Sarah Caroline Sinclair CBE (born January 30, 1974), known professionally as Olivia Colman, is an English actress. Known for her comedic and dramatic roles in film and television, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Emmy Awards, three British Academy Television Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. She was acclaimed for her performance in the ITV crime-drama series Broadchurch (2013–2017), for which she received a British Academy Television Award for Best Actress. She played Queen Elizabeth II from 2019 to 2020 in the Netflix period-drama series The Crown, for which she received a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. For her portrayal of Anne, Queen of Great Britain in the period black-comedy film The Favourite (2018), Colman received the Academy Award for Best Actress. She received additional Academy Award nominations for her performances in The Father (2020) and The Lost Daughter (2021). Other notable film and television credits include Hot Fuzz (2007), Tyrannosaur (2011), The Iron Lady (2011), Hyde Park on Hudson (2012), Locke (2013), The Lobster (2015), Fleabag (2016-2019), Murder on the Orient Express (2017), The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021), Landscapers (2021), Empire of Light (2022), Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022), Secret Invasion (2023), Wonka (2023), Wicked Little Letters (2023) and Paddington in Peru (2024).

Filmography

• 2027Bollywoof — (voice)
• 2026Elsinore — Margaret Johnson
• 2026Jimpa — Hannah
• Pride and Prejudice — Mrs. Bennet
• 2026The Fox — The Fox (voice)
• 2026Wicker — Fisherwoman, Producer
• Mitchell and Webb Are Not Helping
• 2025The Roses — Ivy Rose, Executive Producer
• 2024Paddington in Peru — Reverend Mother
• 2024Wicked Little Letters — Edith Swan, Producer
• 2023Change the Ending — Narrator
• Great Expectations — Miss Havisham
• Secret Invasion — Sonya Falsworth
• 2023Wonka — Mrs. Scrubbit
• 2022Empire of Light — Hilary
• Heartstopper — Sarah Nelson
• 2022Joyride — Joy
• 2022Puss in Boots: The Last Wish — Mama Bear (voice)
• 2022Scrooge: A Christmas Carol — Ghost of Christmas Past (voice)
• The Bear — Chef Terry
• Landscapers — Susan Edwards, Executive Producer
• 2021Letters Live from the Archive: Freemasons’ Hall
• 2021Mothering Sunday — Mrs Clarrie Niven
• Only Murders in the Building
• 2021Ron's Gone Wrong — Donka (voice)
• Rosie Jones' Trip Hazard — Voiceover
• 2021Superworm — Narrator (voice)
• 2021The Electrical Life of Louis Wain — Narrator
• 2021The Lost Daughter — Leda Caruso, Executive Producer
• 2021The Mitchells vs. the Machines — PAL (voice)
• 2020Cinderella: A Comic Relief Pantomime for Christmas — Fairy Godmother
• 2020Nasrin — Narrator
• Staged — Olivia
• 2020The Father — Anne
• 2019Them That Follow — Hope Slaughter
• 2018All The World's a Stage — The Narrator
• Les Misérables — Madame Thénardier
• 2018Let's Dance — Segment: "Coffee to Go"
• 2018The Favourite — Queen Anne
• 2018The Private Life of the Royal Academy
• 2018The Super Squirrels — Narrator
• 2018Thomas & Friends: Here Comes the Steam Team! — Marion (voice)
• 2018Unexpected Item — The Till (voice)
• Watership Down — Strawberry (voice)
• 2017Murder on the Orient Express — Hildegarde Schmidt
• 2017National Theatre Archive: Mosquitoes — Jenny
• 2017The Alternativity — Narrator
• 2016Behind Closed Doors — narrator
• Fleabag — Godmother
• Flowers — Deborah Flowers
• Sugar Free Farm — Narrator
• The Crown — Queen Elizabeth II
• The Night Manager — Angela Burr
• The Secret Life of the Zoo — Narrator
• The Story of Cats — Narrator (voice)
• 2016Thomas & Friends: Full Steam to the Rescue! — Marion (voice)
• 2016Thomas & Friends: Start Your Engines! — Marion (voice)
• 2016Thomas & Friends: Tinsel on the Tracks — Marion (voice)
• 2016Thomas and Friends: Ultimate Friendship Adventures — Marion (voice)
• 2016We're Going on a Bear Hunt — Mum (voice)
• 2015London Road — Julie
• 2015The Lobster — Hotel Manager
• 2015Thomas & Friends: Dinos and Discoveries — Marion (voice)
• 2015Thomas & Friends: Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure: The Movie — Marion (voice)
• 2014Cuban Fury — Sam
• Duck Quacks Don't Echo
• 2014Locke — Bethan (voice)
• Mr. Sloane — Janet Sloane
• 2014Pudsey the Dog: The Movie — Nelly the Horse (voice)
• The 7.39 — Maggie Matthews
• The Great War: The People's Story — Narrator
• 2014The Kármán Line — Sarah
• The Secrets — Pippa
• 2014Thomas & Friends: Signals Crossed — Marion (voice)
• 2014Thomas & Friends: Tale of the Brave — Marion (voice)
• W1A — Sally Owen
• Broadchurch — DS Ellie Miller
• 2013I Give It a Year — Linda
• Run — Carol
• 2013The Murder in Angel Lane — Susan Spencer
• 2013The Thirteenth Tale — Margaret
• 2012Bad Sugar — Joan Cauldwell
• 2012Hyde Park on Hudson — Queen Elizabeth
• Exile — Nancy Ronstadt
• 2011See Me — Miss
• 2011The Iron Lady — Carol Thatcher
• Twenty Twelve — Sally Owen
• 2011Tyrannosaur — Hannah
• Accused — Sue Brown
• Rev. — Alex
• 2009Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee — Olivia
• Mister Eleven — Beth
• Beautiful People — Debbie Doonan
• 2008Consuming Passion — Janet / Nurse Violetta Kiss
• 2008Hancock & Joan — Marion
• 2007Dog Altogether — Anita
• 2007Green Wing Special — Harriet Schulenburg
• 2007Grow Your Own — Alice
• 2007Hot Fuzz — PC Doris Thatcher
• 2007I Could Never Be Your Woman — Hairdresser
• Skins — Gina
• 2007The Grey Man — Linda Dodds
• 2007The Time of Your Life — Amanda
• The Time of Your Life — Amanda
• 2006Confetti — Joanna
• That Mitchell and Webb Look — Various Characters
• 2005Buried Alive
• Doctor Who — Mother
• Love Soup — Penny
• 2005Much Ado About Nothing — Ursula
• ShakespeaRe-Told — Ursula
• The Robinsons — Connie
• 2005Zemanovaload — TV Producer
• Green Wing — Harriet Schulenburg
• Murder in Suburbia — Ellie
• NY-LON
• Eyes Down — Mandy Foster
• Peep Show — Sophie Chapman
• Swiss Toni
• Look Around You — Pam Bachelor
• Rescue Me — Paula
• The Mitchell and Webb Situation — Various
• The Office — Helena
• Black Books — Tanya
• Bruiser
• People Like Us
• Midsomer Murders — Bernice
• The Simpsons — Lily (voice)
• Natural World — Narrator
• Army of Shadows
• Cry Wolf — Kath, Executive Producer
• Wild Bird — Isabella Blow

Appearances as themselves (26)

• 2026David Attenborough's 100 Years on Planet Earth — Self
• Good Hang with Amy Poehler — Self - Guest
• Faut Voir - L'Hebdo cinéma — Self - Guest
• 2023Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Secret Invasion — Self - 'Sonya Falsworth'
• 2021Letters Live from the Archive: International Women’s Day — Self
• 2021Letters Live from the Archive: Union Chapel — Self
• Becoming You — Self - Narrator (voice)
• 2019Children In Need 2019: Got It Covered — Self
• 2019Kilimanjaro: The Bigger Red Nose Climb — Self / Narrator
• Flatpack Empire — Self - Narrator (voice)
• 2016Attenborough at 90 — Self
• 2016Our Queen at Ninety — Self - Narrator
• 2016The Extraordinary Case of Alex Lewis — Self - Narrator (voice)
• 2015David Attenborough Meets President Obama — Self - Narrator (voice)
• The Late Late Show with James Corden — Self - Guest
• The Kumars — Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon — Self
• 2013The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot — Self
• The Hoarder Next Door — Self - Narrator
• The Graham Norton Show — Self - Guest
• Would I Lie to You? — Self
• The One Show — Self
• Who Do You Think You Are? — Self
• Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway — Self
• GMTV — Self
• The Oscars — Self