Olivia Williams


Olivia Haigh Williams is a British 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, based on Jane Austen's novel. She made her film debut in 1997's The Postman, followed by Rushmore and The Sixth Sense. Williams then appeared in several British films, including Lucky Break, The Heart of Me and An Education. In 2010, she won acclaim for her performance as Ruth Lang in Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer. Since 2017, she has played Emily Silk, on the television series Counterpart.

Early life

Williams was born in North London. Both 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, 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.

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, based on Jane Austen's 1816 novel.
Williams made her film debut in the 1997 movie The Postman, after doing a screen test for Kevin Costner. She later won the lead role of Rosemary Cross in Wes Anderson's Rushmore. She then starred as Bruce Willis' wife in the blockbuster The Sixth Sense, 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, The Heart of Me, for which she won the British Independent Film Award for Best Actress, and An Education. 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 .
On TV, Williams portrayed British author Jane Austen in Miss Austen Regrets and was cast as Adelle DeWitt in Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, which ran on Fox from 2009 to 2010.
In 2010, she won acclaim for her performance as Ruth Lang in Roman Polanski's 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, 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. In 2014 she portrayed Meg Hamilton in the British mystery film Altar.
In 2017 Williams began appearing in the Starz science-fiction series, Counterpart, playing Emily, the wife of lead character Howard Silk. In one universe she is still married to him, but her counterpart in the other universe is divorced from him.
In 2000, Williams wrote the short story "The Significance of Hair" for BBC Radio, and read it on the air.

Personal life

Williams had a relationship with Craig Ferguson early in their careers which they have discussed on his talk show.. 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.
After filming The Postman, she spent time in Bolivia studying spectacled bears in the rainforest.

Filmography

Film

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1992Van der ValkIrene Kortman1 episode: "Still Waters"
1992The Ruth Rendell MysteriesJennifer Norris1 episode: "The Speaker of Mandarin"
1996EmmaJane Fairfax
1998FriendsFelicity2 episodes
2000Jason and the ArgonautsHera
2001SpacedKnocked-down Cyclist1 episode: "Help"
2004Agatha Christie: A Life in PicturesAgatha Christie
2006Johanna Beijerinck
2007DamageMichelle Cahill
2008Miss Austen RegretsJane Austen
2009–2010DollhouseAdelle DeWittSeries regular
2010TerriersMiriam Foster
2011–2012Case SensitiveDS Charlie Zailer
2014Salting the BattlefieldBelinda Kay
2014–2015ManhattanLiza WinterSeries regular
2017The HalcyonLady Hamilton
2017–2019CounterpartEmily Burton SilkSeries regular
2021The NeversLavinia BidlowMain cast

Theatre

YearProductionRoleVenue
1995Richard III
2003Love's Labour's LostThe PrincessOlivier Theatre, National Theatre, London
2003The Hotel in AmsterdamAnnieDonmar Warehouse, London
2006The ChangelingBeatrice-JoannaCheek by Jowl production at the Barbican Centre, London
2011In a Forest, Dark and DeepBettyVaudeville Theatre, London
2015WasteAmy O'ConnellLyttelton Theatre, National Theatre, London
2017MosquitoesAliceDorfman Theatre, National Theatre, London
2019TartuffeElmireLyttelton Theatre, National Theatre, London

Awards and nominations

Nominated: Empire Award for Best Actress
Won: British Independent Film Award for Best Actress
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
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