“I am just an actor – all I do is I memorise someone else’s words and tart around,” says Olivia Colman, Bafta-award-winning actor and patron for anti-domestic violence charity Tender.
Within a few minutes of interviewing her, the self-deprecation that Colman is known for is revealed. “Some actors know much more [than me] but I’m aware of my limitations,” she tells me. But, perhaps this is what makes her an effective charity patron.
When faced with a number of requests from charities, Colman says she chose to focus on a few, carefully chosen causes. She became a patron of Tender less than a year ago, after approaching a range of charities while researching for her role as a domestic violence survivor in the film Tyrannosaur.
“I want to be helpful to the charities I support. I think you can dilute it, the more you do,” she says. “You have to be a bit strong about what you do … otherwise you risk spreading yourself a bit thin and you can be less useful.”
She explains that sometimes there are things “I just know I can’t do”. When approached by Comic Relief to appear in a fundraising film in Africa, Colman had reservations. “I said I don’t think you want me, I won’t be able to do it,” she says. “I’ve got no armour. If they’re suffering they don’t want some twatty actor turning up in tears.”
Eventually, Colman did find a good fit at Comic Relief, with young carers. She found filming for the TV event uplifting and while she still “still cried”, she realised that, when it comes to charity work, she’s “better at doing positive stuff”.
This is what drew her to Tender – its positive, preventative work and the fact that “it’s grassroots and gives people useful tools to lead a happy life.”
Tender was established in 2003 and works with young people to raise awareness of abuse and educate them around friendships and relationships. Its workshops are run in places like schools, youth centres, offices and healthcare settings.
“That’s the point of Tender – to try and get in there early,” Colman explains. “Teach people about the warning signs and children how to be a good friend and good partner. So that’s why I said yes to being a patron, it sort of made sense. I understood that.”
When I ask her what her advice is for anyone considering becoming a patron it was very considered: know your limits by not over-committing to causes and being sure it’s the right cause for you. But there’s one thing, self-deprecating as she is, that she doesn’t mention – hard work.
“I’m not trying to pretend, you know … it’s the staff who are doing the tough shit,” she tells me. While she acknowledges that “my job means I’m helpful” she doesn’t consider herself an expert. “If Susie [McDonald, Tender’s chief executive] were here she’d be much better than me at this … I’ll never be as knowledgeable as her,” she says.
But she reveals her commitment in other ways – attending Tender’s workshops, meeting beneficiaries and volunteers and even calling the charity before this interview to “apologise in advance in case I am not saying all the things you want me to say”.
Her eagerness to get it right is obvious as she adds: “I’m always keen to have more training as a charity patron.”
Like her day job, it seems there’s rather more to her charity work than memorising words and tarting around. Her advice for aspiring charity patrons shows as much: “Make sure it’s a good fit. You can’t fake it, even as an actor. You have to have a real passion for it.”
Source: theguardian.com – Olivia Colman: You can’t fake it as a charity patron even as an actor
