‘Empire of Light’: Sam Mendes Didn’t Do a Chemistry Test Between Olivia Colman and Micheal Ward Because of 1 Quality
In Sam Mendes’ Empire of Light, Olivia Colman and Micheal Ward’s chemistry is one of the most important elements of the film. The entire story revolves around if the audience believes and wants to watch Colman and Ward’s relationship.
This is why it’s surprising that Mendes decided to forgo the actors’ chemistry test and cast Ward opposite Coleman without the pair ever having met.
Sam Mendes’s ‘Empire of Light’ starring The Crown’s Olivia Colman and Micheal Ward
Set in 1980s England, Mendes’ Empire of Light stars Colman as Hilary, a middle-aged cinema employee in a small seaside town. Hilary is quiet and often taken advantage of by her boss, Mr. Ellis (Colin Firth). But when Stephen (Ward) is hired, Hilary’s life begins to brighten. The spark shared between them is threatened by the town’s racism and Hilary’s mental health issues.
Mendes is well known in Hollywood for his directing work beginning with American Beauty in 1999. Since then, he has directed many successful movies, including Road to Perdition, Jarhead, Revolutionary Road, Skyfall, Spectre, and 1917. Mendes also co-wrote 1917 alongside Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Empire of Light marks the first time Mendes directed a film he wrote independently.
Micheal Ward is glad The Crown’s Olivia Colman is not a ‘c**t’
Considering that Mendes’ Empire of Light is built largely upon the relationship between Hilary and Stephen, Colman and Ward’s chemistry was of the utmost importance. But Mendes cast Ward without the young actor ever even meeting his co-star. The director is not the first to have done this. Ward is known for his roles in Rapman’s Blue Story, a role he landed after only one audition, and Steve McQueen’s Lover’s Rock, a role the actor never auditioned for, as The Hollywood Reporter reports.
Ward credits this remarkable trend to his natural transparency, a trait he says he and Colman share. “People like me and Olivia show ourselves,” Ward says, “…I don’t really put up a barrier… and that’s pretty much how our characters are.”
Likewise, Colman describes Ward as “endlessly energetic and interested” and notes that his openness and “desire to get it ‘right’” was what she loved about working with him.
But that doesn’t mean that working with one of Hollywood’s biggest actors wasn’t intimidating for Ward. The actor says he was relieved to find his co-star very down to earth and was impressed that Colman was “lovely” and not “a c**t, because I would have thought, to be successful like Olivia Colman, you’ve got to be a c***!”
Micheal Ward and Olivia Colman movies
As Ward implies, Colman is one of the most successful working actors. Known best for her role as Queen Elizabeth in The Crown, Colman’s IMDb credits begin in 2000 with small roles on British television.
In 2003, Colman began portraying Sophie on Peep Show, and she played PC Doris Thatcher in 2007’s Hot Fuzz. In 2013, Colman starred in the critically-acclaimed series Broadchurch, which made her a recognizable name, while also appearing in 2016’s Night Manager and the hit series Fleabag.
But it was not until The Favourite that Colman became the star she is today. Starring alongside Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone, the film was a huge hit and earned Colman an Oscar for Best Actress in 2019. That same year, she was cast in her Emmy-winning role in The Crown. Most recently, Colman’s starring roles in The Father and The Lost Daughter have also earned her Academy Award nominations.
Besides his work on Blue Story and Small Axe, Ward has played Brendan on The A-List and Jamie in Top Boy. Following Mendes’ Empire of Light, Ward will continue to bring attention to social justice with his role alongside Bill Nighy in The Beautiful Game.
