Olivia Colman Embraces Queer Community in New Role

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 + 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 joking she has always described herself as a 'gay man' to her husband Ed Sinclair.

In the film, 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 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.

The Crown star appears alongside John Lithgow, who plays her character's father Jim, who abandoned his family to live life as a 'free, gay man' in Amsterdam