Lesley Manville made her West End debut 50 years ago (at the age of 16) in I and Albert, a musical directed by Oscar-winner John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy, The Day of the Locust). After that, there was no stopping her as she coasted from stage to television to film. Today, she’s more in demand than ever in all three mediums thanks, in large part, to her brilliant, Oscar-nominated performance as Cyril, Daniel Day Lewis’s neat and precise sister in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2017 gem Phantom Thread.
The ubiquitous thesp appeared in over 30 stage productions, most in London, including Mike Leigh’s Grief (Olivier nomination) and revivals of Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls (at the Public in NYC), Checkov’s The Cherry Orchard (directed by Sam Mendes), John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation, Ibsen’s Ghosts (Olivier Award winner), O’Neill’s Long Days Journey into Night, and Tony Kushner’s new adaptation of Dürrenmatt’s The Visit, to name but a few.
On the small screen, she’s appeared in over 60 shows including two seasons of Emmerdale Farm (1974-76). She met Mike Leigh and starred in his TV film Grown Ups in 1980, the beginning of many fruitful projects. Other television appearances included recurring roles in North & South, Cranford, River (BAFTA nomination), Mums (BAFTA nomination), and Harlots. She will soon be seen as Princess Margaret in Season Five of Netflix’s The Crown as well as Genevieve de Merteuil in Starz’s new version of Dangerous Liaisons.
Her film work began with a scene-stealing bathroom scene in Mike Newell’s haunting Dance with a Stranger in 1985. Her Mike Leigh collaborations include High Hopes (1988), Secrets & Lies (1996), Topsy-Turvy (1999), All of Nothing (2002), Vera Drake (2004), Another Year (2010 BAFTA nominee), and Mr. Turner (2014). In addition to her Oscar and BAFTA-nominated work in Phantom Thread, her other movie credits include Maleficent (2014), Hampstead (2017 with Diane Keaton), Ordinary Love (2019 opposite Liam Neeson), and Let Him Go (2020).
On July 15, Focus Features will release Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, Anthony Fabian’s enchanting comedy where she plays the titular character, a British housekeeper who dreams of owning a couture Dior gown who scrapes together the money and journeys to Paris to make it happen. It’s an affectionate, charming and lovely performance.
Awards Daily had the privilege of chatting with Lesley about Mrs. Harris and her impressive, eclectic career.
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