Olivia Coleman's story: how the former cleaning lady won an Oscar for the role of queen

The Oscar of the best actress went to 45-year-old Olivia Coleman, who plays the role of Queen Anne in the dramatic comedy of Yorgos Lantimos, Favorite. Few people know that in her youth, Olivia worked as a cleaner and sometimes she could not even buy food.

The speech of Olivia Coleman during the presentation of the award was one of the best moments of the ceremony. The actress clearly did not expect the statuette to get to her, to take into account that the movie “Favorite”, in which Coleman played the main character, did not take any more nominations, writes OK. Magazine.

Who knows if the director's talent of Lantimos helped her to reveal her, or this image of the hysterical and suspicious queen allowed her to display her acting abilities as much as possible. But now Coleman has an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a prize of the British Film Academy, and the Volpi Cup of the Venice Film Festival.

However, the path of the actress to her triumph was not so easy. Teleprogramma.pro offers to learn a little about her biography.

Faithful wife and mother of three children

Olivia Coleman was born on 30 on January 1974, in Norwich, Norfolk, England. Her mother, Mary, was a nurse, and her father, Keith Coleman, was a surveyor.

Olivia herself flew out of the parental nest early, and her family can be called a role model. With her husband, lawyer and writer Ed Sinclair, Olivia began dating in 1993 when she was 19 years old. Only in 2001, the couple decided that it was time to legalize the relationship, which was done. In 2005, their first child, Hall Joseph, was born, two years later, their second son, Finn, was born. In August 2015, Olivia's dream of a daughter came true - at 41, the actress gave birth to her third child.

From cleaners to the owner of the Oscar

In 16 years, as a schoolgirl, she first appeared on the stage and then realized that she did not want to be anyone but an actress. Before completing drama courses in 1999, she studied for a semester at a primary school teacher.

Back in 1990, Coleman began working in movies. First, she voiced one of the heroes of the animated series “Thomas the Tank Engine and His Friends”, then played small roles in British TV shows. Money with her husband was sorely lacking, and from time to time the actress had to look for a side job - now as a cleaner, now as a secretary.

The actress remembered the days when she could only dream of the award: “I worked as a cleaner, I loved this job, but I spent a lot of time dreaming about everything about it.” For some period of time, Coleman was so short of money that she lived for two months in the attic of a friend and rummaged through the sofa cushions in search of coins to buy at least one potato for dinner.

Her career went uphill only in 2011, when Olivia won a special jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival, the British Independent Film Prize, the Empire Cinema Prize, the Sputnik Award and many other awards for her role in the film “Tyrannosaurus”.

In the movie “Murder on the Beach,” Olivia Coleman played a police officer.

Two years later, she was successful in roles in the comedy series Twelve Twelve and in the series Defendants - they both won the BAFTA TV award. She received her third and fourth award in 2013 and 2014 for her role in the TV series Murder on the Beach.

The role in the film "Night Administrator" (2016) could not get our heroine because of her pregnancy. But Olivia was able to convince director Suzanne Bjer to take her, citing as an example actress Frances McDormand, who, being in position, starred in the film “Fargo” (1996), and also received an Oscar. The director agreed with her arguments and did not regret it - Coleman brought this film Golden Globe, as well as an Emmy nomination.

Shooting in "Favorite"

Olivia had to work with Favoritke director Yorgos Lantimos before — he shot the Lobster film, where she played the role of hotel administrator. In the same film, Rachel Weiss played one of the main roles, which became Olivia's partner in Favorite.

However, this time Coleman had to play a more important “bird” than the last time. And it was necessary to prepare for shooting more carefully. For the role of Anna Stewart, the actress was forced to get fat. She ate, ate and ate, as a result of which she gained 16 a kilogram and actually looked like a queen.

Anna Stewart, the screenwriters made a capricious, whimsical, suspicious, real drama queen. Looking at all her “grimaces and jumps”, the viewer cannot help but laugh, but at the same time sympathizes with the stupid middle-aged lady who turned out to be a puppet in the hands of others.

It was here that Olivia Coleman, who gained a lot of acting and life experience, was able to "roam" to glory. And now, thanks to “Favorite”, she will be holding a statuette of the American Film Academy on the shelf.

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