Olivia Williams

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.

After studying drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School for two years followed by three years at the Royal Shakespeare Company, her first significant role was as Jane Fairfax in the British television film Emma (1996), based on Jane Austen's novel. She made her film debut in 1997's The Postman, followed by Rushmore (1998) and The Sixth Sense (1999). Williams then appeared in several British films, including Lucky Break (2001), The Heart of Me (2002) and An Education (2009). In 2010, she won acclaim for her performance as Ruth Lang in Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer.

Early life

Williams was born in north London.^[1] 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.^[2]

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 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.^[2]

Williams at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival, 2010

Williams made her film debut in 1997's The Postman, after doing a screen test for Kevin Costner.^[2] She later won the lead role of Rosemary Cross in Wes Anderson's Rushmore (1998).^[3] She then starred as Bruce Willis' wife in the blockbuster The Sixth Sense (1999),^[4] a film she would later parody during her brief appearance in the British sitcom 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,^[5] 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.^[6]

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 2010.

In Hanna (2011), she 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.^[7] In 2014 she portrayed Meg Hamilton in the British mystery film Altar.^[4]

In 2000, Williams wrote the short story "The Significance Of Hair" for BBC Radio, and read it on the air.^[8]

Personal life

Williams 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.^[9]

After filming The Postman, she spent time in Bolivia studying spectacled bears in the rainforest.^[10][11] Since 2006, she has written occasional travel reports for the "Independent Traveller" section of the British newspaper The Independent on Sunday.

Selected works

Williams at the Berlin Film Festival 2010

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

Notes

Further reading

• "My Story - Olivia Williams". London: The Independent on Sunday. 6 September 1998. 
• "Getting personal with Olivia Williams". London: The Guardian. 17 August 1999. 
• Matheou, Demetrios (20 August 1999). "Olivia in La-La land: For years she was a jobbing actor in regional theatre. Then Olivia Williams got the call from Kevin Costner. She's never looked back". London: The Guardian. 
• Brett, Anwar (23 April 2003). "Olivia Williams: The Heart of Me". bbc.co.uk. 
• Tennant, Laura (25 April 2003). "Olivia Williams: Growing up in public". London: The Independent. 

External links

• Olivia Williams at the Internet Movie Database