Olivia Colman revealed she doesn’t feel ‘massively feminine’ in her gender, often describing herself as a ‘gay man’ to her husband, Ed Sinclair.
The Crown icon, 52, has been a steadfast supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, appearing in multiple projects highlighting coming-out stories.
From Heartstopper to new film Jimpa, Olivia has revealed she has been ‘welcomed’ into the community after never feeling comfortable in rigid gender roles.
‘Throughout my whole life, I’ve had arguments with people where I’ve always felt sort of nonbinary,’ she revealed to Them. ‘I’ve never felt massively feminine in my being female.
‘I’ve always described myself to my husband as a gay man. And he goes, “Yeah, I get that.”’
She and her husband, Ed, who is a screenwriter and producer, have been married since 2001 and have three children together: Finn, 20, Hall, 18, and a ten-year-old daughter.
She explained that working on Jimpa taught her more about pronouns, as she hadn’t really spent much time with the trans community before.
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The film follows Hannah, played by Olivia, as she travels to Amsterdam to visit her gay father, Jim (John Lithgow), with her nonbinary teenager, Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde).
After spending time with ‘Jimpa’, Frances wishes to stay with him, forcing Hannah to reassess her parenting and her past.
It is semi-autobiographical for writer-director Sophie Hyde, whose father did leave the family and is the focus of their debut film 52 Tuesdays about the transition of a parent.
Starring teen Aud, 20, is non-binary and is the child of Sophie and the film’s editor, Bryan Mason.
Olivia explained: ‘I think it’s a community that I love being welcomed into. I find the most loving and the most beautiful stories are from that community. And I feel really honoured to be welcomed.
‘I do feel at home and at ease. I feel like I have a foot in various camps. I know many people who do. I don’t really spend an awful lot of time with people who are very staunchly heterosexual…. The men I know and love are very in touch with all sides of themselves.’
In Heartstopper, Olivia prominently featured in an important scene in which her on-screen son Nick, played by Kit Connor, came out as bisexual.
The moment has been praised for the way Sarah (Olivia) immediately accepted him and apologised if she had made him feel unable to tell her.
Young fans have even shared how they used the scene to help them come out to their own parents.
Jimpa, which is set to be released in the UK on February 18, has been the focus of some wider cultural discussions already due to John Lithgow’s involvement.
The 3rd Rock From The Sun actor is starring as Dumbledore in the reboot of Harry Potter, but has distanced himself from author J.K. Rowling’s views.
Rowling, who serves as executive producer on the reboot, has said trans women shouldn’t be allowed into female-only spaces and that trans people ‘will end up wreaking more harm than lobotomies’ on kids struggling with their gender identity.
When quizzed about his involvement in the Potterverse, John declared that he is ’perfectly ready for collisions of opinion’ and ‘understands’ that not every person will support his choice.
He told Variety he takes the topic ‘extremely seriously’ and finds her views — which she denies are transphobic — ‘ironic and inexplicable.’
While he claimed she is ‘not really involved in this production at all’, the Daily Mail reported the author could earn £16million per year from the HBO show.
When his casting was announced, John revealed a friend had reached out, which turned out to be Aud and their mum.
‘It was definitely a difficult moment in time,’ Aud previously told Out. ‘I don’t think it’s worth speaking to John’s reasoning by any means, but I do also think that it’s a strange decision, for sure. And also I found it disconcerting, maybe, is the right word.’
Their mum, Sophie, shared: ‘It’s a very difficult thing. As soon as I heard about Harry Potter, for sure, I contacted John and expressed my feelings about it.
‘Not that J.K. Rowling has opinions, which is one thing, but that she has a very vocal platform and she’s funding a very, very harmful legal battle against trans people and that funding is doing a great deal of harm.’
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