Olivia Colman Will Play a Femme Fatale Who Falls for Homer in ‘The Simpsons’
From playing a completely graceless stepmother in “Fleabag” to embodying the tragic, gout-ridden Queen Anne in “The Favourite,” British actress Olivia Colman can do it all. And now, the Academy Award winner and 2019 Primetime Emmy nominee will lend her voice to the 31st season of “The Simpsons,” adding to an enviable guest roster that will include John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, Jason Momoa, Bob Odenkirk, John Mulaney, and Jane Goodall.
“The Simpsons” executive producer James L. Brooks tweeted that Colman will play “the most down home femme fatal [sic] ever who attracts every man she’s ever met but falls hard, harder than she ever imagined, for Homer Simpson.” Brooks also teased the performance to say, “Just this second came from recording one of the best guest appearances in Simpson’s [sic] history. No kidding, I am flying.”
Olivia Colman is currently an Emmy nominee for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for “Fleabag,” opposite series creator, writer, and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge. This year, Colman beat the odds and bested Glenn Close’s performance in “The Wife” to take home Best Actress at the Academy Awards for her iconic performance in “The Favourite.” In 2016, she was Emmy-nominated for “The Night Manager,” and will next take the reign as Queen Elizabeth II in Netflix’s “The Crown.”
She recently shared with Harper’s Bazaar her awkward real-life run-in with the Queen. “It was at a British Film Institute gathering to raise the profile of British film, independent film,” she said. “We suddenly found ourselves, two hundred people, in a big queue… A gentleman with epaulettes said, ‘Don’t overdo it, little bow, and you say, Your Majesty, and your Royal Highness, and go. Make it as swift as possible and go. ‘Alright, Okay.’ And I managed to remember what to say, sort of sticky-handed and bit sort of stumbly. That was it!”
Colman’s vast and varied credits on television include a celebrated run on the British mystery series “Broadchurch,” along with roles in “Flowers” and cult favorite “Peep Show.” Her turn on “Fleabag” is truly a wondrous thing to behold, and she is indeed the likely favorite to take home the honor this year.
