Olivia Colman could win Emmy bookend for mesmerizing performance in ‘Great Expectations’
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Olivia Colman is primed for another healthy year in terms of awards as she lines up a return to the Emmys with the latest adaptation of Charles Dickens‘ seminal work “Great Expectations.”
This FX on Hulu limited series, which was created by “Peaky Blinders” boss Steven Knight, follows Fionn Whitehead‘s Pip — an orphan who works as a blacksmith’s apprentice before receiving a sudden windfall from an unknown benefactor. He then travels to London and enters high society. Colman steals the show in the short but sharp role of Miss Havisham, the spurned, wealthy spinster who was left at the altar on her own wedding day. Full of bitter resentment, she insists on wearing her cob-webbed wedding dress for the rest of her life and schemes to get Pip’s heart broken.
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As Miss Havisham, Colman is sensational — disappearing behind the dress, the witchy white hair, and the dust and decay of years of solitude. She is tragic, gothic, vicious, and, above all, sad. It’s always been a meaty role for a variety of acclaimed actresses and Colman, here, makes the role her own and proves to be the series’ biggest trump card, as noted by critics.
Lucy Mangan (The Guardian) described Colman as “mesmerizingly sinister.” She explained: “She appears only in the final few scenes of the opening episode, which was the only one available for review, but it is clear that Colman is her predictably excellent self; there is a risk she will reduce everything else to filler while viewers await her next mesmerizing appearance.”
Angie Han (The Hollywood Reporter) observed: “As in every take on the saga including the original, Miss Havisham emerges as its single most memorable character, leaving an indelible impression that far outweighs her actual involvement in the plot.” She continued: “Colman, whose commanding presence has served her well in multiple queenly roles, cuts a striking figure in the wedding dress that Miss Havisham has worn ever since she was jilted at the altar years ago, with so many pearls wrapped around her neck they seem on the verge of choking her to death. ‘Sick. Sick fantasy. Sick. Sick,’ she hisses to herself as she forces Pip and Estella to play her cruel games, with a feral glee in her eyes that would not look out of place on Gollum.”
And Daniel D’Addario (Variety) called Colman “electric” as Miss Havisham, writing: “It falls to Colman to provide the fireworks in the group’s scenes together. She does it well, often seeming to swallow rage and metabolize it into a sort of sickly solicitousness. The role’s a fascinating contrast to her equally imperious but far more demonstrative Queen Anne in ‘The Favourite;’ Colman is (by now predictably) excellent.”
The reception to Colman’s performance has propelled her into our predicted nominees for Best TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actress, where we think she will be nominated alongside Maria Bello (“Beef”), Cherry Jones (“Five Days at Memorial”), Lena Headey (“White House Plumbers”), Claire Danes (“Fleishman Is in Trouble”), and Niecy Nash-Betts (“Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”).
She’s in this lineup for a variety of reasons. Firstly, this is a transformative performance. Any awards group — from the Oscars to the Emmys to the Tonys — always loves a role that sees the performer morph into the character, and this is certainly true for Colman’s witch-like Miss Havisham. Emmy voters particularly like this type of role in the TV Movie/Limited Series categories as evidenced by bids for Kathy Bates (“American Horror Story: Freak Show” in 2015 ) and Uzo Aduba (winner, “Mrs. America” in 2020) in supporting and Lily James (“Pam & Tommy” in 2022) and Julianne Moore (winner, “Game Change” in 2012) in lead.
In those same two categories, TV academy voters have shown that they like nominating performers of Colman’s stature. Penélope Cruz (“The Assassination of Gianni Versace” in 2018), Laura Dern (winner, “Big Little Lies” in 2017), and Bates (multiple nominations for “American Horror Story” including a 2014 win) all earned bids in the supporting category, while Amanda Seyfried (winner, “The Dropout” in 2022), Kate Winslet (winner, “Mare of Easttown” in 2021), and Cate Blanchett (“Mrs. America” in 2020) are A-list actresses who contended in lead.
Colman has already proved that she has the awards caliber. She won an Oscar for Best Actress in 2019 for “The Favourite,” which she followed with two further nominations; she’s won three BAFTA TV Awards and one BAFTA Film Award (for “The Favourite”); has three Golden Globes to her name; and has already taken home an Emmy (in 2021 for Best Drama Actress for “The Crown”).
And, what’s more, she is very much in vogue. In the last three years alone, she has reaped two Oscar nominations, one BAFTA TV bid, five Golden Globe nominations and one win, and an Emmy nomination and an Emmy victory. Colman is still very much in that hotspot of awards attention, as other actresses have been. Jean Smart has won two Emmys (both for Best Comedy Actress for “Hacks” in 2021 and 2022) and has been nominated twice more in the last three years alone. Similarly, Kate McKinnon has reaped three Emmy bids in the last three years (all for “Saturday Night Live”). And Zendaya has earned five nominations and two wins in the last three years, too (all for “Euphoria” — her victories were for Best Drama Actress in 2020 and 2022).
Colman is in that spotlight still herself. She won that aforementioned Best Drama Actress Emmy for “The Crown” in 2021, was nominated in the same category for the same show in 2020, received a Best Supporting Comedy Actress bid for “Fleabag” in 2019, and was nominated in 2016 for “The Night Manager” for Best TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actress. She is on a hot streak and it will continue this year.
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