Olivia Williams


Olivia Haigh Williams is an English actress who appears in British and American films and television. Williams studied drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School for two years followed by three years at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her first significant screen 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 also acted in the British films Lucky Break, The Heart of Me and An Education. She continued acting in films such as The Ghost Writer, Hanna, Anna Karenina, Hyde Park on Hudson, Sabotage, Maps to the Stars, Victoria & Abdul, and The Father.
From 2017 to 2019, she played Emily Silk in the science fiction television series Counterpart. From 2022 to 2023, Williams portrayed Queen Camilla in Netflix's historical drama The Crown in its final two seasons.

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, and Newnham College, Cambridge, where 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 the National Theatre 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.
In 2000, Williams wrote the short story "The Significance of Hair" for BBC Radio and read it on the air.
Since 2001, 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 X-Men: The Last Stand.
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, Williams won acclaim for her performance as Ruth Lang in Roman Polanski's The 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, Williams 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 2021, she was cast as Camilla Parker Bowles, for the final two seasons of The Crown.

Personal life

She 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.
Williams was diagnosed with VIPoma in 2018 and, after treatment, became an ambassador for Pancreatic Cancer UK.

Filmography

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1992Van der ValkIrene KortmanEpisode: "Still Waters"
1992The Ruth Rendell MysteriesJennifer NorrisEpisode: "The Speaker of Mandarin"
1996EmmaJane FairfaxTelevision film
1998FriendsFelicity2 episodes
2000Jason and the ArgonautsHera2 episodes
2001SpacedKnocked-down cyclistEpisode: "Help"
2004Agatha Christie: A Life in PicturesAgatha ChristieTelevision film
2006Krakatoa: The Last DaysJohanna BeijerinckTelevision film
2007DamageMichelle CahillTelevision film
2008Miss Austen RegretsJane AustenTelevision film
2009–2010DollhouseAdelle DeWittMain role
2010TerriersMiriam FosterEpisode: "Change Partners"
2011–2012Case SensitiveCharlie Zailer4 episodes
2014Salting the BattlefieldBelinda KayTelevision film
2014–2015ManhattanLiza WinterMain role
2017The HalcyonLady Hamilton8 episodes
2017–2019CounterpartEmily Burton SilkMain role
2020HomemadeQueen Episode: "Voyage Au Bout De La Nuit"
2021–2023The NeversLavinia BidlowMain role
2022Ten PercentOlivia WilliamsEpisode #1.2
2022–2023The Crown Camilla Parker BowlesMain role
2023–2024Funny WomanGloria4 episodes
2024–presentDune: ProphecyTula HarkonnenMain role
2024The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of PowerWinterblossom the Entwife Episode: "Eldest"
2025The Wheel of TimeMorgase TrakandEpisode: "A Question of Crimson"
2025Monster: The Ed Gein StoryAlma Reville2 episodes
TBAdata-sort-value="Good Daughter, The" Harriet QuinnUpcoming series

Theatre

YearProductionRoleVenue
1995Richard IIIMaid / Nurse / Mistress
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
2022Marys SeacoleMayDonmar Warehouse, London

Awards and nominations