FAMILY AFFAIR: 'WHEN I WENT INTO ACTING, I FELT LIKE I'D FOUND MY TRIBE'

OLIVIA COLMAN REVEALS WHAT SHE LOVES MOST ABOUT HER JOB, WHY FILMING EMPIRE OF LIGHT WAS TERRIFYING AND HOW SHE SWITCHES OFF AFTER WORK

Going to the movies has always been a vital part of Olivia Colman’s life, so it’s no surprise she jumped at the opportunity to play a downtrodden cinema worker in her latest film, Empire Of Light.

The Oscar-winner grew up in Norfolk and says her teenage trips to watch the latest releases in Norwich were life-changing.

“As I got older and I became a teen, I discovered the Arts Cinema and it was a game-changer,” she tells us. “I felt very cool that I was going to see some arty films, and I discovered a whole new genre of filmmaking that I didn’t know existed before. Going to the cinema was a big event – travelling into the city for an hour to go and see a film – that was very exciting.”

Prior to that, The Crown star says she hadn’t always been able to watch the films she wanted – something that didn’t do her many favours socially. “I’m reminded of sleepovers where we’d all try to get scary films,” she recalls. “I’m still not one for scary films. But when it was my turn for a sleepover, at about 10 or 11, I said to my mum, ‘Please, can you get a really scary film?’

“All the other girls had films like A Nightmare On Elm Street and I just wanted to be as cool as them. Well, my mum went into the video shop and she said, ‘I’ve got you A Christmas Carol.’ I said, ‘What?’ And she said, ‘Well, it’s got ghosts. I thought that would be scary.’ I was so embarrassed I pretended that the video shop was closed. That was really not cool.”