Oscar winning actress Olivia Colman has revealed the reason why she and her family left London for the countryside, after her fame became too much.
The actress, who is known for her roles including playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown on Netflix, explained that life in London “became difficult” as her career took off. Whilst she acted in various roles, she cited her character in ITV's Broadchurch as being the moment that really launched her fame.
Yet with fame, Olivia revealed that it made life difficult for her and her family. Olivia, along with husband Ed Sinclair and their three children, swapped busy London life for the countryside in a bid to escape the pressures of fame. In a recent interview, Olivia explains just how bad things got at one point.
She explains how she previously found being photographed when not working hard to handle - recalling paparazzi once laughing as she found being snapped distressing. Despite moving out of the capital city, Olivia is still encountering some of the lows that come with being a household name.
Olivia revealed one of the downsides that she hates is fans taking 'sneaky photographs'. in an interview with British Vogue, she explained: "It’s always obvious, you always know, and it’s awful. Don’t do it. It happened the other day at my kids’ school, a mum took one. You can’t even go, ‘Sorry, don’t do that,’ as then they say, ‘I wasn’t! I didn’t!’ And then you look like a d**k. It’s a shame. I wish I was braver but I’m not."
Harry and William's relationship 'hanging by thread' ahead of explosive memoirThe star went on to describe how hiding from fame has also stopped her from going out, instead choosing to stay inside as she explains they "go to each other’s houses for food and chat".
Olivia's interview comes as the final season of The Crown airs on Netflix, which she famously played Queen Elizabeth II. Now replaced by Imelda Staunton for the monarch's later years, the royal drama has had viewers gripped across the previous five seasons and eager fans are awaiting the latest series which features the death of Princess Diana.
Set to cover events up to 2005, the final season of the hit Netflix show brings the story of the monarchy hurtling into the 21st century, but it begins in 1997 with the most catastrophic moment in recent royal history. As a car screeches through a tunnel in Paris, crashing in a horrific accident, the dramatic opener lurches viewers immediately into a specific time and moment that everyone remembers.
The sixth and final series of the hit Netflix show depicts Princess Diana's final months before she was tragically killed in a car crash in Paris. The first four episodes of the new series will follow her final weeks and the immediate aftermath of her death, including a dramatisation of the final phone call she had with Harry and his brother Prince William.
In the 2017 documentary 'Diana, Our Mother', Princes William and Harry sat down to recall some of their memories of their mother and spoke about the last times they saw her. Harry said: “I can’t really, necessarily, remember what I said. But all I do remember is probably, you know, regretting for the rest of my life how short the phone call was.
"And if I’d known that was the last time I was going to speak to my mother – the things I would have said to her.” William added: “I remember just feeling completely numb, disorientated, dizzy. You feel very, very confused. And you keep asking yourself, ‘Why me?’ All the time, ‘Why? What have I done? Why? Why has this happened to us?’”
*See the full feature in the December issue of British Vogue, available via digital download and on newsstands from Tuesday 21 November.