Not many actors make an effective switch across genres. Fewer still make the change from comedy to the serious roles required for TV drama.
Olivia Colman has done this with aplomb. From her brilliant portrayal of Sophie in Peep Show to her performance in the latest, and last, series of Broadchurch she has been superb. What is it about the 43-year-old from Norwich that endears her to us all? It’s probably because she is so normal.
Her first role was Jean Brodie in a school production of “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” and that gave her the acting bug. While at Homerton College in Cambridge she met David Mitchell and Robert Webb, who were to have a huge influence on her later career.
Colman talks a lot about her early years and the need to have something to “fall back on” in hard times. That included training as a typist so she could temp between jobs, which included small parts in “Holby City” and “The Office”.
She speaks about her career in terms of not receiving any “big breaks” but that is exactly what happened when Mitchell and Webb remembered her when they were putting together a sitcom about two dysfunctional friends sharing a flat in deepest Croydon.
Peep Show went on to run for 32 episodes over 12 years, becoming the longest-running comedy in Channel 4 history. That opened further doors, and another slice of fortune saw Olivia cast as Harriett in another cult comedy, Green Wing. So much for the lack of big breaks.
A hint of the drama career to come came with small parts in Midsomer Murders and a cameo role in an episode of Doctor Who. Film work was also coming her way after a critically-acclaimed performance as Hannah in Paddy Considine’s brutal drama “Tyrannosaur”.
Colman’s versatility received the strongest possible confirmation in 2013 with a remarkable double success at the BAFTA awards, where she won Best Female Comedy Performance for the popular London Olympics-based “Twenty Twelve”, and Best Supporting Actress for the harrowing court drama “Accused”.
Then along came another of those big breaks she says she hasn’t had.
Writer Chris Chibnall was putting together a drama based on how the lives of a small close-knit community would be affected by a child’s murder. Chibnall lived near the Dorset coast and “Broadchurch” was born. Olivia Colman was cast as Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller without an audition to work alongside David Tennant, who was brought in to play the dour, some would say completely miserable, Detective Inspector Alec Hardy.
Her portrayal of Ellie carried some traces of Colman’s past life in comedy with some genuinely funny one-liners, made even more special by the contrast with Tennant’s character. It also delivered her third BAFTA, this time for Best Actress.
Broadchurch was a huge success and the knowledge that there will be no more series just adds to the appeal of the show. Going out on a high is always a good thing and Broadchurch certainly did that.
Colman also found the time to appear in another highly-rated drama, as British intelligence officer Angela Burr in the BBC adaptation of the John Le Carre novel “The Night Manager” staring Tom Hiddleston.
Colman was pregnant at the time but the producers were so desperate to have her involved that the script was adjusted to create the first heavily-pregnant spymaster in TV history. That role gave her a Golden Globe award to go with her BAFTAs and her future certainly looks rosy. She is well on the way to becoming a fully-fledged National Treasure.
Not bad for the daughter of a chartered surveyor, who has never had a “big break” in her career. by Ian Hine
The post The Amazing Women of British TV: Olivia Colman appeared first on Felix Magazine.
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