Biography
A struggling stage actress when she was cast in the
Kevin Costner epic
The Postman (1997), British actress Olivia Williams survived the film's meltdown with her reputation relatively intact. The daughter of lawyers, Williams earned a degree in English at Cambridge University before studying acting for two years with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Her training led to several stage roles, as well as to work with the Royal Shakespeare Company in both Stratford-upon-Avon and London. A four-month tour of Richard III featuring
Ian McKellen brought Williams to the United States, and, following a supporting role in the made-for-TV adaptation of
Emma (1997), she again found herself stateside to work on
The Postman. Fortunately for Williams, she rebounded from
The Postman with her role as Miss Cross, the fought-over love interest of a precocious 15-year-old and an embittered millionaire in the acclaimed comedy
Rushmore (1998). She could be seen the next year starring opposite
Bruce Willis in the enormously successful supernatural thriller
The Sixth Sense. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide