In The Envelope: An Awards Podcast

Inspired to try acting at a young age and single-mindedly focused on it ever since, Olivia Cooke has appeared in some of the most acclaimed film and TV projects of the last decade, reinventing herself on screen each time. Her “In the Envelope” interview is a crash course in several key tricks of the trade: accent work, self-tape advice, even the nuances of crying. Inhabiting a character inside and out, she says, requires selfless collaboration and detailed backstories. “Otherwise, you’re coming in as you and you’re wearing funny clothes.... You’ve got to convince yourself.” Hailing from Oldham, Greater Manchester, Olivia acted onstage in youth theater groups before booking BBC miniseries “Blackout” and “The Secret of Crickley Hall.” After not being accepted to drama training programs, she focused on screen work, breaking out in “The Quiet Ones” and, across the pond, the “Psycho” prequel series “Bates Motel.” She’s starred in “Ouija,” “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” “Thoroughbreds,” “Ready Player One,” “Van