Olivia Williams

Olivia began her career on the stage at the RSC and The National Theatre, breaking into TV with the 'Andrew Davies' (qv) adaptation of _Emma (1996)_ (qv).From a damp basement in Camden Town she won the role of Abby in the $120 million blockbuster _The Postman (1997)_ (qv) starring alongside 'Kevin Costner' (qv). In the following year, Olivia was cast as Rosemary Cross in _Rushmore (1998)_ (qv), co-starring 'Bill Murray' (qv), from acclaimed filmmaker 'Wes Anderson' (qv) and producer 'Barry Mendel' (qv).Her association with Mendel brought her to the attention of 'M. Night Shyamalan' (qv) and the role of Anna Crowe in _The Sixth Sense (1999)_ (qv) which would become a defining moment in Olivia's career. The box office success of the 'M. Night Shyamalan' (qv) film, starring 'Bruce Willis' (qv), 'Haley Joel Osment' (qv), and 'Toni Collette' (qv), saw it become one of the highest grossing films of all time.In the subsequent years Olivia starred in _The Body (2001)_ (qv) with 'Antonio Banderas' (qv), in _Below (2002)_ (qv) from Dimension Films, and in the $100 million big screen adaptation of _Peter Pan (2003)_ (qv) from Universal Studios.Shortly after, in _The Heart of Me (2002)_ (qv), with 'Helena Bonham Carter' (qv) and 'Paul Bettany' (qv), Olivia's performance won her Best Actress at the prestigious British Independent Film 'Awards' (qv).Olivia then took on the challenge of playing Jane Austen in the BBC film, _Miss Austen Regrets (2007)_ (qv), quickly followed by another lead role, as Miss Stubbs, in the Oscar-nominated _An Education (2009)_ (qv).Based on these performances, 'Joss Whedon' (qv) cast Olivia as Adelle DeWitt in _Dollhouse (2009)_ (qv), the cult television series from 20th Century Fox that ran for two seasons.Olivia returned to cinema screens, playing Ruth Lang in _The Ghost Writer (2010)_ (qv) with 'Pierce Brosnan' (qv) and 'Ewan McGregor' (qv). Olivia's performance earned her ALFS and NSFC awards for Best Supporting Actress.'Joe Wright' (qv) cast Olivia in his next two films, _Hanna (2011)_ (qv), alongside 'Cate Blanchett' (qv) and 'Saoirse Ronan' (qv), and in _Anna Karenina (2012)_ (qv) with 'Jude Law' (qv) and 'Keira Knightley' (qv).In the same year, Olivia joined the ensemble cast of 'Bill Murray' (qv), 'Olivia Colman' (qv), and 'Laura Linney' (qv), in the hit film _Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)_ (qv) from director 'Roger Michell' (qv).In television, Olivia then landed lead roles in _Case Sensitive (2011)_ (qv), and _Manhattan (2014)_ (qv), both of which received critical acclaim.During this period, Olivia was also cast in the features, _The Last Days on Mars (2013)_ (qv), _Seventh Son (2014)_ (qv) with 'Jeff Bridges' (qv), 'Julianne Moore' (qv), and 'Alicia Vikander' (qv), _Maps to the Stars (2014)_ (qv) directed by 'David Cronenberg' (qv), and playing Lady Churchill in _Victoria & Abdul (2017)_ (qv) directed by 'Stephen Frears' (qv).Returning to television, Olivia starred as Lady Priscilla Hamilton in the period drama, _The Halcyon (2017)_ (qv), and as Emily Burton Silk in both seasons of _Counterpart (2017)_ (qv), with co-star 'J.K. Simmons' (qv).Olivia has always had a deep passion for theatre. At the RSC, Olivia has performed in Misha's Party, Wallenstein, The Broken Heart, The Wives Excuse, and Peer Gynt. Olivia's expansive stage career at the National Theatre includes such shows as Waste from director 'Roger Michell' (qv), Love Labour's Lost directed by 'Trevor Nunn' (qv), Richard III including its US tour, Happy Now?, Tartuffe, and Mosquitoes directed by 'Rufus Norris' (qv). Along with these, Olivia also starred alongside 'Matthew Fox' (qv) in the Neil LaBute play In A Forest Dark and Deep at the Garrick Theatre.Olivia can next be seen as Lavinia Bidlow in the HBO show _The Nevers (2021)_ (qv), created and directed by 'Joss Whedon' (qv), and as Catherine in _The Father (2020)_ (qv), with 'Anthony Hopkins' (qv) and 'Olivia Colman' (qv).::James Hughes