Lesley Manville: A Career Spanning Stage and Screen
Lesley Manville is a British actress whose career has flourished for over five decades, seamlessly transitioning between the worlds of stage and screen. Known for her nuanced performances and captivating presence, Manville has garnered critical acclaim and a dedicated following. Her recent role in the film Midwinter Break, alongside Ciarán Hinds, showcases her talent for portraying complex relationships. The film explores the cracks that appear in a marriage as a retired couple travels from Glasgow to Amsterdam.
“Relationship films always appealed to me to watch as well as to be in,” Manville shared with NPR. “You’re depicting people’s existence. It’s a very pleasing and satisfying relationship to develop, especially if you’ve got a good sensitive actor like Ciarán and you’ve got a very good director [Polly Findlay].”
A Stage Veteran
Manville’s journey began as a teenager in the 1972 West End musical I and Albert. However, the stage remains a central passion. She recently spoke between rehearsals for Christopher Hampton’s adaptation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the National Theatre in London. “I really can’t bear it if I’m not on stage for a couple of years,” she confessed. “I miss it. I think it’s ultimately where my heart is. I think if I had to do one thing for the rest of my career, it would be theater. But they all feed each other.”
The demands of live performance are a key draw for Manville. “You cannot be edited around,” she explained. “You cannot be made to look better than you are. The audience can look at you all the time if they want to. And you’ve got to deliver something that’s consistent for possibly two hours, rather than two minutes.”
Recent Acclaim and Powerful Roles
Manville’s talent has been recognized with numerous accolades, including an Emmy nomination for her portrayal of Princess Margaret in Netflix’s The Crown and an Oscar nomination for her performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2017 film Phantom Thread. Her theatrical work has also been celebrated, earning her several Laurence Olivier nominations and two Best Actress wins, including one for her portrayal of Jocasta in Oedipus.
Oedipus, a contemporary retelling of the Greek tragedy set on election night, featured a particularly powerful moment for Manville. Her character, Jocasta, delivers a heartbreaking monologue revealing a long-held secret – a teenage pregnancy and the subsequent removal of her child by a powerful leader. The scene, played with barely a sound in the theater, captivated audiences. “It’s an extraordinarily emotive piece of writing,” Manville said. “And never once did I deliver that speech without it affecting me. You could hear a pin drop and people who had coughs before stopped coughing.”
Advocating for Mature Women in Film
Beyond her acting prowess, Manville is a vocal advocate for greater representation of older women in the film industry. At 69, she believes there’s a growing recognition of the value of stories centered around women with life experience. “I think there is a far more interest now in stories about women of my age,” she stated. “Our story is as vibrant and vital as a 20-year-old’s story. We’ve lived longer lives. We have more stuff in us. We have more emotions in us. We’ve been through more.”
Manville remains optimistic about the future, believing that the industry is slowly but surely embracing the richness and complexity of mature female characters. “I think it is getting better slowly,” she added. “And long may that continue.”
Learn more about Lesley Manville’s work: IMDb and NPR
