| Olivia Williams | |
|---|---|
Olivia Williams at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival 2010 |
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| Born | Olivia Haigh Williams 26 July 1968 Camden Town, London, England |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Spouse | Rhashan Stone (2003–present) |
Olivia Haigh Williams (born 26 July 1968) is an English film, stage and television actress who has appeared in British and American films and television series.
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Williams was born in Camden Town, London, England. Both of her parents are barristers.
Williams was educated at South Hampstead High School, an independent school for girls in Hampstead in North London, followed by Newnham College at the University of Cambridge, from which 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.[1]
After graduation, Williams worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company in both Stratford-upon-Avon and London. In 1995, she toured the United States in a 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.[1]
Williams made her film debut in 1997's The Postman, after doing a screen test for Kevin Costner.[1] She later won the lead role of Rosemary Cross in Wes Anderson's Rushmore (1998).[2] 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 British sit-com Spaced. Since then, 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,[3] 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.[4]
In 2010, she 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.
In Hanna (2011), she played Rachel, a bohemian mother traveling across North Africa and Europe, who comes into contact with the titular 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 2000, Williams wrote the short story The Significance Of Hair for BBC Radio, and read it on the air.[5]
| Year(s) of appearance |
Film or series | Role | Awards and nominations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 (1 episode) |
Van der Valk (1972–1973, 1977, 1991–1992) "Still Waters" |
Irene Kortman | |
| 1992 (1 episode) |
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries (1987–2000) "The Speaker of Mandarin" |
Jennifer Norris | |
| 1998 (2 episodes) |
Friends (1994–2004) "The One with Ross's Wedding: Part 1" and "The One with Ross's Wedding: Part 2" |
Felicity - one of the bridesmaids | |
| 2000 | Jason and the Argonauts | Hera | |
| 2001 (1 episode) |
Spaced (1999, 2001) "Help" |
Knocked-down Cyclist | |
| 2004 | Agatha Christie – A Life in Pictures | Agatha Christie | |
| 2006 | Krakatoa – The Last Days | Johanna Beijerinck | |
| 2007 | Damage | Michelle Cahill | |
| 2008 | Miss Austen Regrets | Jane Austen | |
| 2009–2010 | Dollhouse | Adelle DeWitt | |
| 2010 | Terriers | Miriam Foster | |
| 2011 | Case Sensitive | DS Charlie Zailer |
| Year(s) of appearance |
Production | Role | Awards and nominations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Richard III (c. 1591) by William Shakespeare |
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| 2003 | Love's Labour's Lost (c. 1595–1596)[6] by William Shakespeare Olivier Theatre, Royal National Theatre, London |
The Princess | |
| 2003 | The Hotel in Amsterdam (first performed 1968)[7] by John Osborne Donmar Warehouse, London |
Annie | |
| 2006 | The Changeling (1653)[8] by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley Cheek by Jowl production at the Barbican Centre, London |
Beatrice-Joanna | |
| 2011 | In a Forest, Dark and Deep[9] by Neil LaBute Vaudeville Theatre, London |
Betty |
On 2 November 2003, Williams married American stage actor and playwright Rhashan Stone. The couple have two children, Esmé Ruby (born 6 April 2004) and Roxana May (born 7 April 2007). Many years ago she was in a 3-year-long relationship with Radosław Sikorski, the current Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs.[10]
After filming The Postman, she spent time in Bolivia studying spectacled bears in the rainforest.[11][12] Since 2006, she has written occasional travel reports for the "Independent Traveller" section of the British newspaper The Independent on Sunday.