Following his graduation from university in 1956, aspiring filmmaker Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne) travels to London to get a job on Laurence Olivier's (Kenneth Branagh) next production. Production manager Hugh Perceval (Michael Kitchen) tells Colin that there are no jobs available, but he decides to wait for Olivier, whom he once met at a party. Olivier and his wife, Vivien Leigh (Julia Ormond), eventually show up and Vivien encourages Olivier to give Colin a job on his upcoming film The Prince and the Showgirl, starring Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams). Colin's first task is to find a suitable place for Marilyn and her husband, Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott), to stay at while they are in England. The press find out about the house, but Colin reveals he secured a second house just in case, impressing Olivier and Marilyn's publicist, Arthur P. Jacobs (Toby Jones).