Olivia Colman: ‘If only Miss Havisham had a therapist’

Olivia Colman speaks to the BBC astir playing a Dickens villain - and wherefore she thinks Great Expectations is inactive applicable for modern Britain.

"It's unspeakable what happens to Miss Havisham," the Oscar-winning histrion says of her quality successful the caller BBC adaptation of Great Expectations.

"If lone she'd had a therapist oregon a truly bully person to chat to, she mightiness beryllium successful a overmuch amended place."

Published successful the 1860s, Great Expectations is the coming-of-age communicative of young Pip - played successful this adaptation by Dunkirk histrion Fionn Whitehead - a mediocre orphan looking for a amended life, who receives a ample luck from a mysterious benefactor.

On his journey, helium meets the wealthy, eccentric and sadistic Miss Havisham, who has refused to permission her decaying mansion for years aft being near astatine the altar by a "complete rotter," arsenic Olivia calls him.

In turn, Miss Havisham takes retired her "sick fantasies" connected Pip and her adopted girl Estella (Shalom Brune-Franklin).

Playing a villain similar Miss Havisham is "so overmuch fun," says Olivia, who is good known for her roles successful The Crown, Broadchurch and The Favourite.

And, she says, Miss Havisham's heartbreak is relatable to anyone who has been done a atrocious interruption up.

"I bash recognize the upset," Olivia adds, "but I don't truly recognize however she's managed to support it going for truthful long."

Peaky Blinders and SAS: Rogue Heroes creator Steven Knight, who wrote the screenplay for this adaptation, says it's Miss Havisham's heartbreak and tendency for revenge that's made her endure successful the nationalist consciousness.

"It's an utmost illustration of thing that we each benignant of consciousness oregon know," helium says.

Before filming Great Expectations, Olivia says she was tense she had not enactment capable mentation into the relation arsenic she had done tons of jobs backmost to back.

But arsenic soon arsenic she enactment connected her hair, make-up and costume, Olivia says she said to herself, "Oh yeah, ace. I tin consciousness it now".

Great Expectations costume decorator Verity Hawkes told the histrion she did not presumption Miss Havisham arsenic "dusty" but alternatively "rotting from the inside".

Olivia thought it was a superb interpretation, adding, "I kept that astatine the backmost of my mind."

Verity, a costume decorator for much than 30 years, says she was inspired by the New York creator Kathleen Ryan, who makes giant, bejewelled sculptures of mouldy fruit.

Verity says she wanted to marque Miss Havisham's costume "rotten" due to the fact that the quality is "such a dreadful, manipulative, bitter woman".

She explains: "I besides thought that she lives successful this damp aged location and I don't deliberation you'd beryllium dusty, you'd beryllium mouldy and rotten."

In this adaptation, Steven says helium wanted to attack the communicative and Miss Havisham's quality done a modern lens.

"It's not an effort to beryllium sacrilegious oregon vandalise the substance astatine each [but] arsenic a modern person, you're looking astatine things somewhat differently."

Olivia adds: "I deliberation you bash get to truly spot her fragility, arsenic well. I similar to consciousness that she makes immoderate changes."

Great Expectations - on with A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist - is 1 of Dickens' astir fashionable stories.

And the relation of Miss Havisham has been played by galore starring actresses, similar Charlotte Rampling and Miss Marple histrion Joan Hickson, arsenic good arsenic immoderate of Olivia's ain friends.

Olivia laughs and adjacent lets retired an expletive erstwhile reasoning backmost connected those who person played the relation earlier her.

Olivia says she was reluctant to judge the relation for a agelong clip due to the fact that her friends Gillian Anderson and Helena Bonham Carter - who starred alongside her connected The Crown - had besides performed the aforesaid portion successful earlier adaptations.

"I truly did conflict with the thought of being compared with my mates," she says. "I did privation to play [Miss Havisham] truthful I thought, 'well, it's what happens with each actors. You each extremity up playing the aforesaid parts sometimes, and that's okay.'

"So hopefully Gillian and Helly don't deliberation I'm doing a unspeakable occupation of this!"

In Olivia's view, Dickens' ideas astir wealth, poorness and people successful Great Expectations are inactive "extraordinarily relevant" and "really poignant".

Although the publication was "written implicit 100 years ago" she says "in the UK and successful galore different places, it depends wherever a babe is calved arsenic to perchance wherever they volition extremity up. And I find that depressing and upsetting and shocking.

"There's marginally much chance, maybe, that you tin flight if you privation to, but it's up against you if you're calved connected the incorrect broadside of the tracks. It's conscionable not fair."

Steven says moving connected Great Expectations was idiosyncratic for him due to the fact that his dada was a blacksmith and, similar the quality of Pip, it was expected that he'd beryllium 1 too.

"By accidental I was nary bully astatine it," Steven says, adding that the question of whether radical tin flight their roots and destiny is arsenic important a question present arsenic it was then.

"I deliberation that's wherefore radical inactive spot themselves successful the book," helium explains.

Great Expectations airs connected BBC One and BBC iPlayer from Sunday 26 March.

Images: BBC / FX / Pari Dukovic / Miya Mizuno