Olivia Colman says she 'loves being welcomed' into the queer world and has learned 'an awful lot' from the trans community as she takes on the role of a mother to a non-binary child in new movie

Olivia Colman has revealed she 'loves being welcomed' into the queer world as she takes on the role of a mother to a non-binary child in her new movie.

The actress, 52, also spoke about her relationship with the trans community ahead of the release of her drama Jimpa, sharing that she's learned an 'awful lot' from them after earning praise for her work in LGBTQ+ fare.

In a new interview, Olivia shared that she's 'never spent so much time' with someone from the queer community, after starring in the film alongside director Sophie Hyde's child, who is non-binary.

She said that while she sees herself as an 'outsider', in the queer community, it did help her to realise she 'does see herself as non-binary,' joking she has always described herself as a 'gay man' to her husband Ed Sinclair.

In the film, The Crown star plays Hannah, a mother to a non-binary teenager Frances, who travels to Amsterdam to visit her father Jim.

When Frances decides they want to stay in Amsterdam to live with their grandfather, Hannah is forced to re-evaluate her parenting and her relationship with her child.

The film is directed by and based on Sophie Hyde's real-life experience, with John's character based on her own 'gay activist' father, and stars her own trans non-binary child Aud Mason-Hyde as Frances.

Speaking about her relationship with the queer community, Olivia told Them: 'I think it's a community that I love being welcomed into. I find the most loving and the most beautiful stories are from that community. And I feel really honored to be welcomed.'

Noting that her character is seen as being 'on the outside' of the community, she added: 'Well, I wasn't too far off. I think it's important as an outsider to look and listen. We could all learn a lot from that. And Hannah was really good at that. 

'I think it helped that I'm fairly close to Sophie in my views and attitudes, so it wasn't too much of a leap for me to play Hannah.

'But I do think I learned an awful lot on the way as well. Actually, I'm not sure that I spent so much time with anyone in the trans community before then, thinking about it, you know. Yeah, I did learn a bit, and I got better at pronouns as well.'

During the interview, Olivia also shared that she 'sees herself as non-binary.

The actress, best known for her roles in The Crown, The Favourite and Heartstopper and has been married to her husband Ed Sinclair for 25 years, said she has never felt comfortable with rigid gender roles, including in her own marriage.

She explained: 'Throughout my whole life, I've had arguments with people where I've always sort of felt nonbinary.

'I've never felt massive feminine in my being female. I've always described myself to my husband as a gay man.

'And he goes 'yeah I get that'. And so I do feel at home and at ease. I don't really spend a whole lot of time with people who are very staunchly heterosexual... The men I know and love are very in touch with all sides of themselves.'

'I think with my husband and I, we take turns to be the 'strong one,' or the one who needs a little bit of gentleness. I believe everyone has all of it in them. I've always felt like that.'

'I'm not alone in saying, 'I don't feel like it's binary.' And I loved that. I came away from making this film with, Yeah, I knew I wasn't alone.'

Nonbinary is a term used to describe a person's gender identity that falls outside the traditional male and female binary.

Olivia's comments come as she stars in new queer film Jimpa which tells the story of Hannah (Colman), mother to nonbinary child Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde), as they travel to Amsterdam to visit Frances's grandpa Jim (John Lithgow).

When Frances decides they want to stay in Amsterdam to live with their grandfather, Hannah is forced to re-evaluate her parenting and her relationship with her child.

The film is directed by and based on Sophie Hyde's real-life experience, with John's character based on her own 'gay activist' father, and stars her own trans non-binary child Aud Mason-Hyde as Frances.

While promoting the film, Olivia told Vanity Fair that she wishes she could always be surrounded by members of the LGBTQ+ community.

She said: 'The people on the film were all from the queer community, and I don't know if it's because they've had to all have a journey of their own to get to where they are - seen and confident - but I've never felt more welcomed by a group of people.

'I find it so upsetting and so mystifying that there is such hatred towards any group of people. But clearly, hatred can only come from people that just don't know any of these people, because I don't know how you could hate people that are so kind and lovely. It's just about acceptance and love. How can that p*ss people off? I will never understand.' 

'If I could work with the queer community and trans people on every film, I'd have the happiest life,

Olivia has previously won praise for her roles in LGBTQ+ fare, winning the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in period drama The Favourite, where she played Queen Anne, who engages in a same-sex affair with Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough.

She also starred as Sarah Nelson, the mother of bisexual teenager Nick in the Netflix series Heartstopper, and was lauded by fans for a heartwarming scene where her son came out to her. 

In 2019, Olivia backed calls for LGBTQ+ inclusive education in schools, telling Vogue: 'I would like all children to have relationship classes in schools.'