Olivia Williams

Early life

Williams was born in North London. Both her parents are barristers.

Williams was educated at South Hampstead High School, an independent school for girls in Hampstead in north London, and Newnham College, Cambridge, where 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.

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 the National Theatre 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.

Williams made her film debut in the 1997 movie The Postman, after doing a screen test for Kevin Costner. She later won the lead role of Rosemary Cross in Wes Anderson's Rushmore (1998). She then starred as Bruce Willis' wife in the blockbuster The Sixth Sense (1999), a film she would later parody during her brief appearance in the British sitcom Spaced.

In 2000, Williams wrote the short story "The Significance of Hair" for BBC Radio and read it on the air.

Since 2001, 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, 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.

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.

In 2010, Williams won acclaim for her performance as Ruth Lang in Roman Polanski's The 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), Williams 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. In 2014 she portrayed Meg Hamilton in the British mystery film Altar.

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 Parker Bowles, for the final two seasons of The Crown.

Personal life

She 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.

After filming The Postman, she spent time in Bolivia studying spectacled bears in the rainforest.

Williams was diagnosed with VIPoma in 2018 and, after treatment, became an ambassador for Pancreatic Cancer UK.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

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

• 2023 and 2024: The Crown:

  • Nominated: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

Notes

References

1. [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/olivia-williams-the-actor-on-poor-pay-for-women-in-hollywood-bill-murray-and-bolivian-spectacled-bears-10007006.html "Olivia Williams: The actor on poor pay for women in Hollywood, Bill Murray, and Bolivian spectacled bears"] {{Webarchive. link. (25 September 2015. The independent. Retrieved 24 May 2015)
2. Gilbert, Gerard. (15 November 2009). "Olivia Williams: 'I just do what I'm told'". The Independent.
3. 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]].
4. "Opening Lines".
5. "British Independent Film Awards · BIFA".
6. Martin, Michileen. (24 June 2022). "Exclusive: Gillian Anderson Joins Marvel In Major Role".
7. Pereira, Sergio. (19 January 2018). "15 Actors You Completely Forgot Were In X-Men Movies".
8. Andreeva, Nellie. (3 April 2008). "Olivia Williams cast in 'Dollhouse'". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
9. "Mia Wasikowska & More Join David Cronenberg's 'Maps To The Stars,' Some Story Details Revealed". The Playlist.
10. (9 March 2015). "Altar".
11. Smith, Julia Llewellyn. (5 February 2022). "Olivia Williams: My big royal comeback — now I'm playing Camilla in The Crown". The Times.
12. Costa, Maddy. (9 January 2008). "Maddy Costa talks to actor Olivia Williams". The Guardian.
13. Hoggard, Liz. (13 April 2003). "How we met? Olivia Williams & Susanna Paisley". [[The Independent.
14. Ojumu, Akin. (4 July 1999). "Everyone's talking about... Olivia Williams". [[The Observer]].
15. (6 November 2019). "Olivia Williams becomes Pancreatic Cancer UK ambassador".
16. (28 November 2023). "Report: ''The Nevers''{{-'}} Olivia Williams Joins ''The Wheel of Time'' Season 3".
17. Ayoola, Simbiat. (1 February 2023). "''The Trouble With Jessica'' Trailer: Indira Varma Causes Chaos at Dinner".
18. Nugent, Annabel. (30 April 2021). "''The Crown'': Olivia Williams set to play as Camilla Parker Bowles in season five and six". [[The Independent]].
19. Otterson, Joe. (2024-10-15). "'Monster' Season 3 Casts Laurie Metcalf as Ed Gein's Mother, Tom Hollander as Alfred Hitchcock and Olivia Williams as Alma Reville (EXCLUSIVE)".
20. Bassett, Kate. (2 March 2003}}{{dead link). "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]].
21. Bassett, Kate. (21 September 2003}}{{Dead link). "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]].
22. 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]].
23. (14 March 2011). "In a Forest Dark and Deep – review". The Guardian.
24. (26 July 2017). "Mosquitoes review – sparring sisters collide in Lucy Kirkwood's science stormer". The Guardian.
25. (30 April 2022). "Olivia Williams: 'I have unattractive knees. They have taken offence at my scathing remarks and decided to stop functioning'".