Lesley Manville
Lesley Manville
Lesley Manville OBE is an English actress of film, theatre and television who frequently collaborates with director Mike Leigh. For her work in his 2002 film All or Nothing and his 2010 film Another Year, she won the London Film Critics Circle Award for British Actress of the Year. For the latter, she also won the National Board of Review Award for Best Actress and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionMovie Actress
Date of Birth12 March 1956
clear good
When I was eight, it was clear I was a very good singer.
given invited
I got invited to what's called the Gifting Suite in Toronto. I had the day off, so I thought I'd go and see what's what. You come out laden with wonderful stuff. Apparently, if you go to the Oscars, you get given things like iPads. Not that I'm in it for the swag.
directors love open pay work
I'd love it if doors open for me in America. There are directors I'd love to work with there. I'll always do theater, but I've got to pay the mortgage.
allowed lightly looked might women
One of the significant things that's happened, which shouldn't be looked at as lightly as it might sound, is that women over 45, over 50, are now allowed to be sexy.
anyone gone leigh mike opened overnight played school until
I had left school at 16, gone to stage school - and, until I was 22, I hadn't really played anyone but myself. Then in 1979, I made a film with Mike Leigh called 'Grownups,' which went out on the BBC, and overnight this new career opened up.
good great healthy mixture particular relationship screen stage time took ultimate watching
Stage is the ultimate test; I like watching established screen actors on stage to see if they can really do it. But it's great to have a healthy mixture of the two. Film is so technical: there's something very particular about the relationship between you and the camera. It took a long time for me to get good on film.
birth deals easier emotions gave gets huge life love older particular
It gets easier as you get older because life deals its particular hand, and our experiences get deeper, richer, more profound. When I gave birth to my son, something happened. It is a huge thing for a woman: a whole set of emotions you never had before arrives, and a love you never had before in your life is now on tap.
came cooking embraced fast food grew meat proper sitting table time
My mother always cooked, every day, proper food. We didn't have fast food. It was probably pretty much meat and two veg, but as time went on and new things came into the culture, she embraced all of that. I grew up with mealtimes and sitting around the table with proper cooking and eating.
fly forehead needle stick stuff
I hate that thing that if you are over 45, and you're going to be on telly or make films, you have to do all this stupid stuff to your face. I would no more let someone stick a needle in my forehead than fly to the moon.
aged found god gone leigh meeting mike people quite second stage
I had two starts, really. The first was going to the Italia Conti stage school, aged 15. I'd gone to sing, but one day I found myself doing an improvisation and thought, 'Oh God, I quite like this acting thing.' The second start was meeting Mike Leigh when I was 22. He showed me I could play people that weren't like me.
chameleon life normally quite work
I'm quite chameleon in my work - not normally looking much like I do in real life.
food love
I'm fascinated by food. Food is love, isn't it?
I was champion soprano of Sussex when I was 16!
ability ends far life love playing social women
I love playing women at the far ends of the social scale. I've done it all my life; that's where my ability lies.