Olivia Colman: I always wanted to be an actor but wasn’t sure if I was allowed to be one
While the British actor Olivia Coleman does admit that things have taken a wonderful turn in her career, she says there are still things that she finds hard to do especially when it comes to deciding the roles she wants to take on
From her noteworthy performance in British TV series Broadchurch to her Oscar-winning role in The Favourite, besides the award-winning performance in series, The Crown, the past few years of Olivia Colman's career have been most interesting.
While the British actor does admit that things have taken a wonderful turn in her career, there are still things that she finds hard to do like deciding the roles she wants to take on.
"I always do look at the script. I also am a little bit guilty of the fact that when there is a script that is really special, and I am very uncool about it. I am like, 'Yes, please let's do it.' I am not very good at playing the game of, 'Oh I might be a bit busy, I am afraid I won't do it'. I have got to get better at saying no. But I can't help it when the script is really good. It is a no brainer really for me," she says.
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Her film, The Father, for which she has garnered a best supporting actress Oscar nod, was one such project which she said yes to immediately. And why not, the film did give her a chance to share screen with acting legend Anthony Hopkins.
Talking about watching Hopkins on screen and how he influenced her decision to be an actor, she shares, "I remember watching him on TV and I was quite small then back in the '80s. I think I wanted to be an actor then but I was too scared to admit that I wanted to be an actor. I saw him on TV and I was like I want to be him, I want to do what he does, but there are no actors in my family and I didn't know whether it was allowed for me to be one. I never imagined that I would become one and on top of that get an opportunity to work with Tony."
Sharing her experience of working in The Father, which follows an aging man (Hopkins) who must deal with his progressing memory loss, the 47-year-old, who plays the role of the daughter, says it was quite challenging.
"It speaks to people of all generations. Acting with Tony because he is so method, was all real and beautiful and it was impossible to not to feel what his character was feeling. To see him sad or confused it felt real. I did feel that if my parents have to go through what Anthony's character was going through then it is going to be horrendous. It made me feel for everyone who deal with it. It felt pretty raw," she concludes.
