Lesley Manville from ‘The Crown,’ ‘Another Year,’ and more

Episode notes

(Photo: Valery Hache / AFP via Getty Images)

British actor Lesley Manville is truly a master of her craft. You might know her work with the brilliant director Mike Leigh. She starred in some of his best movies like Secrets & Lies, All or Nothing and Another Year.

She got her start acting on TV back in the ’70s. Back then she was a teenager living in England. Then came her career in theater. She’s been in plenty of plays with the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company.

In 2017, she portrayed Cyril in Phantom Thread. The film is set in ’50s post-war London where Cyril and her brother Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) are renowned dressmakers. The Woodcocks are at the center of British fashion. They dress movie stars, socialites and royalty with a distinct style. The stunning performance earned her an Oscar nomination.

These days, you can catch Lesley on the latest season of The Crown. She plays Princess Margaret.

When we talked in 2019, Lesley had just wrapped up the third and final season of the BBC show Mum. Lesley joined us to talk about starring in the BBC sitcom Mum, and how she almost had a career as an opera singer. Plus, she told us about what it’s like working with director Mike Leigh, and how she gets in character employing his unique improvisational style.

This interview originally aired in August of 2019.