Lesley Manville, as stage and screen ‘feed each other’ after her latest film role
lesley manville is reflecting on how work in theater and film strengthens her craft, as she moves between a new movie role and rehearsals for an upcoming stage production in London.
In the film Midwinter Break, Lesley Manville plays Stella, married to Gerry, played by Ciarán Hinds. The story follows the retired couple traveling from Glasgow to Amsterdam, where long-simmering cracks begin to show in their marriage. Manville said relationship-centered stories have long appealed to her, both as a viewer and a performer, describing them as depictions of “people’s existence. ”
Lesley Manville on why stage work sharpens her screen performances
Speaking between rehearsals for an upcoming production of playwright Christopher Hampton’s adaptation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the National Theatre in London, Manville described theater as a demanding form that requires consistency and stamina. “You cannot be edited around, ” she said. “You cannot be made to look better than you are. ” She emphasized that the audience can watch a performer continuously and that actors must deliver something sustained for a full performance, rather than in short, edited segments.
Manville also said she does not like being away from the stage for too long. “I really can’t bear it if I’m not on stage for a couple of years, ” she said, adding that theater is where her heart is—while maintaining that different forms of acting can reinforce each other. “But they all feed each other, ” she said.
What happens when film intimacy meets theater intensity?
In discussing Midwinter Break, Manville highlighted the creative satisfaction she finds in building a relationship on screen, pointing to the importance of strong collaborators. She praised the experience of working with Ciarán Hinds and director Polly Findlay, describing the development of an on-screen relationship as “pleasing and satisfying” when the acting and direction are sensitive.
Her recent stage work has included playing Jocasta in Oedipus, a contemporary retelling set on election night and staged with a large red clock counting down toward polls closing. In the final minutes, Manville delivers a long monologue in which Jocasta recounts a story she has never told before: that at 13 she was made pregnant by the country’s leader and the baby was taken from her. The monologue is delivered to her husband Oedipus, played by Mark Strong, who eventually learns he is her son and has murdered his father.
Manville described the writing as “extraordinarily emotive, ” adding that the speech affected her each time she performed it. She recalled the audience reaction as intensely focused, saying that the room could become so quiet that “you could hear a pin drop. ”
How Lesley Manville is pushing for more roles for older women
Alongside her ongoing work across stage and screen, Lesley Manville has spoken about the need for more acting roles for older women. She said there is “far more interest now in stories about women of my age, ” arguing that those stories can be as “vibrant and vital” as those focused on younger characters. “We’ve lived longer lives, ” she said. “We have more stuff in us. We have more emotions in us. We’ve been through more. ”
Manville acknowledged the industry has long placed a premium on youthful looks, but she insisted there is a market for these stories and suggested progress is happening gradually. “I think it is getting better slowly, ” she added. “And long may that continue. ”
Manville’s career has spanned more than 50 years across stage and screen. Her stage career began as a teenager with the 1972 West End musical I and Albert. She has earned an Emmy award nomination for portraying Princess Margaret in Netflix’s The Crown and an Oscar nod for her performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2017 film Phantom Thread. Her London theater work has earned several Laurence Olivier nominations and two Best Actress wins, including for Oedipus, which transferred to Broadway and closed in February.
