Olivia Colman covers the November issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK to promote the new season of The Crown, where she’s taking over the “reign” from Claire Foy. The third season will be released November 17th. So we have a moment! I have to say, I absolutely am here for seeing 45-year-old women – free of plastic surgery – on magazine covers. Olivia was styled to look regal too. Anyway, Olivia comes across in this interview like she comes across everywhere else: completely normal, completely well-adjusted, and sort of having fun with her newfound stardom. You can read the cover story here. Some highlights:

She did some research to play Queen Elizabeth II: ‘I don’t really enjoy research. But for this, I have to accept it. I can’t just sit like me, I have to sit like her, and look like pictures of her. They have been teaching me how to walk – I’m really terrible at that, I have no physical awareness. I walk a bit like a farmer, one of the directors said.’

The Queen’s accent: ‘I thought that general “posh” would do it, but apparently not. Really unusual vowel sounds Well, it’s not quite this, but if you’re saying “yes”, you say “ears”.’ She bursts out laughing. ‘It’s fun to do, isn’t it? Very hard to stop. Ears.’

Whether she can play QEII’s impassiveness: ‘Claire was so brilliant at it that for the first few months, I just thought, “What would she do?” and I did that. I’m not very good at not moving my face. There’s one episode where they tell the story of Aberfan –which, shamefully, I didn’t know – and it was so awful, tragic and harrowing, and I really struggled with it.’ (In 1966, a colliery spoil tip slid down a mountain onto a primary school in the Welsh village of Aberfan, killing 116 children and 28 adults. Famously, this appalling tragedy elicited one of the Queen’s rare public missteps, when she refused to visit for eight days, giving rise to public criticism. In 2002, she admitted that this was her ‘biggest regret’.) ‘So they gave me an earpiece and put on the Shipping Forecast and I just listened to that and pretended that was all that was going on.’

Winning the Oscar: ‘I can’t register that it’s happened – it’s bonkers! It’s in our sitting-room, on the sideboard, and we keep laughing at it. It looks fake, it’s so shiny. And it’s really heavy! I could do some amazing weightlifts.’

She thought Glenn Close would win: ‘I was terrified, because I was going to have to say something in front of all these people. Ed [her husband] sent me a text saying, “Please, just think of these points,” but I was like, “It’s not going to happen, Eddie.” It feels unlucky to prepare something.’ Who did she expect to win? ‘Glenn Close. She was sitting right in the middle, wearing gold, so I thought she must know something.’

On Time’s Up: ‘I am thrilled that it’s happening, and I hope that it doesn’t lose momentum, and people don’t get bored of it. People are so used to the norm, and they don’t want to rock the boat – if you put your head above the parapet, you can be seen as difficult. And if a woman’s seen as difficult, then people don’t employ her. Deeply unfair…’

On money: ‘The idea is that you get an Oscar and suddenly – boom! You’re a multimillionaire! No –I definitely can’t complain, but I’m nowhere near the realm of paying everything off yet.’

Being given a CBE honour: She had it awarded in her married name, Sarah Sinclair. ‘I was thinking it would cause less fuss, and be nice and private but now everyone just knows my real name.’

[From Harper’s Bazaar UK]

Yeah, I actually had no idea – or maybe I did and I forgot? – that her real name is Sarah Sinclair. That’s a perfectly nice name. But Olivia Colman is a good name too! It feels British-y and like it’s her REAL brand. As for her queen lessons… that’s not really research, it’s just… preparation. And I love that she couldn’t just do a garden variety posh accent for the Queen. Because the Queen’s accent is its own thing – so posh and rarefied that it is completely unique. Now, Charles has more of a flat, posh accent.

Covers courtesy of Harper’s Bazaar UK, additional photo courtesy of WENN.