Colman says swearing a 'wonderful seasoning of language'

LONDON

British acress Olivia Colman, who starred as Queen Elizabeth in Netflix series "The Crown," says she loves a good cussing, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone.

That's just as well, because the latest film she stars in, a comedy based on a true story titled "Wicked Little Letters," is full of creative expletives.

"I rarely swear at another person in anger," said the prolific performer, who won an Oscar in 2019 for playing another monarch, 18th-century Queen Anne, in "The Favourite."

But "I use it every day or I use it if I'm cross about something. I think it's a useful tool and I think it's a wonderful seasoning of language," she said.

In "Wicked Little Letters," Colman plays a pious spinster living with her domineering father in an English coastal town in the 1920s who suddenly finds herself receiving poison pen letters.

Deeply affronted, she accuses her neighbor, a free-spirited sweary single mother played by Irish actor Jessie Buckley, and manages to get her sent to jail.

A policewoman, lone among a group of condescending and often bumbling male colleagues, suspects foul play and decides to crack the case. She is played by Singaporean actor Anjana Vasan.

The female-led comedy recounts a post-World-War-I tale of trolling, but also celebrates foul language as a means of liberation from social expectations.

It shows trying to shackle women "only causes some kind of lav overspill," said Buckley, using the image of an overflowing toilet.

"Beware. We're not meant to be cooped up, we've got a lot more about us."

Trials, invisible ink

Colman said 85 percent of all strong language in the script for "Wicked Little Letters" was original.

"I think there's a perception that no one in the 1920s ever said anything rude and that's clearly not true," she said.

The original story, recounted by screenwriter Jonny Sweet, involved multiple nasty missives in the southern seaside town of Littlehampton, several trials, and a final masterstroke involving invisible ink.

Director Thea Sharrock said she wanted 10, 11, and 12-year-olds to pretend they were older to see the film despite its 15 rating when it comes out in the United Kingdom on February 23.

"Apart from the swearing, there is no reason why young teenagers can't see this movie," she said.

"There are lessons to be learned... about language and the use of it and about why it's really important to know that there have to be boundaries," she said, evoking modern-day social media.

Colman used the F-word to qualify how horrible she thought it was for online trolls to anonymously "hurt someone."

"We're not on social media, so we take ourselves out of that arena and we are much happier people because of it," she added, speaking for herself and Buckley.

But she and her co-star still enjoyed being a little rude.

These days, Colman said her all-time favorite curse was the so-called C-word referring to a woman's vagina, while Buckley preferred a "good basic" F-word.

"I love that it still holds so much power," Colman said of her choice, adding that with the right tone it could be a term of endearment.

"I think it's important for women to own that word because it's ours."