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

Olivia Colman speaks to the BBC about playing a Dickens villain - and why she thinks Great Expectations is still relevant for modern Britain.

"It's terrible what happens to Miss Havisham," the Oscar-winning actress says of her character in the new BBC adaptation of Great Expectations.

"If only she'd had a therapist or a really good friend to chat to, she might be in a much better place."

Published in the 1860s, Great Expectations is the coming-of-age story of young Pip - played in this adaptation by Dunkirk actor Fionn Whitehead - a poor orphan looking for a better life, who receives a large fortune from a mysterious benefactor.

On his journey, he meets the wealthy, eccentric and sadistic Miss Havisham, who has refused to leave her decaying mansion for years after being left at the altar by a "complete rotter," as Olivia calls him.

In turn, Miss Havisham takes out her "sick fantasies" on Pip and her adopted daughter Estella (Shalom Brune-Franklin).

Playing a villain like Miss Havisham is "so much fun," says Olivia, who is well known for her roles in The Crown, Broadchurch and The Favourite.

And, she says, Miss Havisham's heartbreak is relatable to anyone who has been through a bad break up.

"I do understand the upset," Olivia adds, "but I don't really understand how she's managed to keep it going for so 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 desire for revenge that's made her endure in the national consciousness.

"It's an extreme example of something that we all sort of feel or know," he says.

Before filming Great Expectations, Olivia says she was nervous she had not put enough preparation into the role as she had done lots of jobs back to back.

But as soon as she put on her hair, make-up and costume, Olivia says she said to herself, "Oh yeah, ace. I can feel it now".

Great Expectations costume designer Verity Hawkes told the actress she did not view Miss Havisham as "dusty" but rather "rotting from the inside".

Olivia thought it was a brilliant interpretation, adding, "I kept that at the back of my mind."

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

Verity says she wanted to make Miss Havisham's costume "rotten" because the character is "such a dreadful, manipulative, bitter woman".

She explains: "I also thought that she lives in this damp old house and I don't think you'd be dusty, you'd be mouldy and rotten."

In this adaptation, Steven says he wanted to approach the story and Miss Havisham's character through a modern lens.

"It's not an attempt to be sacrilegious or vandalise the text at all [but] as a modern person, you're looking at things slightly differently."

Olivia adds: "I think you do get to really see her fragility, as well. I like to feel that she makes some changes."

Great Expectations - along with A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist - is one of Dickens' most popular stories.

And the role of Miss Havisham has been played by many leading actresses, like Charlotte Rampling and Miss Marple actress Joan Hickson, as well as some of Olivia's own friends.

Olivia laughs and even lets out an expletive when thinking back on those who have played the role before her.

Olivia says she was reluctant to accept the role for a long time because her friends Gillian Anderson and Helena Bonham Carter - who starred alongside her on The Crown - had also performed the same part in earlier adaptations.

"I really did struggle with the idea of being compared with my mates," she says. "I did want to play [Miss Havisham] so I thought, 'well, it's what happens with all actors. You all end up playing the same parts sometimes, and that's okay.'

"So hopefully Gillian and Helly don't think I'm doing a terrible job of this!"

In Olivia's view, Dickens' ideas about wealth, poverty and class in Great Expectations are still "extraordinarily relevant" and "really poignant".

Although the book was "written over 100 years ago" she says "in the UK and in many other places, it depends where a baby is born as to potentially where they will end up. And I find that depressing and upsetting and shocking.

"There's marginally more chance, maybe, that you can escape if you want to, but it's up against you if you're born on the wrong side of the tracks. It's just not fair."

Steven says working on Great Expectations was personal for him because his dad was a blacksmith and, like the character of Pip, it was expected that he'd be one too.

"By chance I was no good at it," Steven says, adding that the question of whether people can escape their roots and destiny is as crucial a question now as it was then.

"I think that's why people still see themselves in the book," he explains.

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

Images: BBC / FX / Pari Dukovic / Miya Mizuno