Lesley Manville’s career spans four decades and includes three BAFTA nominations and an Olivier Award. Her latest film, “Phantom Thread,” is set in post-war 1950s London and sees her playing Cyril, an accomplished dressmaker who works alongside her brother Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis). Their close bond suffers a setback when Reynolds brings home Alma, a new companion (Vicky Krieps) who never leaves.
We spoke with Manville about her role in the drama, ageism in Hollywood, and some of her greatest achievements.
“Phantom Thread” is in theaters now.
W&H: What’s it’s like being a woman in film today? What has changed since you first started out?
LM: The interesting thing that has been changing is that it’s getting better for women of my age, and I’ve felt that for about five to six years that it’s slowly getting better. It’s long overdue and there’s a recognition now for films that represent older women in all kinds of lights. There’s also a huge audience for stories about women over 40, 50, 60. That shift is important.
The continuing careers of people like Meryl Streep, Judi Dench, and Helen Mirren, who are all over 60, are very vital. It’s important to see them playing women whose love lives are not over because they are older.
W&H: What do you think of the #MeToo movement that’s sweeping through Hollywood and the rest of the world?
LM: It’s very moving that this movement has such force. Once the door opened a little bit, this kind of torrent of reporting of incidents happened. I find it very moving and upsetting what all those women have been through, but the tide is absolutely changing and it couldn’t come a moment too soon.
W&H: How did “Phantom Thread”come to you?
LM: It was very easy, actually. I received a call from [writer-director] Paul Thomas Anderson and he said “I’m sending you a script, I’d love you to read it and give me a call” — and that was it, really. That was about seven months before we started shooting.
I couldn’t believe such a prestigious project came my way so easily, particularly because I don’t [usually] work in America. My main career is in England. I mean, I do get offered jobs like that [there]— I just get asked to do them, [and] I don’t have to audition anymore.
I just thought this film was fascinating. It was just the kind of film I like to make. It’s about relationships, the human condition, and the complexities of love and life. Apart from the ingredients which were Paul and Daniel Day Lewis, the script really appealed to me. I was surprised how easy it was.
W&H: You mentioned being thrilled with this opportunity. Why was it unusual?
LM: My theater career in the UK couldn’t be any better and I’ve made quite a few films with Mike Leigh, who is arguably Britain’s most interesting filmmaker, and I pick and choose the TV that I do and I do some of the best television.
The surprise [came from the fact] that I didn’t imagine an American film would cast me so easily. But then it’s an English story. They weren’t going to hire an American actor. If you’re looking for an English actress to play Daniel’s sister of my age, I suppose I would have to be a pretty good candidate. I get the feeling that Daniel was keen to cast me, and between him and Paul, they thought it was a good idea.
W&H: Did you create a backstory for Cyril to figure out more about her?
W&H: Daniel and I both created a backstory together for our characters, who are brother and sister. As it were, we needed to be on the same page, but those conversations were quite economical because we knew instinctively what the essence of the background was and what the atmosphere of their childhood was. We fleshed it all out in detail. It’s hard to know when it becomes what it becomes because it becomes what it becomes slowly over time, and in a way all good characters emerge like that.
I think it’s dangerous to make decisions like I’m going to give this character a limp or twitchy eye or tick because it’s never quite organic and you don’t ever quite believe it.
The way Cyril and Reynolds emerged really was the result of us becoming friends as Daniel and Lesley so we could be comfortable with each other. We could then convert that friendship into this sibling relationship and create two people who are so inextricably linked with each other’s lives and so vitally dependent on each other. Two people who could sit and have breakfast with each other and not say anything and be utterly comfortable with that.
W&H: And in comes a third party. Describe Cyril’s relationship with Alma.
LM: There have been many third parties, but the third parties come, stay for a bit, and get dealt with by Cyril. She gets rid of his girlfriends for him. But yes, Alma comes along, and at first she thinks this is another woman, this is the next one. But actually Alma is something of a challenge for Reynolds, and Cyril can see that and grows to like Alma and I think appreciates what she’s trying to do with Reynolds.
I don’t think that Cyril has much interest in a romantic relationship, but she can see something that Reynolds does want and need, [though] he’s never needed it to the point where he’s really let somebody in.
W&H: What was it like on the set? What kind of atmosphere did Paul Thomas Anderson create?
LM: It was a very good atmosphere. I liked it. Daniel works how he works and that’s fine and very easy to accommodate as far as I’m concerned. He doesn’t expect everyone to work in the same way as he does — he lets everybody do their own thing. Paul is such a lovely human being so it was very gentle, creative, and calm.
What I did like was between takes there was quiet on the set. I thought it was lovely. Normally on other jobs, you cut and between breaks, all hell breaks loose, people start talking and it’s all very blokey and they get their mobile phones out it’s very hard for the actors to sustain a sort of zone and concentration you’re in and you have to refind it every time. But there was a real calm between the takes and I enjoyed that.
W&H: You’ve had an incredible career. Mike Leigh is one of your most frequent collaborators and has cast you in incredibly compelling roles (in such films as “Secrets and Lies,” “Another Year,” and “All or Nothing”). Describe that relationship and any other significant collaborations.
LM: I’ve been working with Mike since I was 22 and we’ve worked on and off over the decades and he really has been a major influence over my acting life. The key thing he’s done for me is allow me to play all these different characters that I have a career now where I’m recognized for being a chameleon and I love that. I’ve never been typecast and I think that’s down to him having me play different characters in our early years of working together.
I also really enjoy the way he works. I find it very liberating and I hope to squeeze in another film with him in the future.
Another big influence was Sir Richard Eyre, who directed me in a play called “Ghosts” and who I’m about to [do] “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” with in the West End and then at BAM in Brooklyn and then at the Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts in LA with Jeremy Irons, starting in January.
W&H: Your son grew up alongside you working as an actress. What was it like raising him in this industry?
LM: Millions of women are doing what I did — juggling and trying to do the best that they can. I felt it was good, but until he was three or four, I only did theater so I could be with him all day and do a play at night. I was probably exhausted but I didn’t think about it. You only remember the good bits.
Acting is a really good job, really, for bringing up children. I don’t think I would have liked it if I had a child and was bringing him up on my own and went to work every day from 9 to 5 because then you really are short-changed on the amount of time you spend with them.
When I did filming I was busy but I had gaps between jobs and the projects didn’t last forever. I mostly had people looking after him when he was asleep. I didn’t want to be a hands-off mother.
I loved it and it was the most wonderful part of my life, bringing him up. I am having a grandchild today, actually, and will be back in England tomorrow for that.
