Olivia Colman as Miss Havisham in Great Expectations | FX

Olivia Colman

Miss Havisham

"Miss Havisham," portrayed by Olivia Colman, is a wealthy, eccentric, manic woman bent on revenge. Her family fortune was made in the opium trade, and after being brutally jilted at the altar, she adopted young Estella and raised her as a tool to inflict pain on the opposite sex. The newest pawn in her game of manipulation arrives in the form of an eager orphan named Pip.

Career Highlights

Olivia Colman can be seen in Sam Mendes’ Empire of Light. Additionally, Colman can be seen starring in Emer Reynolds’ Joyride. Colman also lent her voice to Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, as well as Scrooge: A Christmas Carol. All four features were released in December 2022.

Colman will next be seen in Wonka alongside Timothée Chalamet. Colman will also be seen in Marvel’s Secret Invasion alongside Samuel L. Jackson. She recently finished lensing Wicked Little Letters starring opposite Jessie Buckley. Colman and Ed Sinclair’s South of the River Pictures will also produce the film. 

In 2021, Colman was seen in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut The Lost Daughter, opposite Dakota Johnson. For this role, Colman received nominations for an Academy Award®, Golden Globe®, SAG Award® and Critics Choice Award, and won the Gotham Award in the category of Outstanding Lead Performance.

Most notably, Colman won the 2019 Academy Award in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role as Queen Anne in Yorgos Lanthimos’s critically acclaimed The Favourite, opposite Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz. The same year she also won the Golden Globe for the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy), the BAFTA award in the category of Best Leading Actress, British Independent Film Award in the category of Best Actress, the Critics’ Choice award in the category Best Actress in a Comedy and the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the 2018 Venice Film Festival. It marked her second collaboration with Lanthimos following her role in The Lobster, for which Colman received a British Independent Film Award in the category of Best Supporting Actress, and a nomination for an Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Comedy Performance. 

In 2011/12 Colman won the Best Actress prize at the British Independent Film Awards, Evening Standard British Film Awards, Critics' Circle Awards and Empire Awards for her performance in Paddy Considine’s feature directorial debut Tyrannosaur, opposite Peter Mullan and Eddie Marsan. The film also won the World Cinema Special Jury Prize for Breakout Performance at The Sundance Film Festival the same year.

Other film credits include The Father, for which she received an Academy Award, Golden Globe, SAG and Critics Choice Award nomination, Mothering Sunday, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, Ron’s Gone Wrong, The Mitchells vs the Machines, Them That Follow, Murder on The Orient Express, The Iron Lady opposite Meryl Streep, London Road, Hyde Park on Hudson, Locke, Cuban Fury and Hot Fuzz.

On television, Colman was last seen starring in Landscapers opposite David Thewlis, which was co-produced by South of the River Pictures. 

In 2021, Colman won an Emmy® Award in the category of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in season four of the critically acclaimed The Crown, opposite Tobias Menzies and Helena Bonham Carter. This is a reprisal of her role from season three, for which she won a Golden Globe Award in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Drama Television Series in 2019. Across both seasons, she also received nominations for a BAFTA, SAG and Critics Choice Awards. 

Also on the small screen, Colman also won a Golden Globe in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, for her portrayal of “Angela Burr” in The Night Manager. In 2013, Colman was the double award winner at the Television BAFTA’s, winning Female Performance in a Comedy Programme for her reccurring role in Twenty Twelve, as well as Best Supporting Actress for her role in Accused

Other television credits include the award-winning Fleabag, which she garnered an Emmy® nomination for Best Supporting Actress and a Television BAFTA nomination in the category of Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme, Broadchurch which ran for three seasons and for which she won a Television BAFTA for Leading Actress, Rev which she received a Television BAFTA nomination in the category of Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme, Les Misérables Watership Down, Flowers, Peep Show, Greenwig, The Thirteenth Tale, The Secrets, Exile, Mr. Sloane and The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher II.

On stage, Colman’s credits include Long Day’s Journey into Night (Lyric Theatre), England People Very Nice (National Theatre), Hayfever (Noel Coward Theatre) and most recently Mosquitoes (National Theatre), for which she won Best Actress in the 2018 Whatsonstage Awards.

Colman has been awarded the title of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for her services to drama and a BFI Fellowship.

Shalom Brune Franklin headshot in embroidered black dress with black satin neck tie and black top hat with dark flowers

Shalom Brune-Franklin

as Estella

Estella is the beautiful, cold and often cruel, adopted daughter of Miss Havisham. Taught that emotion makes you vulnerable, Estella believes love is an impossible future.