This is how Olivia Colman got *so* famous
Olivia Colman is an institution. She's been in so many much-loved shows, from Fleabag to The Crown, that we've basically lost count, she accepts awards with teary, sweary, hilarious speeches and speaking of awards, she's got loads of them.
Because she's so famous, it may seem like she's always been a Hollywood legend, but even icons have an origin. So, here is a detailed timeline of everything we know about Olivia Colman's illustrious career.
It's important, and fairly shocking, to note that Olivia is not actually her first name (pause for gasps). Her name is actually Sarah, but she has always used her middle - Olivia - professionally. For the purpose of this timeline, and to prevent icon based confusion, we'll be using her professional name.
1990s: Olivia signs up to a teacher training course at Cambridge because she worried that acting, although she loved it, was just a pipe dream. Later in her career she told Vogue about the decision, saying, "I didn't know what else to do and I still couldn't quite let myself want to act."
The good news about that decision was that while auditioning for Cambridge University's drama club, Footlights, Colman met fellow students David Mitchell and Robert Webb, who she would go onto star alongside in various shows including Peep Show and That Mitchell and Webb Look.
1999: After quitting the teaching course Colman attended Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol. When she graduated she worked as a typist and cleaner, but never gave up on her dream of acting.
"I couldn't and wouldn't do anything else," she told Vogue. "Being able to put 'Actor' on my passport was all I wanted in the world."
Soon Mitchell and Webb invited her to audition for a BBC sketch show, Bruiser, and Colman was cast in her first role.
2003: After small roles in various series from People Like Us and The Office, and one repeat role on The Mitchell and Webb Situation, Colman gets cast as the iconic Sophie in Peep Show, a show that would go onto be a huge hit for British TV, with a colossal cult following.
2003-2006: In between filming for Peep Show, she gets a regular supporting role on Green Wing up until 2006. The series ended in 2007.
2007: Colman plays the role of PC Doris Thatcher in Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's Hot Fuzz, a fairly minor part that she managed to make totally iconic anyway.
2009: Colman's career has been progressing well for years, but she has yet to become the huge household name we all know and love. In 2009 she stars in one episode of Midsommer Murders as a character named Bernice, she then plays Gina Campbell, mother of Naomi on Skins.
2009-2010: Colman plays numerous roles throughout 2009 - 2010, including one episode as 'Mother' in Doctor Who and a role in a film called Mister Eleven, which gets a painful 5.2 on IMDB.
2011: She lands the role of Carol Thatcher in the 2011 film Margaret Thatcher biopic, The Iron Lady, alongside Meryl Streep and Jim Broadbent.
2013: Colman gets her first really well known role as DS Ellie Miller in critically acclaimed and nationally loved ITV series Broadchurch. The series ends in 2017, and during her time as DS Miller, Colman also plays investigator Angela Burr in the 2016 series The Night Manager, alongside Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Debicki.
2015: Peep Show ends in 2015 and but Colman has been doing a number of roles throughout the years, including recurring parts in Twenty Twelve and Rev.
2016: In a role we both loved and hated, Colman shows off her range as the Godmother in Fleabag. Who could forget the gold statue?
2018: It happens. Colman goes from being UK-famous to being a Hollywood mega-star when she stars as Queen Anne in The Favourite. The film was a huge success, with people talking about it non-stop for weeks. It also won a huge 119 accolades, with Colman winning Best Actress at that year's Oscars.
2019: At this point Colman is at that level of actor were people will watch something just because she's in it. So when she's announced as the new Queen Elizabeth for series 4 of The Crown, a show people already absolutely adore, fans go slightly wild.
The Crown S4 lands on Netflix on 15th November.
Watch The Crown on Netflix
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