Olivia Williams

Olivia comes from a family of lawyers, and she grew up intending to be a lawyer, though fate had other plans for her.

She married actor Rhashnan Stone in 2003. They have two daughters together; Esme Ruby and Roxana May.

She was in a seven-year relationship with Jonathan Cake, and was also engaged to marry. However, two weeks before their wedding date, they called off their engagement.

Olivia Haighe Williams was born in Camden Town, London, on July 26, 1968. She went to South Hampstead High School in North London.

Both her parents were lawyers, so she pretty much believed that she’ll follow the legacy, but with time her fondness grew towards acting, and so did the circumstances.

She went to Newnham College, University of Cambridge. However, she left the university after four years (with English Literature degree) to study drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

She studied at Bristol for two years. After the drama school, she spent three years at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

She started performing with The Royal Shakespeare Company, and from there on, her acting career started taking a flight.

In 1995, Olivia went on a tour of the USA to work in the production of Shakespeare’s Richard III (that starred Ian Mckellen). She made several theater appearances before she landed her first significant role in a television movie, Emma in 1996-based on the famous Jane Austen novel.

In 1997, she made her big screen debut, along side Kevin Coster with the movie ‘The Postman’. She was 28 and unemployed when, according to her, she was ‘saved’ by Kevin Costner. She uses the word ‘saved’, because she had almost decided to apply for a conversion course in law.

The movie didn’t fare well at the box-office, but Olivia got hold of another project ‘Rushmore’, where she played the lead, Rosemary Cross.

During this time, she also got the opportunity to guest star in insanely famous series, ‘Friends’, where she played one of the bridesmaids at Ross’ London wedding.

In 1999, she starred with Bruce Willis in M. Night Shyamalan’s blockbuster, ‘The Sixth Sense’, where she played Bruce’s wife. Her role wasn’t big enough, but it sure fetched her good roles in future.

In 2001, she appeared in a number of English movies, including ‘Lucky Break’.

In 2000, she played Madeliene in ‘The Heart of Me’, a role that made her won her the British Independent Film Award for Best Actress.

In 2003, she played Mrs. Darling in the film adaptation of ‘Peter Pan’. In 2006, she appeared in ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’ (Dr. Moira Mactaggert) but wasn’t credited.

In 2008, she played the role of British author Jane Austen in ‘Jane Austen Regrets’.