There are fabulous costumes and it’s beautifully shot but I think essentially for shows to run for a long time there has to be a lot of humanity at the heart and I think this one did - it wasn’t very narrative driven but people driven. I’m pleased with the series and proud of it and I think that BBC has developed something really lovely.
* You spent six months filming the series so how difficult a shoot was it?
It really depends because it’s episode led so you will be some more than others; sometimes you will have a ferocious schedule and on others you will have a couple of days off to walk around Bristol or Bath.
There is obviously more prep with make-up and costume so a small scene means you’re in for the whole day.
* Much like Lark Rise to Candleford new series Women in Love is a very period piece with the costumes so is that an aspect of the shoot that you enjoy?
I love fashion, I have grown up with fashion as my mum was a costume designer for the BBC for sixteen years, and I think that I also have a period look - which I think is why I tend to be cast in that genre.
It’s an extra perk I think as it helps when entering another world.
* As well as TV success we have also seen you on the big screen in the likes of Stardust and more recently Mr Nice so how do you find movie work in comparison to TV?
I love movie work! It’s sort of the same process but slower, which is actually often nice, it feels more comprehensively shot. There is a sense of there being more time for coverage on each scene, which is nice, the more time that the actors get to play on screen the better the product so yeah I love film as well.
* I read that you originally trained as a ballet dancer so why did you make the move into acting?
It was quite an early shift really. I was with the Royal ballet as a junior associate and by the age of thirteen I hadn’t really decided whether I was going to do it full out professionally or not, I was doing it around school.
The decision came at about to eleven to go on to St Paul’s or go on to Whitelodge, so it was a very early decision really. In discussion with my parents we decided that I would keep going around secondary school - I was still fitting in two or three hours of ballet a day and then it became untenable.
It was a great love and passion, and remains so, but the career is so brutal and leaves you with so little at the end of it and ends so early, is so demanding and there’s no backup, twist your ankle that is it, it’s a very tricky career and I had other options at the point so I took them.
*You are know for your red carpet style and beauty so what is your top beauty secret?
Well basically I had just had my teeth whitened by Dr Chan at Smile Studio London, I think I have had my teeth bleached before when I was in New York with a UV light and I have had lots of teething pains.
But he has got a completely new system, which I think works through heat, and they are now LA white - so that’s great.
* And what made you want to get them bleached - I suppose it’s quite a popular procedure at the moment?
My teeth are quite white anyway but it’s amazing how stained they can become with red wine and coffee, I’m quite a big coffee drinker, even if the front of your teeth are quite white in-between can go a bit yellow.
But it is amazing we you see the difference and you just thing ‘my lord how was I surviving before?’
* Everyone wants to look good but being and actress it's even more important - so what are your top beauty tips with summer just around the corner?
I have got quite a lot of hair, so I spend quite a lot of money on hair products, I love Charles Worthington’s products I use his blow dry spray to give lift as well conditioning sprays. I also use Kingsley shampoo which is also amazing - so that would be my hair trio.
As for skin well I have very white porcelain skin, which has all its own difficulties such as thing the sun and being very sensitive and delicate.
I have just found, which I think is amazing, this 30+ under make-up primer which I’m using instead of sun cream, which I hope is ok, I use to wear a lot of factor 50 sun cream but it was very sticky so makeup didn’t go very well over the top of it. So this primer just sinks into the skin and has a little bit of colour in it which acts as a sort of base.
I tend to wear quite simple and classic make up such as Mac blot power, which is quite useful. I just wear mascara and quite often Elizabeth Arden eight hour cream on lips, and sometimes on my eyelids to make them slightly glossy.
- Finally what's next for you?
I’m currently in an independent movie it’s a comedy horror, a bit like Shaun of the Dead, which is quite fun. I have my own stunt double so I’m finding fun. Then I’m going to see what comes next.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Olivia's top beauty tip was whitening at Smile Studio London www.smilestudiolondon.co.uk