Entertainment
What happened to the young actress who sang “All I want for Christmas” in ‘Love Actually’? This is Olivia Olson now
Olson stood out in the romantic comedy for her rendition of Mariah Carey’s Christmas classic. This is what she’s been doing since then.
Christmas is fast approaching, which means there’s a good chance you’re already tired of hearing “All I Want for Christmas Is You” everywhere you go.
Of course, the Mariah Carey original is the one that is inevitably blasted at us in stories, shopping malls and on the radio at this time of year, while even the NFL will jumping on the bandwagon (better late than never) on Christmas Day. However, the ‘Love Actually version,’ which features in the popular Christmas romantic comedy, is also one that sticks in the mind for many.
Olson’s “Love Actually” rendition of Carey’s Christmas classic
In among a star-studded cast which included Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson and Keira Knightley, Olivia Olson, who hails from California and was 10 years old at the time of recording, stood out for her character Joanna’s rendition of Carey’s hit during a school Christmas pageant scene.
The story goes that Olson’s singing was so on point that director Richard Curtis asked her to “do it a little less good” after a test run, fearing that viewers wouldn’t believe it hadn’t been lip-synced.
Who is Olivia Olson? What does she do now?
In a 2009 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Olson revealed she was approached by a number of record companies following her performance in Love Actually, which was released in 2003. However, she claims “she wasn’t interested in it then,” instead preferring to focus on finishing school and “getting some sort of life experience”.
Although she did eventually go on to release two studio albums in 2013 and 2018 and still releases new music on Spotify, Olson, now 32, has become better known for her voice acting.
Between 2008 and 2015, she voiced supporting character Vanessa Doofenshmirtz in Disney’s animated series “Phineas and Ferb”. Incidentally, Thomas Sangster, who played Joanna’s love interest in “Love Actually,” gave his voice to title character Ferb.
In 2023, she became a writer for a “Phineas and Ferb” revival and is expected to reprise her role as Vanessa next year.
Her other most regular voice role has been as Marceline the Vampire Queen in Cartoon Network TV series “Adventure Time,” which ran for eight years until 2018. Since then, there have been a number of specials and spin-offs, many of which Olson has also been involved in.
In addition to her voice acting, Olson has also appeared in “Red Nose Day Actually,” a short promotional film featuring many “Love Actually” cast members in 2017, as well as British TV singing contest “The X Factor: Celebrity” in 2019.
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