made her film debut in the 1997 movie The Postman, after doing a screen test for Kevin Costner.[2] She later won the lead role of Rosemary Cross in Wes Anderson's Rushmore (1998).[3] She then starred as Bruce Willis' wife in the blockbuster The Sixth Sense (1999),[4] a film she would later parody during her brief appearance in the British sitcom Spaced. Since then, Williams has appeared in several British films, including Lucky Break (2001), The Heart of Me (2002), for which she won the British Independent Film Award for Best Actress,[5] and An Education (2009). She played Mrs. Darling in the 2003 film adaptation of Peter Pan. Williams was uncredited for her role as Dr. Moira MacTaggert in the 2006 film X-Men: The Last Stand.[6][7]
On TV, Williams portrayed British author Jane Austen in Miss Austen Regrets (2008) and was cast as Adelle DeWitt in Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, which ran on Fox from 2009 to 2010.[8]
In 2010, she won acclaim for her performance as Ruth Lang in Roman Polanski's Ghost Writer, winning the National Society of Film Critics Award, London Critics Circle Film Award for best supporting actress and was runner-up for best supporting actress at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards 2010.
In Hanna (2011), she played Rachel, a bohemian mother travelling across North Africa and Europe, who comes into contact with the eponymous teen assassin, who is on the run. The film starred Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett, and was a critical and sleeper hit. In 2014, Williams co-starred in David Cronenberg's Maps to the Stars, a dark comic look at Hollywood excess.[9] In 2014 she portrayed Meg Hamilton in the British mystery film Altar.[4]
In 2017 Williams began appearing in the Starz science-fiction series Counterpart, playing Emily, the wife of lead character Howard Silk. In one universe she is still married to him, but her counterpart in the other universe is divorced from him. In 2021, she was cast as Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, for the final two seasons of The Crown.[10]
In 2000, Williams wrote the short story "The Significance of Hair" for BBC Radio, and read it on the air.[11]
Personal life
Williams had a seven-year relationship and then engagement to the actor Jonathan Cake which ended two weeks before their planned wedding. In 2003, she married the actor and playwright Rhashan Stone, with whom she has two daughters.[12]
After filming The Postman, she spent time in Bolivia studying spectacled bears in the rainforest.[13][14]
Williams was diagnosed with VIPoma in 2018 and, after treatment, became an ambassador for Pancreatic Cancer UK.[15]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Beck | Karen Quinn | |
| 1997 | Gaston's War | Nicky | |
| 1997 | The Postman | Abby | |
| 1998 | Rushmore | Rosemary Cross | |
| 1999 | The Sixth Sense | Anna Crowe | |
| 2000 | Four Dogs Playing Poker | Audrey | |
| 2000 | Born Romantic | Eleanor | |
| 2000 | Dead Babies | Diana | aka Mood Swingers |
| 2001 | The Body | Sharon Golban | |
| 2001 | Lucky Break | Annabel Sweep / Lady Hamilton in show | |
| 2001 | The Man from Elysian Fields | Andrea | |
| 2002 | The Heart of Me | Madeleine | |
| 2002 | Below | Claire | |
| 2003 | To Kill a King | Anne Fairfax | |
| 2003 | Peter Pan | Mrs. Darling | |
| 2005 | Valiant | Victoria (voice) | |
| 2005 | Tara Road | Ria | |
| 2005 | Mockingbird | Mother | |
| 2008 | Flashbacks of a Fool | Grace Scott | |
| 2008 | Broken Lines | Zoe | |
| 2009 | An Education | Miss Stubbs | |
| 2010 | The Ghost Writer | Ruth Lang | |
| 2010 | Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll | Betty Dury | |
| 2011 | Collaborator | Emma Stiles | |
| 2011 | Hanna | Rachel | |
| 2011 | Wild Bill | Kelly | |
| 2012 | Anna Karenina | Countess Vronskaya | |
| 2012 | Now Is Good | Mother | |
| 2012 | Hyde Park on Hudson | Eleanor Roosevelt | |
| 2013 | The Last Days on Mars | Kim Aldrich | |
| 2013 | Justin and the Knights of Valour | Queen (voice) | |
| 2014 | Sabotage | Caroline Brentwood | |
| 2014 | Maps to the Stars | Cristina Weiss | |
| 2014 | Altar | Meg Hamilton | |
| 2015 | Seventh Son | Mam Ward | |
| 2015 | Man Up | Hilary | |
| 2016 | The White King | Sophia (voice) | |
| 2017 | Victoria & Abdul | Jane Spencer | |
| 2020 | The Father | The Woman |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Van der Valk | Irene Kortman | 1 episode: "Still Waters" |
| 1992 | The Ruth Rendell Mysteries | Jennifer Norris | 1 episode: "The Speaker of Mandarin" |
| 1996 | Emma | Jane Fairfax | |
| 1998 | Friends | Felicity | 2 episodes |
| 2000 | Jason and the Argonauts | Hera | |
| 2001 | Spaced | Knocked-down cyclist | 1 episode: "Help" |
| 2004 | Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures | Agatha Christie | |
| 2006 | Krakatoa: The Last Days | Johanna Beijerinck | |
| 2007 | Damage | Michelle Cahill | |
| 2008 | Miss Austen Regrets | Jane Austen | |
| 2009–2010 | Dollhouse | Adelle DeWitt | Main role |
| 2010 | Terriers | Miriam Foster | |
| 2011–2012 | Case Sensitive | Charlie Zailer | |
| 2014 | Salting the Battlefield | Belinda Kay | |
| 2014–2015 | Manhattan | Liza Winter | Main role |
| 2017 | The Halcyon | Lady Hamilton | |
| 2017–2019 | Counterpart | Emily Burton Silk | Main role |
| 2021 | The Nevers | Lavinia Bidlow | Main role |
| 2022 | Ten Percent | Olivia Williams | Series 1, episode 2 |
| 2022–present | The Crown | Camilla Parker Bowles[16] | Main role (Seasons 5–6) |
Theatre
| Year | Production | Role | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Richard III | ||
| 2003 | Love's Labour's Lost[17] | The Princess | Olivier Theatre, National Theatre, London |
| 2003 | The Hotel in Amsterdam[18] | Annie | Donmar Warehouse, London |
| 2006 | The Changeling[19] | Beatrice-Joanna | Cheek by Jowl production at the Barbican Centre, London |
| 2011 | In a Forest, Dark and Deep[20] | Betty | Vaudeville Theatre, London |
| 2015 | Waste | Amy O'Connell | Lyttelton Theatre, National Theatre, London |
| 2017 | Mosquitoes[21] | Alice | Dorfman Theatre, National Theatre, London |
| 2019 | Tartuffe | Elmire | Lyttelton Theatre, National Theatre, London |
| 2022 | Marys Seacole[22] | May | Donmar Warehouse, London |
Awards and nominations
- 2001: Lucky Break
Nominated: Empire Award for Best Actress
- 2002: The Heart of Me
Won: British Independent Film Award for Best Actress
- 2009: An Education
Nominated: London Film Critics Circle Award for British Supporting Actress of the Year
Nominated: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
- 2010: The Ghost Writer
Won: London Film Critics Circle Award for British Supporting Actress of the Year
Won: National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated: Empire Award for Best Actress
Nominated: Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Notes
- ^ "Olivia Williams: The actor on poor pay for women in Hollywood, Bill Murray, and Bolivian spectacled bears" 25 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. The independent. Retrieved 24 May 2015
- ^ a b c Gilbert, Gerard (15 November 2009). "Olivia Williams: 'I just do what I'm told'". The Independent. London. from the original on 6 September 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2009.
- ^ Hodgkinson, Will (20 January 2001). "Dead good : Returning from Hollywood to star in British movies would be a step back for most, but Sixth Sense star Olivia Williams was tempted by sex, drugs and cruelty". The Guardian. London. from the original on 23 June 2006. Retrieved 30 May 2006.
- ^ a b "Altar". 9 March 2015. from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
- ^ . BIFA · British Independent Film Awards. Archived from the original on 13 March 2013.
- ^ Martin, Michileen (24 June 2022). "Exclusive: Gillian Anderson Joins Marvel In Major Role". GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
- ^ Pereira, Sergio (19 January 2018). "15 Actors You Completely Forgot Were In X-Men Movies". ScreenRant. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (3 April 2008). . The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 10 May 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2008.
- ^ "Mia Wasikowska & More Join David Cronenberg's 'Maps To The Stars,' Some Story Details Revealed". from the original on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
- ^ Smith, Julia Llewellyn (5 February 2022). "Olivia Williams: My big royal comeback — now I'm playing Camilla in The Crown". The Times.
- ^ "Opening Lines". from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
- ^ Costa, Maddy (9 January 2008). "Maddy Costa talks to actor Olivia Williams". The Guardian. London. from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
- ^ Hoggard, Liz (13 April 2003). "How we met? Olivia Williams & Susanna Paisley". The Independent on Sunday (republished on LookSmart). from the original on 3 November 2007. Retrieved 23 September 2007.
- ^ Ojumu, Akin (4 July 1999). "Everyone's talking about... Olivia Williams". The Observer. London. from the original on 18 June 2006. Retrieved 11 July 2006.
- ^ "Olivia Williams becomes Pancreatic Cancer UK ambassador". Pancreatic Cancer UK. 6 November 2019.
- ^ Nugent, Annabel (30 April 2021). "The Crown: Olivia Williams set to play as Camilla Parker Bowles in season five and six". The Independent. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- ^ Bassett, Kate (2 March 2003). "Love's Labour's Lost, NT Olivier, London; Honour, NT Cottesloe, London; The Green Man, Bush, London; Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Donmar Warehouse, London : Parting is such sugary sorrow". The Independent.[dead link]
- ^ Bassett, Kate (21 September 2003). "The Hotel in Amsterdam, Donmar Warehouse, London; A Woman of No Importance, Haymarket Theatre Royal, London; The Recruiting Officer, Garrick, Lichfield : Charming, funny... and totally vile". The Independent.[permanent dead link] Taylor, Paul (22 September 2003). "The Hotel In Amsterdam, Donmar Warehouse, London : Lounging around can be highly entertaining". The Independent.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Williams, Olivia (4 May 2006). "Diary of a nervous star : Olivia Williams, star of The Sixth Sense, is appearing on stage in The Changeling. In her tour diary, she says it's scarier than Hollywood". The Independent. London.[permanent dead link] Coveney, Michael (17 May 2006). . The Independent. Archived from the original on 5 February 2007. Retrieved 7 September 2017. Bassett, Kate (21 May 2006). "The Changeling, Barbican, London : Lost in the labyrinth". The Independent.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Billington, Michael (14 March 2011). "In a Forest Dark and Deep – review". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
- ^ Billington, Michael (26 July 2017). "Mosquitoes review – sparring sisters collide in Lucy Kirkwood's science stormer". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
- ^ "Olivia Williams: 'I have unattractive knees. They have taken offence at my scathing remarks and decided to stop functioning'". TheGuardian.com. 30 April 2022.
Further reading
- "My Story – Olivia Williams". The Independent on Sunday. London. 6 September 1998.
- "Getting personal with Olivia Williams". The Guardian. London. 17 August 1999.
- Matheou, Demetrios (20 August 1999). "Olivia in La-La land: For years she was a jobbing actor in regional theatre. Then Olivia Williams got the call from Kevin Costner. She's never looked back". The Guardian. London.
- Brett, Anwar (23 April 2003). "Olivia Williams: The Heart of Me". BBC.
- Tennant, Laura (25 April 2003). "Olivia Williams: Growing up in public". The Independent. London.[dead link]
External links
- Media related to Olivia Williams at Wikimedia Commons
- Olivia Williams at IMDb