Olivia Colman has made a name for herself by diving into layered, emotionally complex characters — but her newest role feels particularly personal.
In Jimpa, directed by Sophie Hyde, Colman takes on the role of Hannah, a mother caught in heartfelt and sometimes tense discussions between her nonbinary child and her openly gay father. Set in Amsterdam, the film traces three generations as traditional queer activism collides with a younger generation’s evolving understanding of gender identity.
While promoting the film, Colman opened up about her own connection to gender and why the story struck a chord beyond the script.
“I’ve never felt massively feminine in my being female,” she told Them in a recent interview. “I’ve always described myself to my husband as a gay man.”
She explained that the phrase has long served as a kind of shorthand for how she understands herself. Her husband’s reaction? “Yeah, I get that,” she shared, noting that their relationship isn’t built around traditional roles. “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.”
Colman avoided putting a firm label on herself but admitted she’s never felt boxed in by rigid definitions. “Throughout my whole life, I’ve had arguments with people where I’ve always felt sort of nonbinary. Don’t make that a big sort of title!” she said with a laugh. “I’ve always felt like that.”
Working on Jimpa deepened that perspective. She said collaborating with director Sophie Hyde and Hyde’s child, Aud Mason-Hyde — who is trans and nonbinary — helped her feel less alone in those feelings.
“It’s only now, and talking to Aud and their community, suddenly I’m not an oddity,” Colman said. “I’m not alone in saying, ‘I don’t feel like it’s binary.’ And I loved that.”
Though she’s in a heterosexual marriage, Colman shared that she’s long felt comfortable in queer spaces. “I think it’s a community that I love being welcomed into,” she said. “I find the most loving and the most beautiful stories are from that community. And I feel really honored to be welcomed.”
For her, those stories mirror how she navigates life. “I feel like I have a foot in various camps,” she explained, adding that the men around her are “very in touch with all sides of themselves.”
