Olivia Colman has played many fantastic roles throughout her career, ranging from her early comedic performances in shows like Peep Show and Green Wing to acclaimed TV dramas such as Broadchurch and The Crown, along with her Oscar-winning role in The Favourite.
Colman’s recent role as The Reverend Mother in Paddington in Peru got her excited, revealing to DigitalSpy that she “would have done it for free”.
The Reverend Mother oversees The Home for Retired Bears, where Aunt Lucy resides, and one of the most enjoyable parts of her character is that she gets to perform a sort of theme tune when it’s announced that Paddington will be returning to his home country.
Colman revealed she found the musical sequence in Paddington hard but was able to pull it off.
“It turns out people who can sing and play the instrument and move, it’s really hard.
“I had to do one song, but it just makes suddenly you think of going to see anyone performing on stage, like Beyoncé with dance routines and singing,”she told Digital Spy.
“I had a very long skirt and thankfully Jen White, the choreographer, said, ‘Well, luckily the skirt hides your feet’ because I was going, ‘I literally can’t do everything all at the same time’, and so I was pretending [up here] and pretending [down here] and it’s really hard.”
Colman also reunited with Hugh Bonneville as they starred together in BBC comedies Twenty Twelve and its sequel series.
Of course, Colman isn’t the only big name joining the cast, as Banderas also has a significant role as an Amazonian riverboat captain whom the Browns encounter on their journey.
Banderas nearly had his own musical number in a credit scene that was ultimately cut and never filmed.
Colman’s presence in a Paddington movie feels like such a perfect fit, but even director Dougal Wilson was surprised by everything she brought to the role.
“I’d never supposed I had the same imagination as those two in terms of what the performance was going to be.
“When we were considering who was going to play those roles, as soon as those names were suggested, I thought, ‘Of course, who else?’,” he said.
Olekanma Favour is a resourceful, self-motivated, and result-driven writer with a passion for crafting compelling narratives and insightful content. She loves tackling complex topics and weaving engaging stories.
When she’s not writing, Olekanma enjoys immersing herself in a good book, exploring new cuisines, and discovering new cultures.