Top 50 Olivia Colman Quotes

I’ve been with my husband and friends for so long, I’ve forgotten what is unappealing to new people.

My daughter‘s still so tiny at the moment; she‘s just a sweet little meaty thing. But of course, you always think about what you want for them, don’t you, and like any parent I want my children to be happy more than anything.

I’ve been working a long time; it was a slow burn. But I’m grateful it’s been like that.

I don’t like the bullying, do-one-over style of comedy. It’s so cheap.

I spent years commuting into London when I was working as a temp, and I hated the monotony of it.

I’d feel bad pretending my life was anything other than pretty good, so I do the role as well as I can and then I go home, have a cup of tea, see my family and friends, and appreciate what I’ve got.

In general, I’m rubbish in heels. I love them, and I own a lot because it’s like being in a sweet shop: they’re pretty. But I’m not good in them. I don’t walk nicely in heels.

I am a bit sickie happy. I am prone to black clouds too, but… I am embarrassed about them. It’s like: ‘My diamond shoes are too tight. My money clip doesn’t fit all my fifties.’ I mean – really. Shut up.

Everybody laughs all the time, and some of the worst things that happen make you laugh ’cause it’s a defense isn’t it, I suppose.

You can over-think things. If the script‘s good, everything you need is in there. I just try and feel it and do it honestly. I also don’t learn things for auditions, because I feel like it’s just a test of memorising rather than being real.

I’m always keen to have more training as a charity patron.

I did a forward roll for the kids the other day, thinking it’d be a breeze like it was when I was six, and I had to lie flat for about 20 minutes afterwards – ‘Leave mummy alone; she’s feeling a bit dizzy.’

For some reason, people imagine that dramatic things happen to people who don’t look beautiful.

I am a perfectly normal woman. If what we do is storytelling and represent people that we see all day and every day, well, we do not see supermodels all day and every day.

I was rubbish at school.

My mum was a nurse, and her passion was geriatric care. I used to love listening to the old people‘s stories in her nursing home and picturing myself in their place. They’d say, ‘I went to school in a horse and cart,’ and I’d just think ‘Wow!’ I’d picture myself in their place – acting was a natural progression.

If a script is good, you are 10 steps into the part just reading it. But my choices are not all down to my taste. It is about people you have worked with before.

I’ve always wanted to play a Marvel baddie. I’m not sure I fit the mold, though. Like a powerful, extraordinary woman. Somebody with superpowers would be really fun, but I’m not sure how many middle-aged women they have in Marvel.

I can see why people keep having babies. We were looking at a school for my youngest this morning, and there were all these little boys and girls. So sweet. And then the teenagers walk past, and, my God, they’re enormous, and I bet they don’t kiss their mummies. I’m just going to force my children to remain lovely.

I find Shakespeare terrifying. When Simon Russell Beale does a speech, I understand every word of it, but if I did the same speech, people would be going, ‘Huh? What?’

I was never one of those surly teenagers who doesn’t smile. My lovely godfather said it was always lovely to see me because I was the only teenager who smiled. And I was so in awe of him, I thought it was one of the best things anyone had ever said to me. So it made me want to live up to what he said.

Actually, lots of women, when they’re pregnant, feel like steel. They feel incredible.

If people still trust me with a funny line, then that is fine. If that is what gets me work.

If something touches me, I cry. That’s it. I’m a bit raw, a bit rubbish, really. Often, a director will say to me, ‘I don’t think this is a scene where your character cries.’ And all I can say is, good luck with that!

Dementia is such a terrifying thing for all of us, and we are particularly bad at coping with old people in this country.

I feel fortunate that I’m not a beauty. I’m not a classic beauty. I feel it is harder for girls who are like that. There are fewer parts.

I suppose I have played a lot of put-upon women, but it’s never bothered me. They’ve never been weak – they’ve always got steel in them.

The first time I did a school play was the first time I felt I was good at anything at all. I just loved it.

As a child, I thought, ‘Once I am a grown-up, there will be no more fear, no more worries,’ and it turns out that’s not true.

I do go into things thinking, ‘Right. I’m going to enjoy this.’

I think a good dollop of sadness is quite a useful thing in comedy sometimes. I think if everyone‘s happy all the time, it’s a bit dull. It’s like salt and caramel – you wouldn’t imagine they would go well together, but they do.

Acting is playing, and it is like being a big kid. Yeah, it’s great. You get paid.

I think each person you play has a little bit of you in it – you can’t really help that.

This may sound mad, but you sort of assume that no one’s going to watch what you do. You go on set, have a lovely time, and then you forget anyone’s going to see it. So it’s always a bit of a shock to be recognized. I get terribly embarrassed.

I always assumed I would leave drama school and do ‘Lady Macbeth‘ and all sorts of serious things. It just didn’t happen.

I open the doors for everybody all the time.

I always assumed I’d be a terribly patient mum but it turns out I’m not!

In fact I was slightly badly behaved at school and got in trouble. I would get a bee in my bonnet about something I thought wasn’t right, and I would ape about too, to make everybody laugh. That was my way through my girls’ school, because I wasn’t very academic.

After those first two BAFTAs, I didn’t really get offered anything, which makes you think, ‘Oh, no!’ And, after I finished the second series of ‘Broadchurch,’ nothing came up for six months, which really is a long time, and I got a bit panicky.

I think I remember being held by my mum as a baby.

I remember doing one of those computer careers tests. It told me I’d make an ideal HGV lorry driver because I’ve got 100 per cent spatial awareness. I’d be able to back them into tight parking spots.

My older brother, who was in the Army, now owns his own building company. My half-sister was a nurse and is now a psychotherapist.

I don’t have a process; I just feel it. My book on acting would be very short.

I was always pretty ambitious, although it probably helps that I can’t do anything else – apart from cleaning lavatories. But I remember my mum once said, ‘I suppose you’ll give it a year and see if you can make it as an actress?’ And I said, ‘No Mum, I think I’ll give it 10.’

To play something which is a big spectrum is so much more fun, so much more of a challenge.

I want to be helpful to the charities I support. I think you can dilute it, the more you do. You have to be a bit strong about what you do… otherwise, you risk spreading yourself a bit thin, and you can be less useful.

Proper love should be utterly supportive and comfortable, and it feels like a raincoat or a jacket potato.

I am just an actor – all I do is I memorise someone else’s words and tart around.

I used to want to be in ‘Downton’ because I had never been in a period drama, but then I did ‘The Suspicions of Mr Whicher’ and had to wear one of those frocks and… I didn’t feel very comfortable.

Everything with me is pretty close to the surface, but having kids has completely ruined my emotional equilibrium.