At the Golden Globes on January 7,
British ‘national treasure’ actress Olivia Colman, picked up the Best Actress
in a Comedy award for her portrayal of the early 18th Century reign
of Britain’s Queen Anne in The Favourite.
Whilst this is her second Golden Globe1 this win sees her poised to
become a major Hollywood star.
However, Aquarius also needs to express its own uniqueness and Colman
comes across both in interviews and in roles as one of a kind. A profile in the
New York Times4 described
her as the most “ordinary extraordinary person you have ever met,” which
reminds us that despite the Aquarian idea of ordinariness and equality, Leo,
sign of the special and the extraordinary
is at the opposite end of the Aquarius axis. This invites Aquarius to find a
unique and singular identity, to shine, whilst still remaining a part of the collective
dynamic. In her Golden Globe acceptance speech Colman uses her time in the
Leonine spotlight to credit her collaborators – affectionately calling them her
‘bitches’ - and to thank the organisers for the sandwiches – as only an
Aquarius would do!
By Secondary Progression, her retrograde Venus turned direct in late
1987 and progressed to Conjunct its natal position in June 2002 when she was
28, coinciding with her Saturn return. Two major events bookend these
measurements. In 2001 she got married and in 2003 she appeared in cult sitcom Peep Show. Her supporting role as a reluctant
romantic interest to David Mitchell’s character got her the attention she
needed to land further roles in the comedy genre. 2003 also saw Solar Arc (SA) Venus
at 29 degrees Aquarius, having moved 30 degrees around her chart and, echoing
her natal Venus-Uranus connection because transiting Uranus was Conjunct SA
Venus!
The Favourite is
set against a background of war but focuses on life in the ailing and grieving
Queen’s court, in particular on her close relationships with the two women who
competed for her love and the power that came with it. Rachel Weisz plays Lady
Sarah, the Queen’s confidante and lover at the start of the film, but who [spoiler alert] is eventually usurped
by her down on her luck cousin Abigail (Emma Stone), who, ambitious to return
to her former aristocratic status, inveigles her way into the Queen’s trust and
into her bed.
Colman’s portrayal of Anne is all at once beguiling,
repulsive, beautiful, absurd, upsetting, darkly funny and incredibly poignant
and terrific performances from her supporting actresses make for a compelling
and tragicomic triangle.
Born on 30 January 1974 in Norwich UK2, Colman
has Sun, Mercury and Jupiter in Aquarius. The Sun and Jupiter are squared by
Mars in Taurus and Mercury and Jupiter form an Air Grand Trine with Saturn and
South Node in Gemini and Uranus in Libra. Uranus also features in the chart’s tightest
Square to an intense Venus at 29 degrees of Capricorn.
For all its reputation for quirkiness and individuality
(which comes out in Colman’s performances), at heart Aquarius is also the sign
of the ordinary common folk. David Mitchell, her co-star in Peep Show, the long running sitcom which
gave Colman her breakthrough role, describes her as “normal and nice”3
and she herself often refers to how “ordinary” she is in interviews.
The Sun and Jupiter at 10 degrees and 21 degrees
respectively are shy of a Conjunction but a Square from Mars at 15 Taurus forms
a midpoint picture, pulling the Sun and Jupiter together. Mars at the midpoint
of Sun and Jupiter has been described as “successful application of willpower;
zeal; enthusiasm that catches on”.5 But the Square to Sun and
Jupiter from Mars brings challenges, suggesting that the path towards personal
growth and fulfilment of life purpose is strewn with frustrations which demand
action and resolution for progress to be made. And indeed, her ‘overnight
success’ has been almost 20 years in the making.
This aspect is complicated by both Sun and Mars in the sign
of their detriment. It’s an oft overlooked truth that every individual success
story is due in often large part to the help of others or is the result of a team
effort. It is the challenge of Sun in Aquarius to express an individual
identity whilst also being part of a group identity. It’s also to be remembered
that although acting throws up many individual ‘stars’, it is in fact a group
activity, as each individual performance owes much to the chemistry and ability
of the other actors as well as to the quality of the script, production and
direction. In fact, Colman’s co-actors
are quick to describe her as a team player and in The Favourite it is the chemistry between herself and co-stars Emma
Stone and Rachel Weisz that makes her performance such a brilliant one. And
this wasn’t by chance, Director Yorgos Lanthimos gave the actors three weeks of
rehearsals to bond and not only does this show on screen it has led to off
screen friendships6.
Mars in Taurus can bring pressure and frustration around
taking action, self-assertion and following one’s desires and the antidote is
to find a reliable, practical and grounded course of action. Staying power is
of course one of the advantages of Mars in Taurus, with a talent for maintaining
and building on wins and successes which in the long term is perhaps more
valuable than the quick wins possible with Mars in the more ‘quick off the
mark’ signs. That Jupiter at 21 Aquarius is in its Term7 perhaps
adds the potential for a natural self-confidence that might otherwise be
lacking.
Venus, the planet of artistic expression and relationships is
in serious, practical Capricorn. Capricorn is notably hard working and her
fierce work ethic is universally recognised within the industry. Capricorn is
also a sign that needs clear boundaries and she keeps her married life away
from the glare of fame and admits to being a homebody (she wed in 2001 and has three
kids).
Capricorn is also the sign where a long apprenticeship needs
to be served to gain mastery and Colman must have instinctively understood this
at the start of her acting career. When her mother suggested giving it a year,
Olivia replied that she would give it 103. Mars in Taurus is also
associated with not giving up (even when letting go might be the best course of
action, though not in this case of course).
Venus is also prominent in her chart because it’s in the
final degree of its sign, the so-called “degree of fate”8 and it’s
also retrograde. A natal planet at 29 degrees brings a feeling of
inevitability, so it’s no surprise that her 10 years of giving it a go at
acting has become a no going back 19-year journey that continues to gain
momentum. Frank Clifford describes a
planet at 29 degrees as a “seasoned player”8 and indeed this is
exactly how Colman is perceived, receiving all the respect due to someone who
has worked incredibly hard to make the most of her talent.
In interviews, she expresses the Capricorn traits of being down
to earth and understated with a self-deprecating humour. Charles Dance, her
co-star in Netflix’s The Crown describes
her as having “a wonderful sense of humour but also works incredibly hard and
takes the job very seriously”3.
Her Venus is ruled by Saturn which sits in late Gemini and
Saturn is also the traditional ruler of her Mercury in Aquarius (and Sun and
Jupiter) which also explains her self-deprecating humour. It also suggests an
image of a young Colman covering up her fear of getting it wrong by
meticulously learning her lines, of wanting to get it right in every single
little detail.
Venus Square Uranus is her tightest Square and the only
major aspect of Venus (excepting a possible Square to the Moon). This Square
probably owes a lot more to her down to earth quirkiness than her Aquarian
planets. Interpreting it solely in relation to her art, it reflects her
unorthodox route to Hollywood fame. It also has something to say about her
femininity. At 44, whilst many female actors are bemoaning the lack of parts
for older women, Colman’s star is rising. It’s also worth noting that whilst she
is undoubtedly an attractive woman, she doesn’t possess the flawless and often
airbrushed/plastic looking beauty we see in most Hollywood actresses. In a
word, she looks authentic, like an ordinary (that word again) woman we might
meet in the street and yet there is nothing bland about the way she looks, her
looks are also unique and (at least in the world of acting) unconventional. In
some scenes in The Favourite she is
actually shown as very unattractive with swollen and inflamed gout ridden legs
and clownish make up, a manifestation of the repulsiveness that’s a possibility
with Venus Square Uranus.
This Square also tell us that she needs freedom to express
her art in her own way and that the Square is activated at key moments in her
career, suggests she has been using it well.
The other major measurement in Colman’s chart is an Air
Grand Trine. It’s a very mercurial aspect pattern involving Mercury and Jupiter
in Aquarius, Saturn and South Node in Gemini and Uranus (the higher Octave of
Mercury) in Libra. This again explains her talent for wit, which makes her such
a good comedienne, her versatile range (despite so much fixity in her chart) and
adds the potential for oratory brilliance. To access the promise of a Grand
Trine requires a hard aspect into at least one of the planets involved. In this
case, it is that Venus Square to Uranus again, that provides the impetus to
actualise its potential into an artform.
The gift of the Air Grand Trine is reflected in her own
assertion in a 2012 interview about her instinctive style that “you can
over-think things – if the script is good, everything you need is there.” She
admitted in a recent Radio 4 interview, in her typical self-effacing way, that
this was her approach to playing Queen Anne in The Favourite, going off the script rather than the method acting approach
of researching every detail of the monarch’s life and personality. This also suggests
the intellectual self-sufficiency associated with an Air Grand Trine.
When Colman picked up her Golden Globe, her midlife Uranus
Opposite Uranus transit was just coming to an end, but of course transiting
Uranus is also simultaneously Squaring her natal Venus with the last exact hit
in February 2019 ahead of Uranus settling in Taurus and well timed for this
year’s Oscars ceremony for which she received a nomination the best actress award.
Other measurements include Solar Arc Mercury Aries Square
Neptune. Positive manifestations include creative expression, barriers
dissolving and dream opportunities. Negative possibilities include
over-idealism or impatience and impulsiveness leading to disillusionment and
disappointment. Neptune in itself is of course an apt symbol for the glamourous
world of ‘let’s pretend’ that is Hollywood.
SA Mercury is also currently applying to a Sextile to her
Sun, putting a spotlight on creative self-expression this year. Already, SP
Venus is Conjunct her Sun, shining a once in a lifetime spotlight on her
talent, showing how far she’s come on her journey since SP Venus was Conjunct
its natal position and Square her Uranus which, as already noted, coincided with
her first breakthrough role – Uranus is of course associated with breakthroughs
of all kinds.
Notes and References
1 Colman’s first Golden Globe was
awarded in 2017 for best supporting actress in TV drama The Night Manager. Notably, she didn’t turn up to the ceremony
because she didn’t think she had a chance of winning
5 Synthesis
and Counselling in Astrology, Page 787, Noel Tyl, Llewelyn, 2004
Edition.
7 According to Ptolemy’s Table of
Essential Dignities
The relationship of the Sun (the largest and most powerful signifier of our ego) to Mercury (the messenger of the ego) is telling. Astronomically, Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and astrologically, they can never be more than 28 degrees apart, meaning that only a Conjunction aspect is possible. This tightly entwines our ego and its emissary. A primary interpretation of Sun Conjunct Mercury2 is that it suggests an ego driven, perhaps controlling personality, with difficulty separating the ego identity from one’s ideas and opinions, which might manifest as seeing one’s own perspective as the only correct perspective and having difficulty accepting the views of others. More positively, it’s associated with independent thought and confident expression. But even without the Conjunction, the close proximity of the Sun and Mercury suggests that every one of us is somewhat ego driven and to a greater or lesser extent lacking objectivity and defensive of our own opinions when they clash with another’s.
