8 Best Olivia Colman Roles You Never Knew About

Hot Fuzz

Olivia Colman is well one of the greatest actors working today , and while she ’s been a big star in the UK for years , she was n’t peculiarly well - have sex in America before star as Queen Anne in Yorgos Lanthimos ’ satirical historical epicThe Favourite .

The function just earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress , beating out terrific public presentation by the likes of Lady Gaga and Glenn Close . Now that she ’s entered the mainstream , we should calculate back on her telling pre - Oscar win body of work . So , without further ado , here are the 8 near Olivia Colman role you never knew about .

Ellie Miller inBroadchurch

Broadchurchis a murder whodunit series with three seasons of eight episodes each . The creator of the series always envisioned the show as a trilogy , and so there wo n’t be any more seasons in the future . But that does n’t matter , because the existing three imprimatur rewatches .

At the conclusion of each time of year , the mystery unravels , and as with any unspoilt mystery account , you may go back to the start and see all the hint that were set down throughout that you might have missed on the first viewing . Broadchurchis one of many British goggle box series that American electronic connection have attempt to refashion with little to no winner . Fox remade it as a “ limited series , ” bringing in David Tennant from the original series and replacing Olivia Colman with Anna Gunn .

Helena inThe Office

Olivia Colman had a node role as Helena , a local diary keeper who interviewed David Brent after he was made redundant , in the original British version ofThe Office . It was the final episode of the 2d time of year – the last proper episode of the show before its Christmas special that acted as a serial publication finale .

When Helena enquire Brent if he was in a kinship with anyone , Brent snapped and said , “ Do n’t get coarse in a magazine for the public – I do n’t think you ’d win a Pulitzer Prize for grunge . ” Helena was the one at whom Brent mastermind that great quotation where he seek to write the article for her : “ brant goose mused , and then answer … ”

Carol Thatcher inThe Iron Lady

In the biopicThe Iron Lady , Meryl Streep played Margaret Thatcher , the first distaff British Prime Minister who divided the UK with her controversial policies . As with most political biopics , there ’s a star - constellate underpin cast playing a bunch of diachronic figures : Richard E. Grant as Michael Heseltine , Anthony Head as Sir Geoffrey Howe etc .

One such star is Olivia Colman , playing Thatcher ’s girl Carol Thatcher . Carol feature conspicuously in the film , characterized by Colman as a calm and enduring woman who observe her family caught in the middle of a disruptive time for the res publica thanks to her contentious mother .

Hannah inTyrannosaur

Paddy Considine grew up on a council estate in the Midlands , which is why he used a council estate in the Midlands as the setting of his feature article film directorial debut . It ’s not an autobiographical story , but the film has such an bona fide feel that its script was almost certainly inspired by some veridical - life event and character .

Tyrannosauris a deep regard picture show , not for the faint of nitty-gritty , and Olivia Colman delivers one of the most incredible performances of her entire career in the purpose of Hannah . There was an uproar on Twitter when she was cut in the BAFTA Award for Best Actress nominations .

Godmother inFleabag

Olivia Colman is usually known for playing fibre who are sweet , or at least likable , but inFleabag , she play a case know only as “ Godmother ” who is truly frightful . The series was make by Phoebe Waller - Bridge , who also writes and virtuoso in the show .

Waller - Bridge is now best experience for writing the tremendous Sandra Oh seriesKilling Eveand play the droid right militant in aSolo : A Star Wars Storysubplot with ham - fisted metaphors for racialism . ButFleabagis what gave the actress and writer her bad break , and it look as though the show will be around for a while .

Bethan Maguire inLocke

Locke , written and organize byPeaky Blinderscreator Steven Knight , was an interesting experiment . The whole film takes stead in a car driven by Tom Hardy , who is the only character to in reality come along on - screenland . The other eleven characters only make vocal appearances as Hardy speaks to them on the phone . It ca n’t be easy to make an impact in a flick where all you are is a crackly voice on a speakerphone call , but Olivia Colman manages to do just that in the role of Bethan Maguire .

Bethan is a woman Hardy ’s character Ivan Locke had an affair with . She became pregnant with his child and the moving-picture show is place on the Nox she operate into premature Department of Labor , so it ’s a pivotal role in the account . The movie ’s successrests on Colman ’s performance as much as Hardy ’s .

Doris Thatcher inHot Fuzz

“ I ’ve been around the station a few times ! ” Olivia Colman star alongside Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in Edgar Wright ’s buddy cop military action comedyHot Fuzz . Her character Doris Thatcher is known for her crude innuendos and flirtatious jokes . For example , when she knock out a womanhood with a “ Wet Floor ” polarity , she says , “ Nothing like a bit of girl - on - girl ! ”

This use is a prime case ofColman demonstrating her comedic chops . It ’s not loose to be comical and it ’s not easy to make audiences palpate with a spectacular performance – but it ’s virtually unimaginable to do both , and Colman ’s resumé shows she ’s one of the few who can do both .

Sophie Chapman inPeep Show

The persona that first put Olivia Colman in the heart of the British public was that of Sophie Chapman in the Mitchell and Webb sitcomPeep Show . The show was shoot from the gunpoint - of - view of its character and allowed us to hear the thinking of its central character , Mark and Jez , in voiceover .

Colman ’s character Sophie was the on / off girlfriend of Mark , played by David Mitchell . She get as his crush in the office , but their relationship finally became much more complicated than that , with break engagements and illegitimate pregnancies abound . Colman play Sophie ’s ruination into drug addiction with both hilarity and humankind .