Olivia Colman has said she is "bowled over" to be awarded the prestigious BFI Fellowship and join the ranks of her "heroes."

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The Oscar-nominated star of The Favourite has been honoured for her "very special contribution to television and film," according to the BFI.

Current BFI Fellows including Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Cate Blanchett, Martin Scorsese and Hugh Grant.

Colman is famous for films and TV shows including The Night Manager, Broadchurch, Peep Show, Rev, That Mitchell and Webb Look, Twenty Twelve, Flowers, and The Lobster.

Later in 2019 she will make her debut as Queen Elizabeth II in Netflix's The Crown.

The BFI said that the award honours Colman's "distinctive and prodigious acting talents and the huge impact she has on audiences all over the world."

"I’m absolutely bowled over," Colman said in a statement. "The BFI is a wonderful organisation and that I will soon be in a Fellowship with so many of my heroes is an honour that is hard to compute. Thank you a thousand times, I really am thrilled. THANK YOU!"

The Fellowship will be presented at the BFI Chairman's dinner on 6th March 2019 at The Rosewood Hotel in London.

BFI Chair Josh Berger said: “I am thrilled the BFI is giving its highest honour, the BFI Fellowship, to Olivia Colman, at such an exciting point in her career. Olivia is a brilliant comic actor and one of the industry’s finest dramatic performers. Her ability to be relatable in such a diverse range of roles generates incredible warmth and admiration from audiences.

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"The Favourite is firmly up there as one of the best films of recent years and showcases Olivia’s extraordinary and nuanced performance, which is fittingly being acknowledged by critics and audiences all over the world.”

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Eleanor Bley GriffithsDrama Editor, RadioTimes.com
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