Who is The Crown’s new Camilla? Olivia Williams was plucked from obscurity to star in sexy romp with Kevin Costner, dumped at the altar by her fiancé and beat cancer after being misdiagnosed for four years
- Olivia Williams, 52, has landed the role of Duchess of Cornwall in The Crown
- The British actress, who hails from London, has made a splash in Hollywood
- Spent years acting in Shakespeare on stage before she landed her first TV gig
- Starred in Emma (1996) before she made big screen debut in The Postman
- Bagged roles opposite big names including Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense
- Jilted before wedding to actor Jonathan Cake but found love with Rhashan Stone
- Actress also battled pancreatic cancer after being misdiagnosed for four years
It was announced earlier this week that actress Olivia Williams would be taking over the role of Camilla Parker Bowles in the fifth season of The Crown, which will cover the most volatile period of the couple’s relationship: before and after Princess Diana’s death.
But the British star’s own life has been equally dramatic, from being plucked from obscurity to star in a sexy romp with Kevin Costner to being scandalously dumped weeks before her wedding to fellow actor Jonathan Cake.
The actress, 52, from London, came from ordinary beginnings and was on the verge of giving up on the career when she was named ‘the most beautiful women to come on screen in the last ten years’ by Kevin Costner in 1997.
He picked her to star in his $90-million uber-flop The Postman, in which the two had a raunchy sex scene.
Since then, her rising star has been on the up-and-up, with roles opposite Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense, Carey Mulligan in An Education and even a guest appearance as Matt Le Blanc’s love interest in Friends.
She has also found love with long-term partner and Holby City actor Rhashan Stone, who supported her as she battled pancreatic cancer having been misdiagnosed for four years.
Olivia Williams. 52, from London, is set to take over the role of Camilla Parker Bowles in the fifth season of The Crown, which will cover the most volatile period of the couple’s relationship: before and after Princess Diana’s death
The actress was plucked from obscurity by Kevin Costner and chosen to star in his $90-million uber-flop The Postman, in which the two had a raunchy sex scene (pictured)
Olivia, who is the younger of two sisters, was educated at South Hampstead High School for Girls, where fellow The Crown actress Helena Bonham Carter was in the year above.
She then read English at Newnham College, Cambridge where she met long-term boyfriend Jonathan Cake, who was also actively pursuing an acting career.
She applied to Bristol Old Vic Theatre School but remained convinced that, like her parents and sister had, she would pursue law as a career.
She began working with the Royal Shakespeare Company and quickly landed the role of Jane Fairfax in the 1996 TV film of Emma.
Since then, her rising star has been on the up-and-up, with roles opposite Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense, and even a guest appearance as Matt Le Blanc’s love interest in Friends
But she was devastated when the role lead to a six-month period of unemployment, and she considered throwing in the towel.
Meanwhile, her personal life disintegrated, when partner Jonathan ended their seven-year relationship, two weeks before their planned wedding.
It was then she auditioned for Kevin Costner’s 1997 flop The Postman, and told The Independent landing the role was ‘mainly down to luck’.
She explained: ‘I got home to several thousand messages from my agent’s assistant saying Kevin wanted to speak to me, when would I be in? I invented a pressing engagement that would keep him waiting a little longer while I paced around the flat practising how I would say ‘Hello.’
She began working with the Royal Shakespeare Company and quickly landed the role of Jane Fairfax in the 1996 TV film of Emma (pictured)
‘He called, said he liked my audition tape and would I do another. For some bloodyminded reason I refused, and the conversation ended cordially, but rather awkwardly.’
Kevin insisted she fly to LA and handed her the role after he described her as ‘one of the most beautiful women to come on screen in the last ten years’.
But after the film was released, rather than throw herself into another filming project, Olivia instead decided to travel to the rainforest to study bespectacled bears with her best friend.
Upon her return, she found her star was rising and she went on to star opposite Bill Murray in Rushmore as a sexy teacher who the two main characters are enamoured by, followed by the supernatural thriller The Sixth Sense.
She has also found love with long-term partner and Holby City actor Rhashan Stone, who supported her as she battled pancreatic cancer having been misdiagnosed for four years
Despite being in a ‘hinterland of miserable singledom’, she has since starred in a string of Hollywood films, including The Sixth Sense and X-Men: The Last Stand.
Meanwhile she began dating Rhashan Stone, whom she had met years before at the RSC, and within 18 months the couple were married with a daughter.
But she didn’t stop working, telling The Guardian: ‘as soon as Roxana was born, my acting dream came true: I got offered three jobs, two of them with no auditioning. All three were unturndownable, so even though my child was six days old, I took them all.’
She starred in An Education, won critical acclaim for her part in Ghost Writer and portrayed a bohemian mother travelling across America in Hanna.
When she was a young aspiring actress, her personal life disintegrated when partner Jonathan ended their seven-year relationship, two weeks before their planned wedding (pictured together)
Despite her resume of highly successful films, she previously said one of the reasons she isn’t a household name is because she refused to play the Hollywood game.
In a 2012 interview with the Evening Standard, she said: ‘I have been in a situation where I was literally being chased around the sofa and asked to get down on my knees by a studio boss.
‘I suppose it is flattering to be offered the opportunity to sleep your way to the top, and be able to refuse it.
‘It comes down to how much you want a job and my answer is always not that much.’
Kevin insisted she fly to LA and handed her the role after he described her as ‘one of the most beautiful women to come on screen in the last ten years’ (pictured together in t he film)
Upon her return, she found her star was rising and she went on to star opposite Bill Murray in Rushmore as a sexy teacher who the two main characters are enamoured by, followed by the supernatural thriller The Sixth Sense (pictured with Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense)
She believes holding out for her full fee cost her a role as the Bond girl in Die Another Day, a role which went to Rosamund Pike.
And she refused to move to Los Angeles, instead choosing to stay in London and work from the UK.
She revealed: ‘I love the place to go and visit and I love working there, but I haven’t got the stamina to maintain myself at the level required to be a regular attendee at award ceremonies and premieres.’
In October 2014, she began to feel unwell after a long summer filming the TV series Manhattan in New Mexico and was diagnosed with lupus.
Despite her resume of highly successful films, she previously said one of the reasons she isn’t a household name is because she has refused to play the Hollywood ‘game’
While filming The Halcyon in London, Olivia had tests for colon and bowel cancer, which both came back negative – two years later, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer
But, after a year of medication and close scrutiny, she was discharged with a note that said she did not have lupus.
The symptoms persisted into 2016, and, while filming The Halcyon in London, she had tests for colon and bowel cancer, which both came back negative.
She continued trying to see doctors to push for a diagnosis but found in 2017, it began to affect her work.
By February 2018, while filming Counterpart in Berlin, the symptoms became so constant and unmanageable that, during a small gap in filming, she made an appointment for a colonoscopy.
The actress is now happily married to the Holby City actor Rhashan, who has supported her through her cancer battle (pictured together in 2008)
The results came back normal, and she gave up coffee, sugar, alcohol and gluten and never ate after 6pm.
Finally, a CT scan showed a mass taking up half her pancreas and she had half my pancreas, spleen, gallbladder and a big chunk of her liver removed.
In 2019, she was announced ambassador for the charity Pancreatic Cancer UK and she has since been a vocal advocate for the organisation.
It was announced last week Olivia had landed arguably her biggest role yet as Duchess of Cornwall for the fifth and sixth series of The Crown.
She will have personal insight into the character, having met Camilla after her marriage to Charles, by which time she had become the Duchess of Cornwall.
She will have personal insight into the character, having met Camilla after her marriage to Charles, by which time she had become the Duchess of Cornwall (pictured together in 2017)
Olivia will play Camilla Parker Bowles in the fifth season of The Crown, which will cover the most volatile period of the couple’s relationship: before and after Princess Diana’s death (pictured, Camilla in 1992)
Olivia takes over the roles from Emerald Fennell (who won an Oscar last month for her film Promising Young Woman), who played Camilla for the past two seasons of the award-winning Netflix series.
She shot what’s known as a ‘chemistry test’ with Dominic West, who to see if they were compatible on screen together, before she was offered the role — one that’s right at the heart of the drama.
She’ll join the rest of the ‘Royal Family’, including Imelda Staunton as the Queen; Jonathan Pryce as the Duke of Edinburgh; Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret, and Elizabeth Debicki as Diana.
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