The Oscars: Olivia Coleman aims for glory but it could be a very Close call indeed

Olivia Colman will be hoping to make it a dream hat-trick at the Oscars tonight.

The star of period drama The Favourite is the darling of the awards season, having triumphed at both the Golden Globe and the Baftas.

Now it’s thought to be a straight head-to-head fight between Olivia and Screen Actors Guild winner Glenn Close for the Best Actress Academy Award.

And if Colman does come out on top it will be a remarkable renaissance, coming 15 years after she says she was left typecast and missing out on work because of an AA TV advert.

But Bill Paterson, her co-star in comedy Fleabag which returns at the start of next month, insists Colman will handle the Hollywood hype without any hoopla. The Scot says even international recognition won’t turn her head.

“We were filming the first episode of this new series of Fleabag in a restaurant,” Bill, 73, told The Sunday Post. “It was a long, long Sunday stuck at the table and Olivia was as bright as a button at 6am. But she had literally just come off a plane having received the Best Actress Award at the Venice Film Festival.

“She hadn’t known about it until the Friday night and she was jetted out, put into a frock and jetted back.

“She only had a drink on the plane, there wasn’t even time for the reception. So when she joined us on the set first thing she was really at the eye of the storm of her success.

“But she just hit the ground running with no effort involved.”

Colman appeared in the Kev and Bev advert in 2004, saying she expected it’d only have a brief run but which ended being screened extensively.

“They ran it for a year having just given me a buy-out,” she said. “It was really annoying. I lost some jobs.”

Olivia’s subsequent work included comedies Peep Show and Twenty Twelve and dramas like Broadchurch, alongside David Tennant, and The Night Manager.

Her performance as Queen Anne in The Favourite, also starring previous Oscar winners Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone, has garnered almost universal acclaim. And she’ll make a regal move from the 18th to the 20th Century in a few months’ time when she takes over from Claire Foy as the Queen in the third series of Netflix’s lavish The Crown.

Olivia is Godmother in Fleabag and having worked together Bill, who gets engaged to her in the opening episode, says he got a close-up look at how she delivers killer performances, be it comedy or drama.

“She just doesn’t give any sense that switching the gears will be difficult,” said Bill.

“She treats it seriously, of course, but not too seriously and she was always lively and funny.

“She carries it all lightly, even when she was shooting The Crown at the same time and all our schedules were dependent on whether or not they needed her.”

Ross King’s Oscar Picks

Forget all the distractions, I’m more interested in seeing who’ll lift those famous statues tonight.

And I think it’s going to be a fascinating ceremony.

I think the gorgeous black-and-white Mexican drama Roma, by director Alfonso Cuaron, will win – but I’m hopeful my fave Green Book might just surprise everybody and sneak in.

It stars the brilliant Mahershala Ali who might add another Best Supporting Actor gong after winning it two years ago.

Green Book is the type of film the Academy loves – a historical drama which tackles racism in America.

As for Best Actress I can’t see anybody but Glenn Close winning it – this is supposed to be her turn after all!

I can’t believe she’s not won one already – but Glenn is a worthy winner regardless.

She stars in The Wife – a film which has a title that sounds like it had to be shot in Glasgow. And actually it was!

I’m really looking forward to the music on the night too – especially seeing Adam Lambert perform with Queen, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper reuniting to perform Shallow, and the legend that is Bette Midler singing The Place Where Lost Things Go from Mary Poppins.

A couple of weeks ago Christian Bale could have rocked up to the Dolby Theatre and picked up his Best Actor statue early – he seemed odds on to get the nod for playing Dick Cheney in Vice.

But Rami Malek’s crowd-pleasing turn as Freddie Mercury in the barn-storming Bohemian Rhapsody could see him grab the Oscar instead. Whatever happens tonight, I just can’t wait to find out.

UK viewers can watch the ceremony live on Sky Cinema Oscars