2010–2019: Film breakthrough and worldwide recognition
Colman had a lead role in 2010 as Alex Smallbone, the wife of an inner-city vicar, in the BBC sitcom Rev. starring Tom Hollander; the series ran from 2010 to 2014. She guest-starred that year in "The Eleventh Hour" episode of Doctor Who, Matt Smith's debut as the Eleventh Doctor. Colman appeared the following year in the BBC drama Exile, written by Danny Brocklehurst and starring John Simm and Jim Broadbent. From 2011 to 2012, she played Ian Fletcher's (Hugh Bonneville) lovelorn secretary Sally Owen in Twenty Twelve, a comedy series about planning for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Colman rejoined Considine in 2011 for his feature-film directorial debut, Tyrannosaur, receiving the BIFA for Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film and the Empire Award for Best Actress. She also played Carol Thatcher that year in the Academy Award-winning drama The Iron Lady, with Meryl Streep and Jim Broadbent. She won the London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Actress of the Year for both roles. She also starred in the drama films Hyde Park on Hudson (2012) and Locke (2013).
In 2013, Colman began playing DS Ellie Miller in ITV's Broadchurch. The crime-drama series, set in the fictional Dorset town of Broadchurch, follows the residents of a tightly knit community after a young boy is found dead on a beach under suspicious circumstances. She was nominated for the International Emmy Award for Best Actress and received the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for her performance. Sam Wollaston of The Guardian praised Colman's performance as "brilliant" along with that of her co-star David Tennant. Colman starred (with Vanessa Redgrave) that year as Margaret Lea in the BBC television film, The Thirteenth Tale.
She starred in Yorgos Lanthimos' 2015 absurdist dystopian film, The Lobster, with Rachel Weisz and Colin Farrell. The film premiered at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or and received the Jury Prize. Colman was nominated for the London Film Critics' Circle Award for Supporting Actress of the Year and received the BIFA for Best Supporting Actress.
Colman was praised for her performance as Angela Burr in the 2016 AMC-BBC miniseries The Night Manager, for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, in addition to winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film. She starred as Deborah Flowers that year in the Channel 4 black-comedy series, Flowers. Colman voiced Strawberry in the Netflix-BBC animated miniseries, Watership Down. She played Hildegarde Schmidt, Princess Dragomiroff's lady's maid, in Kenneth Branagh's 2017 remake of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express.
In 2018, Colman starred as Queen Anne in Lanthimos' satirical dark comedy The Favourite alongside Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz. In preparation for the role, she gained 2 st 7 lbs (35 lb, or 16 kg). For her performance, Colman received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her awestruck, humorous Academy Award acceptance speech was widely covered by the media. That year, she also topped the Radio Times' TV 100 power list, which ranked the most powerful people on television.
Colman received positive reviews for her supporting role as Madame Thénardier in the 2018 BBC miniseries Les Misérables, an adaptation of the novel of the same name. In August 2019, she was confirmed as a guest star (as Lily) in the thirty-second season of the animated comedy series The Simpsons.
In October 2017, Colman was cast as Queen Elizabeth II for the third and fourth seasons of the Netflix historical drama series The Crown; the third season was released in November 2019. For her performance, she received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama. The fourth season was released on 15 November 2020, to universal acclaim and earned her the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Her performance also earned her nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series. She was part of the ensemble cast that won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2019 and 2020.
