Olivia Colman says paparazzi “meltdown” forced her out of London

Olivia Colman has said that paparazzi gathering outside her London home forced her to move out of the city to the countryside.

Coleman revealed that the paparazzi following her car caused her to have a “terrifying meltdown” before she decided to flee the city and her home in Peckham, South London.

In an interview with Vogue, Colman opened up about how she decided to leave London for Norfolk – the place where she grew up.

“We’ve moved to the countryside and it’s lovely,” she said, of her husband – screenwriter Ed Sinclair – and their children.

She continued: “It’s where I’m from. We never fell out of love with London,” she explained. “I love London, but it became difficult…Just arseholes standing outside your front door, following you on the school run.”

After clarifying that she meant paparazzi, Colman continued: “Yeah. I was scared. At one point, there were two cars chasing us and I was having a sort of meltdown, terrified. I was crying and they were laughing.”

She went on to open up about how she wished she was “braver” when it came to tackling situations where people take photographs of her in the everyday more. “People taking what they think is a sneaky photograph. It’s always obvious, you always know, and it’s awful,” Colman continued.

“Don’t do it. It happened the other day at my kids’ school, a mum took one. You can’t even go: ‘Sorry, don’t do that,’ as then they say, ‘I wasn’t! I didn’t!’ And then you look like a dick. It’s a shame…I wish I was braver but I’m not.”

Colman had her breakthrough in Peep Show before starring in the ITV-crime drama series Broadchurch. She went on to play Queen Elizabeth in The Crown and Queen Anne in The Favourite, which she earned an Academy Award for Best Actress in 2019.

Colman will next appear in Wonka, in cinemas from 8 December.

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