Person biography:
Olivia Williams began her career on the stage at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, breaking into television with the Andrew Davies adaptation of Emma in 1996.
She won the role of Abby in the $120 million blockbuster The Postman in 1997, starring alongside Kevin Costner.
In 1998, she was cast as Rosemary Cross in Rushmore, co-starring Bill Murray, from acclaimed filmmaker Wes Anderson and producer Barry Mendel.
Her association with Mendel brought her to the attention of M. Night Shyamalan, and she was cast as Anna Crowe in The Sixth Sense in 1999, which became a defining moment in her career.
The box office success of the film saw it become one of the highest-grossing films of all time.
In the subsequent years, she starred in The Body with Antonio Banderas, Below from Dimension Films, and the $100 million big-screen adaptation of Peter Pan from Universal Studios.
She then took on the challenge of playing Jane Austen in the BBC film, Miss Austen Regrets in 2007, and quickly followed by another lead role as Miss Stubbs in the Oscar-nominated An Education in 2009.
Based on these performances, Joss Whedon cast her as Adelle DeWitt in Dollhouse, the cult television series from 20th Century Fox that ran for two seasons.
She returned to cinema screens, playing Ruth Lang in The Ghost Writer with Pierce Brosnan and Ewan McGregor.
Olivia's performance earned her ALFS and NSFC awards for Best Supporting Actress.
Joe Wright cast her in his next two films, Hanna alongside Cate Blanchett and Saoirse Ronan, and in Anna Karenina with Jude Law and Keira Knightley.
In the same year, she joined the ensemble cast of Bill Murray, Olivia Colman, and Laura Linney in the hit film Hyde Park on Hudson from director Roger Michell.
In television, she then landed lead roles in Case Sensitive and Manhattan, both of which received critical acclaim.
During this period, she was also cast in the features, The Last Days on Mars, Seventh Son with Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, and Alicia Vikander, Maps to the Stars directed by David Cronenberg, and playing Lady Churchill in Victoria & Abdul directed by Stephen Frears.
Returning to television, she starred as Lady Priscilla Hamilton in the period drama, The Halcyon, and as Emily Burton Silk in both seasons of Counterpart with co-star J.K. Simmons.
Olivia has always had a deep passion for theatre, performing in numerous shows at the RSC and National Theatre.
Recently, she has starred as Lavinia Bidlow in the HBO show The Nevers, created and directed by Joss Whedon, and as Catherine in The Father with Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman.
She will next be seen in the HBO Max TV show Dune: Prophecy playing the role of Tula Harkonnen.
